One of the surprise hits of the season is ABC’s mystery-adventure series “Lost.” When the show’s creator, J.J. Abrams (“Alias”) first heard the premise, he didn’t like it at all.

“The idea of a plane crash and people who land on an island, it wasn’t very interesting to me,” Abrams says.

His co-executive producer, Damon Lindelof, came on board and suddenly, the show took on new meaning.

“We started talking and I started to think, ‘If the island isn’t just an island, and if there’s a story about the island, and if it very slowly becomes about where they land and not just that they crash-landed. . . .’

“I had never met Damon and all of a sudden . . . we were hitting it off so well. And it was just fun.”

Abrams was about to turn in a new pilot show he’d finished writing when he got a call from Lloyd Braun, then a chief at ABC.

“I said, ‘Lloyd, I’m three days away from turning in this other pilot that I’m writing.’ He said, ‘Would you please help put this together?’ ” Abrams says.

It isn’t the format of the show that’s crucial, says Lindelof, who worked on “Nash Bridges” and “Crossing Jordan.” It’s the characters that keep us coming back.

“Why people will respond to the premise is, ‘What would I do? . . . What would I do on the desert island and I wasn’t getting off?’ . . . The sociological elements of it have always been very, very interesting to us,” Lindelof says.

Both insist “Lost” has little in common with the reality show “Survivor,” except they’re both filmed in tropical environments. “Lost” is shot in Hawaii.

“The thing about ‘Survivor’ is it’s a 16-week cycle,” Lindelof says. “The franchise of the show is not survival. . . . It’s sitting around and waiting for Jeff Probst to walk out of the jungle and say, ‘Let’s have, like, a cheeseburger auction.’ ”

Finding a cast of 48 people who could sustain interest for several seasons was a challenge.

“We started to find people as we were writing it,” says Abrams, who first drew attention as the executive producer of “Felicity.”

“Actors would show up that would be right for the roles we wrote, that was great. But when people came who weren’t quite right, but were great, we figured out ways to incorporate them.”

For instance, Yunjin Kim, who plays Sun, came in to read for another part.

“But she was so amazing and blew us away and we realized that she spoke fluent Korean, then we decided that we should have a Korean character on the island.” Lindelof says. “And maybe it was a husband and wife.”

Matthew Fox (Jack) hadn’t even read the complete script when he came in to meet the two producers.

“I read a scene they’d written actually for another character, for Sawyer,” Fox says. “And J.J. said, ‘Can you stick around a little while and read the whole script?’ And I sat down in an office and J.J. kept running in about every 20 minutes going, like, ‘What do you think? What do you think?’ ‘Please, just let me finish the thing.’

“But it was just fantastic. And I just love the entire premise and the opportunity that gives this incredible cast to do some really fantastic dramatic material. And I was completely, 100 percent sold, totally excited about it.”

In her first speaking role on television, Evangeline Lilly makes a memorable Kate.

“I remember when I was testing with these guys, and one of the things that was taken out of the pilot was an ascent that Kate makes up a 40-foot tree,” the Alberta, Canada, native says. “The first thing I asked was, ‘Do I get to make that climb? Please, can I make that climb?’ I love nature. I love climbing trees and I also love animals and insects, and none of that creeps me out.”

Dominic Monaghan, best known for his role as the hobbit Merry in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, plays the druggie Charlie. He’s fond of the wild, too, and has a pet black widow spider.

“I’m a fan of bugs,” Monaghan says. “I’m a fan of wild animals in general and had snakes and lizards when I was a kid and would go out and catch insects and bugs.

“I do sound like a geek, don’t I?”