Nellie Andreeva

Lost is making a stylish exit with 12 Emmy nominations for its sixth and final season, including best drama series, best lead drama actor (Matthew Fox), supporting actors (Terry O’Quinn, Michael Emerson) as well as writing (Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse) and directing (Jack Bender), both for the much-talked-about series finale. Here is what executive producers/showrunners Lindelof and Cuse had to say today:

Lindelof: The happiest surprise was Matthew Fox cracking into the best actor category. When you look at the guys he‘s against: Michael C. Hall, Bryan Cranston or Jon Hamm, they are almost in every frame of their series, while Lost is more of an ensemble show, so it has been hard for the Academy to acknowledge Matthew as a lead actor and when they finally did, it meant the world to us.”

Cuse: The expectations were really high for the finale so we knew it wouldn’t please everybody but it must have pleased enough Emmy voters for the show to get all the nominations; if it wasn’t satisfying, we wouldn’t have gotten any nominations. We don’t take it for granted: with incredible shows also ending their runs like 24 and Law & Order to not get (the same recognition), it is easy to see how hard it is to get into the drama field these days.

Lindelof on the Lost finale: I do feel we spent so much time talking about how we were gonna end the show (we started getting questions about that right after the pilot) so the fact that we ended it on our own terms makes us feel absolutely no regrets. We acknowledge that it was always a polarizing show that created many theories and made fans passionate about it. It wouldn’t be Lost if everyone loved the finale, but we’re pretty pleased.

Both on what’s next:

Cuse: “Recharging my creative batteries and catching up on a stack of books, movies and TV shows. Lost was something that we thought about 24/7 for the last 6 years, so I need to take some time off for that to be displaced and new ideas to begin to percolate.”

Lindelof: “I’m working on the Star Trek sequel, writing and producing, which is a nice segue. In TV, I have no hope of ever repeating the special experience I had on Lost, so it will be difficult to dip my toes again, but I love television too much to stay away for long.

Since the Lost team has been disbanded following the end of production, the writers and producers plan to celebrate the show’s 12 nominations at the birthday party for show’s writer Elizabeth Sarnoff this weekend. “Something tells me that’s when the Champagne will be flowing,” Lindelof said.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.