ABC is making Lost a reality, sort of. The alphabet network is taking the non-sci-fi related aspects fans loved from the series and spinning it into what they hope will be reality show gold. No plane crash or polar bears here. The new reality show is entitled Castaways, and it will chronicle the journeys of twelve people as they are left to survive on islets in Indonesia.
Unlike Lost, the twelve people participating in Castaways will not initially be stranded with other people. They will have to survive alone with the help of washed ashore luggage, dispersed resources, and abandoned structures, per Deadline. The survivors on Lost did not have that last luxury to rely on during their early days on the island. While that is a discrepancy, Castaways will be drawing on another familiar element from Lost, and it has to do with flashbacks.
While the show will chronicle the twelve participants' adventures on their islands, Castaways will also shed light on their lives before they arrived. That will be presented to viewers via documentary-style footage, which sounds like it may be reminiscent of MTV's True Life. The merging of past and present is a total Lost move though. One of the most intriguing aspects of the series, unraveling the past on Lost helped viewers piece together certain parallels for the characters on the island. Hence, giving them potential hints to what may lie ahead. The same is said to be true of the real-life drama to come on Castaways.
While ABC's new reality show will undoubtedly draw comparisons to CBS' Survivor, ABC is marketing Castaways more along the lines of its highly-revered scripted drama. With the island and the approach, fans are bound to get all nostalgic for Lost again. Maybe. Is this ABC's answer instead of doing a revival of the drama? Perhaps this is a chance to test the waters and see how much people may want one? For now, it may very well satiate fans.
Along with deciding whether they want to remain isolated or join up with fellow participants, other drama on Castaways remains. And it is, perhaps, the most significant bit of all. How will participants get off the islands, period? They will either have to endure the situation long enough to be rescued or decide they have had enough and quit.
Unfortunately for the survivors on Lost, it was not that simple. As much as the sci-fi and ensuing theories about the island were fun, it was the characters' backstories that always held the greatest personal rush when watching. Suffice it to say, Castaways may be just the ticket to get fans interested in a Lost revival/reboot.
Find out how the twelve participants' stories play out and who decides to stick around when Castaways premieres, Tuesday, August 7 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. For new upcoming and returning television shows you can watch on ABC and elsewhere, check out CinemaBlend's guide to TV's summer premieres.
