It’s 2002, and JJ is pitching his concept of a TV show called “PARADISE LOST” to Lloyd, a big shot at ABC.

JJ: So this NASA spaceship takes off to colonize Mars, but it flies through some sort of magnetic field and gets lost and crashes onto a planet a lot like Earth.

LLOYD: Lost in Space. Loved the robot, but it’s been done.

JJ: There’s no robot, Lloyd. All the survivors are human. There’s a dozen of ‘em. They’re scientists.

LLOYD: I can see it. The men are hunks and the women are babes. And multo, uh, multi-cultural. All the ethnics. And one should be handicapped. And how about a dog? Viewers like dogs.

JJ: Okay, sure, a guy in a wheelchair, like Stephen Hawking . . .

LLOYD: The planet heals him, turns him into George Clooney. Can we get George Clooney? And what about that dog?

JJ: I’ll write-in a dog. But Lloyd, I’m thinkin’ big here. The planet appears to be perfect. Oceans, lakes, streams, mountains, forests, jungles, fertile valleys, broad plains, every kind of creature you can imagine. A paradise. The survivors think they’ve landed in the Garden of Eden. But they’re not alone. They’re surrounded by The Others.

LLOYD: Wookies? Vampires? Robots?

JJ: No robots, Lloyd. Human-like creatures, billions of ‘em, all over the planet, well-armed, aggressive, chasing down the survivors, putting ‘em in cages when they catch ‘em.

LLOYD: Planet of the Apes. It’s been done.

JJ: No, this is different. The survivors realize that the planet isn’t as perfect as they had thought. In fact, it’s dying. It’s facing twelve crises. The oceans are polluted. The climate is warming. There’s a mass extinction of plant and animal species underway . . .

LLOYD: Wasn’t the Planet of the Apes dying?

JJ: Yeah, but this is different. The mission commander assigns each of the twelve survivors one of the crises to research. He thinks if they can come up with solutions, they can save the planet, make peace with The Others, maybe get some help repairing their spaceship, so they could return to Earth.

LLOYD: Hmmm, that title, “PARADISE LOST,” I’ve heard that before.

JJ: It’s a classic, Lloyd, a 17th century epic poem in twelve books by John Milton.

LLOYD: So we wouldn’t have to buy the rights?

JJ: No, it’s public domain.

LLOYD: That’s a plus. But if it’s a “classic” (he makes finger quotes) and if it’s got “scientists researching pollution,” (more finger quotes) wouldn’t this kind of show be more appropriate for PBS?

JJ: I’m not really using much of the classic plot. It’s mostly the title I want, and the basic concept. The inhabitants of this world had a paradise. They could have cherished it, protected it, enjoyed it forever. But instead they gave in to temptation, to their worst impulses. They raped and pillaged and poisoned their world. If the survivors from the spaceship can’t find ways to save the planet, it will be Paradise Lost. It’s a parable, Lloyd, a parable about good and evil and what mankind is doing to Earth.

LLOYD: That’s beautiful, JJ (wiping away the tears). I mean it, man. Just beautiful. We’ll buy the show!

JJ: Really? That’s great. I can’t wait to tell Damon and Jeffrey . . .

LLOYD: If you’ll just make a few changes. Instead of a spaceship crashing onto another planet, make it an airliner crashing onto a tropical island. It won’t be like that Tom Hanks movie, because there’s no FedEx product tie-in and there’s twelve hunks and babes. But just passengers on the plane, average types, not scientists. Well, maybe one doctor. Doctor shows are popular. And a criminal, a prisoner who escapes in the crash. Keep the ethnics, and wheelchair guy, and the dog, of course, and The Others chasing ‘em down and putting ‘em in cages. That’s all good stuff. But is it enough to succeed in the 9:00 pm time slot? I think we need to amp it up. Ghosts, maybe an invisible monster, or better yet, a smoke monster. And a polar bear. Everybody loves polar bears. Oh, and could you work in some time travel? You wanted science. There it is. Forget about all that environmental stuff. That’s the boring kind of science. And that title. This isn’t Masterpiece Theater. Drop the “Paradise” and just call it “LOST” . . .

JJ: (Smile fading, eyes glazing over)

LLOYD: An atom bomb! Yeah, that’s the ticket. You film an episode with an A-bomb to use as the grand finale. You never know how long a series will last. Or we could keep our options open for a spinoff if the bomb flipped survivors into an alternate universe. See, more science. I like science.