What gratifies ABC's "Lost" executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse most about the show's 12 Emmy nominations based on its final season is that everyone nominated has been associated with the show during its entire six-year run.
They also are pleased that they are both being recognized for their writing, which they say is their first love.
"The writing category is so enormously competitive," Lindelof told TheWrap. "Only one episode is recognized. That the Academy singled us out for the final episode, embraced us, makes it sweet. We are both showrunners now, but the job we still enjoy doing most is writing."
Among the 12 nominations "Lost" received, in addition to Outstanding Drama Series: Matthew Fox was nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, category; Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson are up for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; Elizabeth Mitchell is nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (for a role she has been reprising throughout the series); Jack Bender is recognized for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series; and Lindelof and Cuse are up for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Lindelof told TheWrap that while the cast and crew on the show numbers around 400, and it's impossible to recognize everyone, it's gratifying that "all the people nominated have been with us for all six years."
Cuse said the final season of the show was "put under a microscope" by the media and viewers, and to be recognized with 12 Emmy nominations "makes us feel that the show was appreciated in its totality, and that makes us feel very good."
O'Quinn and Emerson are previous Emmy winners in the supporting actor category, but for the most part the show's cast, and particularly its female members, have not been recognized that much by the Academy members during its six-year run.
Cuse believes that's because of the dynamics of ensemble casts. "It is frustrating to us that more of our cast members who did outstanding work over the years were not recognized, but we are at a competitive disadvantage," he told TheWrap. "We have 16 regular cast members, and in some episodes some are front and center and others have to take a back seat. So it's hard to compete against other actors who are at the forefront every week."
But Cuse is not complaining. "With 12 nominations, we are counting our blessings."
