Pilot (Lost)

"Pilot"
Lost episodes
Some of Oceanic Flight 815's wreckage
Episode nos.	Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2
Directed by	J. J. Abrams
Story by	Jeffrey Lieber J. J. Abrams Damon Lindelof
Teleplay by	J. J. Abrams Damon Lindelof
Cinematography by	Larry Fong
Editing by	Mary Jo Markey
Production code	100
Original air dates	September 22, 2004 (2004-09-22) (Part 1) September 29, 2004 (2004-09-29) (Part 2)
Running time	83 minutes[1]
Guest appearances
Fredric Lehne as Marshal Mars Kimberley Joseph as Cindy Chandler Greg Grunberg as Seth Norris L. Scott Caldwell as Rose Nadler
Episode chronology
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Lost season 1
List of episodes

"Pilot" is the two-part television pilot of the ABC television series Lost, with part 1 premiering on September 22, 2004, and part 2 one week later on September 29. Both parts were directed by J. J. Abrams, who co-wrote the script with series co-creator Damon Lindelof. Jeffrey Lieber, who had been commissioned by ABC to write the first version of the script, earned a story credit. Filmed in Oahu, Hawaii, it was the most expensive pilot episode up to that time, costing between $10 and $14 million, largely due to the expense of purchasing, shipping, and dressing a decommissioned Lockheed 1011 to represent Flight 815's wreckage. Many changes were made during the casting process, including the selected actors, the characters' behaviors and fates.

The pilot introduces the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, who experience a plane crash and end up on a mysterious island. Three of the characters, Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) and Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan), are featured before the crash in flashbacks of their experiences on the plane as it breaks apart in mid-air; this narrative technique would be reused in almost every subsequent episode of the series. The Lost pilot is one of the most critically acclaimed television pilots of all time. Both parts earned high ratings, and the episode would later win many awards and accolades.