Damon Lindelof finds first, and equally intense, post-‘Lost’ TV project

Waiting for Damon Lindelof’s next move is almost like whenever your local bakery busts out a new donut. You know it’s going to be tasty, but is it as tasty as the one you had before? “Lost” was like a golden bear claw dipped in edible gold, so no matter where he goes expectations are high that he is going to redefine television again.

We can at least say already that Lindelof’s new project has grade-A potential to be one of the tastiest treats to hit the tubes in some time. According to Deadline, the executive producer is heading to HBO with a new project entitled “The Leftovers” (this was not meant to be a part of our food analogy), based on Tom Perrotta’s 2011 book about people who were left on earth after the rapture. This concept may not be as revolutionary as “Lost” when you first think about it — but when you heard the idea of people getting stranded on an island, it didn’t necessarily sound that creative, either. The reason “Lost” worked was because of where the story went with the smoke monster, the Hatch, the Others, and the millions of other things Lindelof and Carlton Cuse plugged into the show. Considering the room for analogies that could be made based on the book of Revelation, there are so many interpretations that could come out of this.

What will be intriguing for us as a viewer is seeing how Lindelof, who received this opportunity thanks to a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. TV, manages to work within the frame of adapting source material to series rather than developing so much of the product himself like in “Lost.” He’s certainly worked with established franchises before on the big screen (see “Star Trek” or “Prometheus”), so it may not be as big of an issue as you would first think.

Do you think “The Leftovers” could be a chocolate eclair, or are we looking more at a donut hole that has been sitting in the front of the store for a little too long? Lindelof’s new show unfortunately does not have a launch date yet, but stay tuned for more details.

Photo: ABC