Lost

An intense, intriguing and exciting mix of action and horror. [22 Sept 2004, p.E1]

It's safe to say you've not seen anything like it on network television. And not to put too fine a point on it, but the shock does wear off after a few minutes. [22 Sept 2004, p.F3]

Abrams and his co-creator Damon Lindelof ("Crossing Jordan") do a terrific job of piling on the plot twists, but they neglect to provide a believably textured world, or any time for the characters to interact between crises. As a result, Lost is at once heart-stopping and strangely dull.

Lost is rip-roaring fun, an adventure that's best undertaken if you just sit back and enjoy the ride without thinking about it too much. [22 Sept 2004, p.1E]

Lost may prove to be a find. It also could go down in flames. For its first couple of weeks, though, there's no question it's quite a thrill ride. [22 Sept 2004, p.65]

Lost so far is riveting, large-scale human drama. Get those Gilligan's Island jokes out of your system. Otherwise they might be sticking in your throat after the opening 10 minutes. [22 Sept 2004, p.12E]

With a little bit of prime time luck, Lost just may become what it sets out to be -- a mesmerizing thrill ride with a brain and more than a little humanity. [22 Sept 2004, p.1C]

In a stunning two-part pilot episode, which concludes next week, J.J. Abrams (Alias) has taken a derivative concept - a plane crash on a deserted island - and shaped it into something new and compelling, and possibly prehistoric. [22 Sept 2004, p.1]

Abrams brilliantly exploits several genres simultaneously - including reality TV with all that viewers have come to learn (or think they have come to learn) about group dynamics by watching CBS' Survivor the past four years. What's most impressive is the way that Abrams - through the skillful construction of character via credible dialogue and camera work that makes one feel almost situated within the group - makes Lost feel as if it is the real thing. [22 Sept 2004,p. 1E]

What is going on? Hard to say, but any show with this kind of imagination deserves to be seen. [20 Sept 2004, p.50]

The show echoes everything from Gilligan's Island to King Kong. But the parts have been assembled with a flair that makes Lost a genuinely eerie experience. [22 Sept 2004, p.E1]

Lost actually gives every sign of knowing where it's going and what it's doing. It's solid, suspenseful and fraught with frights. The Big Scary Monster may be a corny touch, but who's to say what does and doesn't exist on those mysterious uncharted islands where, for example, King Kong once holed up. Lost has the capacity to bring out the kid in adults and the adult in kids. [22 Sept 2004, p.C.01]

Lost is a sci-fi soap opera adventure -- with humor, mystery and interesting characters galore...It's "Survivor" with the one thing "Survivor" lacks -- a terrific script.

I have a few quibbles about what happens after [the crash sequence], though I wouldn't think of spoiling it for the less rigid-minded. Let's just say that Abrams has a tendency to take his ideas several steps further than I might find necessary, which could explain why "Alias" lost me less than halfway through its first season. Here's hoping Lost won't wander that far. [22 Sept 2004,p. 38]

Lost is the sort of rare drama that's more fun to experience the less you know about it, so I'll let you experience its twists for yourself. It's spoiling nothing, though, to say that Abrams, as director even more than writer, really delivers some intense television here. [22 Sept 2004, p.94]

This is a great piece of TV work... Right from its opening minutes, after a flight to Australia has crashed on the shores of nowhere, ABC's Lost simulates the kind of dread we don't expect to find on the small screen. [22 Sept 2004, p.E1]

The most intriguing thing, actually, is that Lost may not even need the hoodoo voodoo. Abrams and script creator Damon Lindelof ("Crossing Jordan") have already set up a pretty compelling cross- section of earthlings as a study of simply human behavior. [19 Sept 2004, p.11]

Lost itself has a certain intriguing quality that makes it worth coming back for more. [19 Sept 2005, p.TV-5]

Lost has a stellar, varied cast, it is shot beautifully and it surprises more often than it makes you wince or wheeze, which, in the math of action-adventure-sci-fi-thrillers, is a good thing. [22 Sept 2004, p.E1]

Another heart-stopping adventure show from "Alias"'s J.J. Abrams...Lost undertakes the ambitious assignment of developing 14 characters, including the usual tough guys and brave gals, as well as a rotund, lovable dolt, a 9-year-old boy, and a Korean couple who don't speak English, all suddenly thrust together to fight for survival. If anybody can meet the challenge, it's Abrams. [22 Sept 2004, p.D01]

Abrams and Lindelof have crammed this one with so many chills and cliffhanging plot twists that it's all about sitting back, tossing credulity out the window and waiting for what happens next. The classy look and feel of the opener (the series is shot in Hawaii) also help make Lost a feast for the young and young at heart, even if you find yourself a little embarrassed, in the dead of a dark Wednesday night, to be so seduced by Saturday matinee fare. [22 Sept 2004, p.C1]

Abrams and co-creator Damon Lindelof infuse the opener with horror, poignancy, mystery and pitch-perfect humor...If Abrams and company can sustain the pace and intrigue of the pilot, then Lost will be a great place for viewers to lose themselves every week. [22 Sept 2004, p.EDGE 47]

While enthusiasts of the genre might warm to the idea of an open-ended mystery, it's suspect how well the show will hold up without a more concrete sense as to what's really happening, barring Gilligan and the Skipper showing up to whisk them away.

Abrams and Lindelof have created one of only two new shows this season at the end of which I was yearning to see a second hour right away. (The other is ABC's "Desperate Housewives": It could be hoot heaven, could be labored camp.) I was tempted to hedge on my final grade, because Lost is the kind of show that could go anywhere. Then I realized that's exactly why I should commit to the ride.

Out of these familiar adventure-story components and a host of pop-culture conventions, Alias' J.J. Abrams has fashioned a totally original, fabulously enjoyable lost-at-sea series. Once again, he has taken an outlandish Saturday-serial setup and imbued it with real characters and honest emotions, without sacrificing any of the old-fashioned fun.