There’s no shortage of shows like “Lost,” but did you know there was a parody of the hit sci-fi series that aired less than a decade ago? “Wrecked,” a spoof about a group of less-capable castaways who find themselves stranded on a tropical island after a plane crash, aired for three seasons on TBS.
Pitched as a mix of “Lost” and “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” “Wrecked” debuted on June 14, 2016. Created by brothers Justin and Jordan Shipley, the show was more comedy than mystery-box, getting laughs out of the many ways the hapless crash survivors try to survive the island — and each other — with no hope of rescue. Things get darkly funny, including instances of cannibalism and “Lord of the Flies”-style societal collapse.
In an interview with Paste ahead of the series premiere, Justin Shipley explained they wanted to make their cast the opposite of the heroes on “Lost.”
“We were like, if this were to happen, most planes are full of idiots, full of us,” he said. “And we kind of unpacked it from there. If that had happened to us, we’d die immediately.”
Reviews for “Wrecked” were good (though not universally so), and it ran for a total of 30 episodes. The final one aired on October 2, 2018, and a few months later TBS announced it was not renewing “Wrecked” for a fourth season.
The star of Wrecked, Zach Cregger, has become better known as a horror director
“Wrecked” boasted an ensemble cast led by Zach Cregger, who played flight attendant Owen O’Connor. Cregger was not a newcomer to TV comedy; he was one of the founders of the sketch group The Whitest Kids U Know and starred in the TV show of the same name that ran from 2007 to 2011 on Fuse and IFC.
In an interview with Sling, Cregger said playing O’Connor across multiple episodes made him realize he needed to be giving his characters backstories, something that wasn’t as essential in sketch comedy. However, in the years since “Wrecked” ended, Cregger has found incredible success behind the camera.
In 2022, he directed the horror film “Barbarian,” which was a critically acclaimed hit. He followed that up with “Weapons,” an even bigger sensation that won star Amy Madigan an Oscar for best supporting actress. Creggor’s latest directorial project is his 2026 adaptation of the video game series “Resident Evil,” which releases on September 18, 2026.
