Lost (2001 TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name =Lost


caption =
format = Reality
camera =
runtime = 60 min.
creator =
executive_producer = David Dugan
Nancy Stern
starring =Carla Antonino
Dan Wells
Laurie Zink
country =USA
network =NBC
first_aired =September 4, 2001
last_aired =December 30, 2001
num_episodes =6
website =
imdb_id =0292816
tv_com_id =20874

"Lost" was a reality television show screened in the USA and UK in late 2001. It was a game show in a race format where teams raced around the world with little or no resources.

Premise

The premise was similar to "The Amazing Race", except the three two-member teams knew only the final destination (thousands of miles away) and were given only a backpack full of clothes and other essentials. In addition, team members were not acquainted with one another prior to the show, and were assigned to teams. Contestants were blindfolded and dropped off in the desert of an unknown country to find their way back to the US. The US finish line was the Statue of Liberty in New York City, and Nelson's Column in London served as the finish line in the UK version. Each game took three episodes.

U.S. version

The show was produced by Conaco, a production company owned by Conan O'Brien. Sports broadcaster Al Trautwig narrated the show.

With the show premiering to dismal ratings, only two sets of three episodes were produced; NBC blamed the lackluster numbers on the show debuting just before the September 11, 2001 attacks. The first set debuted on September 4, 2001. During this first set, the teams were abandoned in Mongolia. The winners from the first set were announced on the final episode, airing a week later than scheduled (due to the 9/11 attacks pre-empting the airing of the second episode). While the second set was set to debut the next week, NBC put the show on hiatus. On December 23, 2001, the second set of episodes began airing on NBC in a new 7:00 p.m. ET Sunday timeslot. During this second set, the teams were abandoned in Bolivia. While the final two episodes were to air in a two-hour block the next week, NBC decided to skip the second episode of the set, and only aired the final episode in a one-hour timeslot, due to the previous episode having one of the lowest ratings in the network's history.Fact|date=February 2007 It was revealed in the second set that there was more to the show than just getting to the destination. The contestants had to go back via an island, making the quest more arbitrary.

UK version

A show of the same name and format was produced in the UK for Channel 4 by Windfall Films, and shown in October 2001. Five episodes were broadcast in which teams were abandoned in Northern Russia, Mali, Venezuela, Quebec and Azerbaijan. The teams had to race back to Trafalgar Square, London, except in the Azerbaijan episode, where the destination was the Angel of the North statue in Gateshead. While the show had the potential to be a success Fact|date=February 2007 , scheduling of the program in a late night slot meant it reached only a limited audience. The UK version was repeated on a cable channel a few months after the first showing.