'LOST' IN TRANSMISSION

I mentioned the other day that one of the two new shows I'm most eagerly awaiting is 'Jack & Bobby'. The other show is ABC's 'Lost'.

Here's a quickie description from Yahoo! TV:

Forty-eight people have survived a horrific plane crash in the South Pacific -- but they were 1,000 miles off course when it happened, so no one knows where they are.

What's more, one of them was traveling in handcuffs and leg irons (for what crime, we don't know), and the remote island is home to some mysterious things lurking in its interior.

And with Meriadoc Brandybuck in the cast to boot!

Damon Lindelof, one of the show's creators, had this to say in an interview:

"They (the survivors) will NOT name their island... but that's not to say they won't discover it already HAS a name. And it can't possibly be as entertaining as 'Moga Moga'."

As a caretaker for the TV Universe, I'm hoping that when they do find the name of the island, it turns out to be... "Bomano".

No, not Bonomo, you taffy-head! Bomano. It had once been used by the Atomic Energy Commission as an a-bomb test site, so it was complete with buildings, a few cars, provisions, and test dummies.

But it had all been abandoned and mostly forgotten by 1969 when a plane crash brought a group of college students who were returning to America from Southeast Asia. Forced to fend for themselves, the students tried to establish a utopia, but found old prejudices and class differences had followed them into their new world.

The TV Universe lost track of 'The New People' less than a year later, but it's always possible that even after thirty years some of them might still be stranded there on Bomano. But with thirty years having passed, there could be a second generation descended from those original survivors.

In his interview, Lindelof has suggested that we may end up meeting more than just the 48 survivors of this latest crash. ("I will not comment on whether or not we'll be meeting any other human beings on the island who were NOT on the plane. But I will posit this -- Who's to say we haven't already?")

Here's a description of "The Dark Side Of The Island" (episode #9 from 'The New People') which aired November 17, 1969:

"The discovery of a shallow grave gives rise to fears that someone - or something - may inhabit the unexplored side of the island. The fear mushrooms into near hysteria when one of the girls disappears."

Damon Lindelof was on record as saying there are no dinosaurs on the island, so there goes the crossover possibility with 'Jurassic Park' and 'Raptor Island'. But there is something gigantic in the jungle which is stomping all the trees. (Lindelof: "The record speaketh true. NO dinosaurs. Will you get a look at the 'thing in the trees' in the first 13 [episodes]? I'll only say this -- maybe you'll see it, maybe you won't... but you'll definitely know much more ABOUT it.")

Someday I'll have to track down a copy of that particular episode of 'The New People' and see if they ever resolved that plotline neatly by the end of the hour. Could the spectre of a "thing in the trees" have been connected?

Ultimately, 'Lost' will probably make no connection to 'The New People'. And considering that hardly anybody remembers that earlier series - even though it was created by the legendary Rod Serling! - why should they?

But 'Lost' is already linked to two TV movies.....

Damon Lindelof: "Oceanic Airlines doesn't exist... but I'm finding out MANY movies have used it when bad shit happens on a plane ('Executive Decision' being the one pointed out to me). And we thought we were so original. Sigh."

We'll skip 'Executive Decision'; that's the movie world, the "Cineverse". For our interests, there's 'Code 11-14' (2003) and 'Nowhere To Land' (2000). All of which, combined with 'Lost', convinces me of one thing......

Don't fly Oceanic Airlines!

BCnU!
Toby
(Tubeworld@aol.com)

[My thanks to Ain't It Cool News for the quotes from Damon Lindelof.]