Is Lost Irreplaceable? As the Epic Sci-Fi Adventure Concludes, Will Another Genre Show Fill Its Shoes?
As noted in several of my prior columns, “The Grieving Season Continues: Mourning the Loss of Last Season’s Sci-Fi Shows Cut Down Before Their Time,” “Is This The End of Sci-Fi TV?” and “When Sci-Fi Shows Fall Beneath the Guillotine,” there has been a steady erosion of sci-fi fans from genre shows in the past few years. It has led to the quiet cancellation of nearly 75% of all sci-fi shows since 2008. It has also prompted many shows to seek out mutually agreed upon end-dates in order to conclude their stories with dignity and endings that will make the fans happy. But more noticeable is the loss of “Lost.” Unlike its predecessors and comrades in the sci-fi realm, “Lost” did something utterly remarkable. It crossed television boundaries and amassed a viewership of over 21 million viewers in its first season. Even as viewership began to decline in its later years, it never dipped below 9 million viewers – a number that most current sci-fi shows cannot even come close to. While newcomers
