Probably the biggest irony is that the man who championed "Lost" and helped get it on the air was fired in part because the show was looking like an expensive disaster even before its September 22nd, 2004 premiere. And yet, “Lost” (along with “Desperate Housewives;" “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition;” “Dancing With The Stars” and “Grey’s Anatomy”) helped rescue ABC from the bottom of the ratings heap.
Only in television can an executive be a hero on the unemployment line.

The series began soon after the crash of Oceanic Air Flight 815 into a Pacific island, with occasional flashbacks. The first season established the plane had 44 survivors, but there was an ensemble cast of 14–one of the largest for a modern television series.

Leading the group was surgeon Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox, late of the acclaimed drama “Party Of Five”). Other survivors included former dance teacher Shannon Rutherford (Maggie Grace); Australian mother-to-be Claire Littleton (Emile de Ravin); former Iraqi guard Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews); Lotto winner Hugo Reyes (Jorge Garcia); con man James “Sawyer” Ford (Josh Holloway); married Korean couple Jin-Soo and Sun Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim); former rock star turned drug user Charlie Pace (Dominic Montaghan); construction worker Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau) and his son Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley); mystery man John Locke (Terry O’Quinn) and wedding planner Boone Carlyle (Ian Somerhalder).

“Lost’s” flexible format allowed some characters to depart (die or disappear) and new crash victims to take their place in future seasons. There were also romantic interludes, racial and language conflicts, personal crises and the backstories of the crash survivors who try to stay alive and find a way to get off the island once and for all–sometimes by working together, other times by breaking away from the pack and going on their own. (Because not every country has seen the entire series, there will be no spoilers here. But “Lost” fans can turn to dozens of websites devoted to the show and satisfy their curiosity.)

Believe it or not, it was an ABC network’s vacation that started this whole phenomenon. Lloyd Braun had been ABC Entertainment chief since 1999 and was trying to find new series that would reverse the network’s ratings slide after ABC overdosed on the game show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” in prime time. Braun had been watching the Tom Hanks film “Castaway” (a saga about a man who becomes stranded on a desert island) and wondered if the idea could be adapted as a television series. Braun was not unaware of the success of CBS’ reality series “Survivor,” which forced a group of unrelated people to work together on a real-life island and fend for themselves. But he didn’t want a modern version of “Gilligan’s Island”–where seven stranded castaways kept messing up efforts to rescue them week after week.

Braun hired one writer to flesh out the idea, but was unimpressed with the results. Still believing the concept could work, he called upon J.J. Abrams to write a new script. Abrams was the creator and producer of WB’s “Felicity” and ABC’s “Alias,” two female-oriented dramas that were critical favorites but never big ratings hits. Abrams was hesitant, but since he was under contract for a new series on ABC, agreed to give it a try. Teaming up with writer Damon Lindelof, the two created the idea of having a plane crash on a small island. Not everyone would survive, and there would be a relatively large core of characters in the pilot. And as Abrams told Braun, “To have a series, something is wrong with the island. The island has to be a character. Something is keeping the (other) characters in constant jeopardy.” Braun agreed and told Abrams to move forward. In the Bill Carter book “Desperate Networks,” Braun told a colleague he would order a pilot immediately, “even though it probably will mean the end of me at ABC.”

That turned out to be correct. ABC’s parent, The Walt Disney Company (specifically then-Chairman Michael Eisner and President Bob Iger) was actually micro managing the network’s operation. (Eisner and Iger were in large part responsible for the “Millionaire” overload; cutting the budget for new series; and even passing on shows such as “American Idol,” “CSI” and “The Apprentice”–which went on to become hits at other networks.)

Eisner and Iger were unhappy as expenses mounted on the “Lost” pilot (thanks to its large cast and its location filming in Hawaii); the company’s production arm even tried to shop the show around to other studios without success. As ABC’s ratings continued to remain stuck in fourth place, Braun was a marked man and the cost overruns on “turned out to be the final straw. In March 2004, Braun was watching the “Lost” pilot being filmed on location in Hawaii when he got word that he would be canned. Not long after, his second-in-command Susan Lyne was also shown the door (she was the executive who championed two female-oriented shows–“Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy,”–which would also help rescue ABC).

Braun’s successor, Steve McPherson, was no fan of “Lost.” But when he looked at the pilot’s quality, he changed his mind and asked the producers to split the two-hour pilot into two, one-hour episodes. The show was slated to lead off Wednesday nights on the ABC schedule, and McPherson backed the show with a carefully-planned promotion blitz before its premiere. The results surprised everyone: With 18.5 million viewers for the pilot, “Lost” was the most successful launch of a new ABC scripted series since the days of “NYPD Blue.” (Ironically, the record audience was shattered just days later when ABC premiered “Desperate Housewives.”) And “Lost” held its audience in the weeks ahead, making it a true breakout hit. In one final note of irony, it was later revealed the show’s champion, Lloyd Braun, was the voice at the beginning of every episode, telling viewers “Previously on ‘Lost’.....”

But there could be signs of trouble ahead. Several weeks into its third season in the US, “Lost’s” audience fell about 20 percent compared to Season Two, thanks in part to its direct competition, the crime drama “Criminal Minds” on CBS. “Fort Lauderdale (Florida) Sun-Sentinel” television writer Tom Jicha had this explanation: “Instead of tossing fans a resolution of a minor plot point now and then, they just keep layering on new mysteries and twists to take the story in different directions....(The) suggestion that plots are being crafted to reflect the popularity of certain characters gains credence by the prominence Jack, Kate and Sawyer have been given this season at the expense of the other permanent characters. Claire, Charlie and Hurley didn't even appear until the third episode. The patience of millions of viewers has apparently worn thin.” Whether the producers can resolve those criticisms to satisfy audiences remains to be seen.

In the UK, “Lost” aired its first two seasons on broadcast’s Channel Four; but in October 2006, it was announced that satellite operator British Sky Broadcasting (BskyB) won the rights to air Season Three and Four, for a cost of $44 million dollars, or around a million dollars per episode.

No matter how long “Lost” will run, it’s still a tribute to ABC (and the viewers) that American television has made room for involving, gripping drama that leaves its fans wanting more–and discussing it the next day..