The Forgotten Lost & Found

http://abc.go.com/shows/the-forgotten

The show's focus is on unidentified human remains, resolved by a team of volunteers.

I was on the set of the show the week they shot episode 4. I had a one time gig as a technical advisor.

A bit different than my original plan for the fall -- few know I helped create the Dick Wolf pilot "Lost & Found" as part of the writing team.

http://www.nbc.com/lost-and-found/

Sadly after MONTHS of work we had the pilot and then NBC decided NOT to pick up the show for the fall schedule. But I certainly have a nice copy of the pilot to cherish!

After Lost & Found fell off the NBC fall line up - the head writer for Lost & Found migrated over to Jerry Bruckheimer's team and suggested I might have some input there as well. And eventually I was summoned to the set of The Forgotten.

The Forgotten isn't based on any single group or org, but a fictional version of all. "Any Group" so to speak as they had to create a "new entity" that had characters that meet often on a physical basis. Real volunteer groups are scattered about the globe, connected by the world wide web.

I was able to get them up to speed on NamUs.gov (The National Database of Missing & Unidentified Persons) and how their characters might refer to the national database in the scripts. Eventually, it also led to a weekly PSA for NamUs during the show.

In any event I will have the opportunity to whisper in the various ears of The Forgotten. I met with actors as well (all of them were super) Christian Slater brings a lot of energy to the team.

Budget issues and Jay Leno's expanding schedule seem to be the main reason for L&F not getting a fall pickup on NBC. They did initially imply the potential slot for mid-season re-placement. BUT -- the actors had only a short time to find other work rather than just wait on a possible pickup. So that ship quickly sailed.

Lost & Found almost got picked up by USA network -- but it meant a huge budget slice that could have caused a re-casting. It was a no win scenario.

I wish the best for The Forgotten, though my own efforts with scripted drama eventually died. It is important for the REAL cause that The Forgotten continues to shed light on the very real issue at hand.