Embedded within "FlashForward," the ABC meditation about fate that had its premiere on Thursday, was a hopeful sentiment about the show's own future.

In this ambitious series, billions of people on the planet simultaneously black out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds and see a vision of themselves on April 29, 2010, six months into the future. The repeated references to April 29, conveniently also a Thursday, are a commitment to viewers that the unfolding puzzle will have a solution; that the producers are not just making it up as they go along.

"It's a covenant you make with the audience: that you're going to treat them with respect," said David S. Goyer, a co-creator of the series, which is based on a science-fiction novel by Robert J. Sawyer. "If they're going to invest in these characters, then these stories are going to pay off."

Whether the mystery is fully explained to viewers is dependent on ABC's order of a full season. A sizable audience of 12.4 million viewers watched the first episode on Thursday, giving ABC one of its best premieres in the last five years, and an early indication that the network may be fostering what it badly needs: a new signature drama series.

Or, to put it another way, ABC may finally be rolling out a worthy successor to "Lost," the network's landmark mystery series. The final season of "Lost" - a complex mythological series involving science-fiction plots and, in one season, flash forwards - begins in January.

In an interview at the "FlashForward" production offices on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, Calif., this month, in an office previously occupied by "Lost," the producers said "Lost" had shown them that network television had room for epic, cinematic productions.

"FlashForward" is certainly epic. It imagines how people around the world would react if confronted with glimpses of the future. In the premiere a recovering alcoholic sees himself drinking again; a single woman sees herself midway through a pregnancy exam; a man about to commit suicide sees himself alive in six months, leading him to put down the gun. Some people witness nothing at all.

Somewhat humorously, the lead character played by Joseph Fiennes is put in charge of an F.B.I. investigation into the blackouts because in his vision he saw himself investigating the blackouts.

The show asks, "Are our life paths written for us when we come out of the womb, or do we have a choice?," Mr. Goyer said.

On the surface similarities between "FlashForward" and "Lost" abound. Two cast members of "Lost," Dominic Monaghan and Sonya Walger, appear in "FlashForward" in different roles. Both shows even include unusual appearances by animals: a polar bear on "Lost"; a kangaroo in "FlashForward." ABC has steered the sci-fi fan base to "FlashForward"; a Google search for "Lost" even includes text advertisements for the new show.

Without uttering a critical word about "Lost," the producers of "FlashForward" telegraphed a distinction between the storytelling styles of the two shows. The number of loose ends on "Lost" are infamous, to the occasional befuddlement of fans who wonder whether the mysteries will ever be fully explained. In part by setting the April 29 date, the "FlashForward" producers are indicating that the new show is constructed differently.

"There's a seat-of-your-pants way of doing a show that I don't think is in any of our personality traits," said Marc Guggenheim, an executive producer.

The significance of the April 29 date may or may not be explained, and you can assume that it is a coincidence that the May television sweeps season begins on that day. But the producers have said repeatedly that almost all of the questions posed in the first episode - "virtually" all of them, Mr. Goyer said - will be answered by the end of the first season.

Virtually? It is an important caveat. Viewers will most likely know by the end of the season whether the people who didn't see a vision will live or die, but the audience won't know why the blackouts actually occurred.

The cause of the blackouts is "the meta-mystery that will be reserved for however long the series goes," Mr. Goyer said.

The producers took pains to emphasize that they themselves know the cause. (Or causes?) Mr. Goyer's wife, Jessika Borsiczky, an executive producer, recalled, "That was the first question ABC asked: 'Do you know what caused them?' "

"FlashForward" actually had a longer gestation period than "Lost," said Ms. Borsiczky, who first read Mr. Sawyer's book eight years ago. "I couldn't stop thinking about the idea," she said. Together with Mr. Goyer, a friend of hers at the time, "we just kept talking about how interesting the concept would be. What if suddenly you could predict your fate?"

In Mr. Sawyer's book people see a glimpse of their lives 21 years into the future. In the series that time is vastly reduced. "It makes the weight of the future much more pressing," Mr. Goyer said.

Mr. Goyer said that Mr. Sawyer intended to write an episode of "FlashForward" this season.

Like "Lost," "FlashForward" encourages viewers to take part in the mystery and includes numerous "Easter eggs," or hidden bits, for people to discover. In the title sequence for each episode, a distinct image is embedded for a split second.

"The title treatment itself is a flash forward," Mr. Goyer said. Sometimes it will show a scene in that week's episode; other times it will foreshadow a future episode. A number of related Web sites run by ABC, including JoinTheMosaic.com, also tell the story in more detail.

Mosaic is the name of the F.B.I. investigation into the blackouts. Testifying to the level of foresight on the part of the producers are the wall of clues that hint at future story lines.

Even before writing Episode 2, "we had figured out where every single one of those clues goes," Mr. Goyer said. If the "FlashForward" ratings remain high, and the program is renewed by ABC, a few of the clues will not pan out for several seasons, he added.

"We're never going to run out of stories," he said.