New ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke surprised a lot of fans on Tuesday when she made her debut in front of the Television Press Association with a sizzle reel for the network that included a lot of ‘Lost’ footage (and I am of course referring to the infamous series, not some kind of recently found film stock of old shows), including one famous scene where Jack stated “We have to go back!” Following that telling clip, Burke was asked about whether rebooting the cult hit was part of her current plan for the network. She made it clear it was not on the agenda at the moment, but rather something she thought about a lot:
“Yes, I would like that [a reboot] very much. That is a reboot I would be interested in seeing….It’s literally at this point just what I dream about when I go to bed at night. I have not spoken to [executive producers] Carlton [Cuse] or J.J. [Abrams] or ABC Studios about it. But I do often get asked the question what show would I reboot and often my answer is Lost — sometimes Alias. Nothing to report yet. Maybe ever. But it would be a fun thing to have a conversation about.”
Of course, if ABC and Burke moved forward with a ‘Lost’ reboot or sequel, original creators and show-runners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (who actually has come back to ABC Studios recently with a 4 year deal) have made it clear they do not want to be involved with any reboot or spin-off, a point they reiterated just this past August. In Cuse’s words:
“[Co-creator] Damon [Lindelof] and I have always been adamant that we told the story that we wanted to tell. I would be fine if ABC hired somebody who had a good idea [to reboot it] involving other characters that go to the island at some other point in time. I would be less excited if they wanted to use the characters that we had in our show.”
Of course, as a fan, it would be odd to see ‘Lost’ come back without Cuse and Lindelof, but you have to respect their decision and commend them for the idea that they told the story they wanted to tell. I also agree with their idea that if ‘Lost’ comes back it should be about a new group of characters that find their way to the island, more of a sequel than a reboot, because the show itself was so defined by the original characters and the actors who played those characters, and I just do not think you could recapture that magic if you tried to reboot everything. But I think you could do some interesting things delving more into the mysteries of the island with some new castaways, with Hurley perhaps coming back as the new “Jacob” type character, and maybe even having a Dharma Initiative resurgence that the characters have to band together to stop from exploiting the island. Who knows? The potential is there, though it is doubtful the fans will ever be truly happy with any continuation of the original, since, in reality, you can never really “go back.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter