Marty McKee writes about the similarities between Lost and another on ABC 35 years ago called The New People. What I found interesting was the fact that it was one of two shows experimenting with a 45 minute time slot. It had an interesting premise about trying to start society anew but unfortunately, the characters weren't interesting enough for it to succeed. At least that's what McKee says. The unusual time length really prevented it from being shown too much in the future.