Damon Lindelof’s next project will be HBO series The Leftovers

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

PROMETHEUS and STAR TREK 2 screeenwriter, and former LOST showrunner, Damon Lindelof will make his return to television. LIndelof will serve as showrunner on the HBO series THE LEFTOVERS, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta. Perrotta, who also wrote the novels LITTLE CHILDREN and ELECTION, will cowrite the drama with Lindelof.

THE LEFTOVERS novel has a very interesting premise: What if your life was upended in an instant? What if your spouse or your child disappeared right in front of your eyes? Was it the Rapture or something even more difficult to explain? How would you rebuild your life in the wake of such a devastating event? These are the questions confronting the bewildered citizens of Mapleton, a formerly comfortable suburban community that lost over a hundred people in the Sudden Departure. Kevin Garvey, the new mayor, wants to move forward, to bring a sense of renewed hope and purpose to his traumatized neighbors, even as his own family disintegrates. His wife, Laurie, has left him to enlist in the Guilty Remnant, a homegrown cult whose members take a vow of silence but haunt the town’s streets as “living reminders” of God’s judgment. His son, Tom, is gone, too, dropping out of college to follow a crooked “prophet” who calls himself Holy Wayne. Only his teenaged daughter, Jill, remains, and she’s definitely not the sweet “A” student she used to be. Through the prism of a single family, Perrotta illuminates a familiar America made strange by grief and apocalyptic anxiety. The Leftovers is a powerful and deeply moving book about regular people struggling to hold onto a belief in their futures.

Lindelof recently said, “What I love about television is character-based storytelling, and I want to continue to explore fantastical way of doing it where characters live in a world that is a little skewed.” But he was quick to point out that “I won’t be the one that would come up with the next LOST,” adding that he has no interest in doing more shows with “wackadoo mythology.”

I have not read the novel, but it just jumped to the top of my must read list. The premise follows the successful trend started by THE WALKING DEAD and FALLING SKIES. It looks like networks are simply grabbing anything with a post-apocalyptic scenario in their plots. Stephen King’s UNDER THE DOME is also in development and follows survivors whose town is isolated by a giant invisible dome. I am a big LOST fan and think Lindelof is a true talent. I hope this show succeeds.

What do you think of THE LEFTOVERS as a series?