NBC’s Failed Lost Copy-Cat Is A Must-Watch For 1 Unique Reason

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Fifteen years after ending its run, Lost – the six-season ABC series created by Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof – remains a landmark show that significantly impacted television. Its immense popularity inevitably led other networks to attempt similar shows, like NBC’s 2021 offering, which didn’t succeed but is still worth a watch.

Many shows have tried to copy the success of Lost over the years, using similar ideas and characters. However, none have quite managed to capture the same feeling. As television changes and offers more diverse content, a true successor to Lost remains elusive. But if you’re missing Lost or simply enjoy that type of show, La Brea might be worth watching.

How La Brea Failed At Being Lost’s Perfect Replacement Series

The popularity of Lost came from its bold and captivating initial idea. Without that strong foundation, the show’s many mysteries wouldn’t have been as effective. Even now, years later, people are still analyzing it. The series La Brea on NBC followed a similar pattern, starting with a shocking event. The show’s characters suddenly find themselves stranded in a prehistoric wilderness after a huge sinkhole opens up in their neighborhood.

The show’s initial premise, like the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 in Lost, was promising. However, La Brea didn’t build on that foundation as effectively. While Lost kept viewers hooked with new questions, La Brea seemed to lose direction after the first event. It avoided fully embracing its own strange and unbelievable elements, resulting in a confusing and unsatisfying experience.

It was particularly disheartening to see the show’s viewership decline. While the NBC program started strong with an average of nearly 5 million weekly viewers, numbers dropped significantly to 1.77 million in its second season. The final season saw a small increase, reaching 2.03 million, but still fell far short of its initial success.

La Brea Ended Network TV’s Sci-Fi Efforts (For Now)

La Brea lasted for three seasons, which is less than half the run of Lost. Though it didn’t quite live up to the legacy of Lost, it’s still worth watching, particularly if you were a fan of the original series. What’s also interesting is that, after its cancellation, La Brea became the last of its kind—a unique show of its type—on network television.

When NBC unexpectedly ended a sci-fi show with a shorter-than-planned final season, other major TV networks have become hesitant to take on similar projects. It’s not clear if this is a deliberate choice or simply a result of that cancellation, but looking ahead to the 2025-2026 television season, there are currently no new sci-fi shows in development. While the Quantum Leap reboot recently finished airing, it relied heavily on the popularity of the original series to begin with, and concluded shortly after La Brea ended.

Although La Brea shared some similarities with Lost, it was a completely new story. While it didn’t become the next big sci-fi hit, it’s important to recognize the bold creative effort of David Appelbaum and his team. With so many reboots and sequels on television today, it’s crucial for networks to support original concepts. La Brea might not have succeeded, but its lessons can help shape better, more innovative projects in the future.

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2026-02-21 19:28