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The Jack Shephard character from Lost, played by Matthew Fox, has become one of the most recognized faces from that series and his portrayal of the troubled central character is often seen as one of the strengths of the show. But the original plans for the series had the character dying off in the pilot episode.
Lost broke much new ground for television as the creative team decided to use this show to push the boundaries of network Prime Time viewing and deliver intricate stories with plenty of mysteries as well as unexpected twists and turns. And one of the first of those twists was planned for the opening episode which introduced the story of the survivors of Flight 815 on a mysterious island that had many secrets and dangers yet to be revealed. The character of Jack Shephard immediately emerged as a focal point and the unofficial leader of the passengers, and this was intentional to have the audience identify with him as the series lead. But then the writers planned on pulling out the rug on the audience and killing him off to demonstrate that viewers could not know what to expect with this show and that any character could die at any moment.
J.J. Abrams originally wanted Michael Keaton to play the role when it was thought that he would exit after the pilot. ABC pushed hard to change the fate of Jack Shephard, though, fearing that this would quickly turn the audience against the show early on. Thus Keaton was never approached to play the role and it eventually went to Matthew Fox. The only survivor from the front section of the plane, the pilot (played by Greg Grunberg who would star in Heroes two years later), suffered the fate originally intended for Shepherd. And this may be another one of those rare instances where network intervention actually proved beneficial as Lost would have been a very different series without Matthew Fox as Jack Shephard providing the focal point that would carry the show through six seasons.
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