Damon & Carlton React to Lost's Final Season Emmy Nods

Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse say the Academy had to weigh in on whether or not to allow them to submit the Lost series finale for consideration as Best Drama Series, since it ran longer than two hours. "The Academy had to have a special rules committee before approving it," Lindelof tells TV Guide Magazine. Adds Cuse, "There was enormous pressure on us as to how we were going to end the show, so the nomination was hopefully a sign that a fair number of people were happy with how it worked out. Especially when you think about the shows that ended their runs that didn't get included [like] 24 and Law & Order."

Lindelof, now working on the Star Trek sequel, says it just "sucks that we're pitted against shows like Dexter that we're massive fans of. But it also feels good to be in their company."

It was not lost on the pair that the three Lost actors nominated this year—Matthew Fox, Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn—played characters who were central to Lost's wrap up. "Particularly Matthew, since he's been so central to the show since Day One and because we feel like he's been sort of overlooked by Emmy voters in the past," says Cuse. Lindelof hadn't spoken with Fox since the night the finale aired, "but he called me this morning from Oregon. He called to congratulate us on our nominations and was feeling very happy about his. He's a very intense guy when he's working, so he sounded surprisingly Zen."

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