Why the Lost Snub isn’t so bad afterall
What difference a day makes. I’ll admit, I started the day as pessimistic as ever about the state of the Emmy awards and what the lack of nominations said about the place for intelligent and challenging concepts. Then a voice of reason spoke to me (by email, reason does get around on the world wide web these days), and while I challenged the assertion that I was ‘looking at it all wrong’ at first, I can now say that I am in an entirely different head-space.
The fact is, the momentum most of us felt going into the Emmy nominations was from the last half of the third season. Even though it was a long time ago, if we rewind to the beginning we will find an entirely different debate about Lost raging. The debate often carried the cliche "Has Lost lost it?"
In those days, we die hards were either feigning contentment, or were goading the criticism with half baked excuses or pleas to just ‘let it hit its stride.’ But the reality is, whether you loved it or hated it, Lost suffered both with critics and fans alike in the beginning of this season.
The rebound was fantastic, of course, and that is what we should be focusing on here. Lost snagged some very important nominations. What those nominations say is that Lost escaped the gravity of its shaky start, and not just a little. If Lost had continued to receive the pummeling it got at the start of season three, it would have been shut out completely.
I had the good fortune of being able to share this epiphany with the masses through my day job, so if this babbling rant isn’t enough to convince you, try giving this piece a whirl:
When the chapter in the history of Lost is written that reflects this years nominations, do we want it known that "Lost fans agonized over a second shut out," or "Lost fans were galvanized by the recognition of Lost’s improvements."
Personally, I’ll stick with the school of thought that says these nominations prove that all those armchair critics who pig piled on Lost at the beginning of the third season were wrong. Lost lives on, perhaps with a few dents, but as a show whose excellence is an imperative that cannot be suppressed.
Good reduction of your coginitive dissonance DocArtz … mentally, and thus probably physically, very healthy.
Either way, our highly talented and professional Producers, writers, and others like you, are now even more motivated to work hard and deliver a great LOST adventure … fun times for all - RichPundit
Comment by RichPundit — July 20, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Let’s not get any delusions here: Lost is the best show on tellivision even at its worst. Hell, I’d watch Stranger in a Strange Land again if it meant I didn’t have to be subjected to “Everyepisodehassomeonepointingagun*cough*24*cough*”
Comment by verinon — July 20, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
Doc,
I think your post was spot on. We as fans need to support the successes LOST receives. We know what’s going on and so do the critics. It matters not what Emmys it receives or not, because in the end LOST is going down in the books as one of the best TV shows ever. And I like to think we are a part of that in the moment..that we are witnessing TV history regardless of what some critics or awards show thinks. It will be regarded in high standards when it is done and that’s a fact.
I think many of us have not only watched a lot of good TV but seek out shows that try to be a cut above. We enjoy decent television and what is enjoyable with LOST in particular, is that many of us have never witnessed this caliber of tv before. From the filming to the plot to the actors etc. not many rival this show in all the catagories LOST does. It may seem as though I am kissing LOST butt and geeking out but I have merely touched on the top points and I think many of us feel this way.
I think in the end LOST will be recognized for it’s greatness, but then they’ll only be preaching to the choir.
-Apollo69 aka downthehatch
Comment by Apollo69 — July 20, 2007 @ 6:50 pm
Finding out that Lost did not do better in Emmy nominations was a disappointment and rationalizing away their best drama snub (for one) is probably the best way of dealing with it. Hopefully, the creators of Lost and those who were overlooked in various categories are also looking at the glass as half full instead of half empty. Unfortunately, no matter how poorly awards shows reflect the quality of television by nominating popular or mainstream but not always superior shows, many if not most people do judge how good something is by the awards it receives. The fans know Lost is great and certainly the people who work so hard to make such a good show are appreciative of fan support, but I’m sure they would love the pat on the back and the accolades that some additional nominations, like best drama, would give them.
Comment by Dana — July 20, 2007 @ 8:00 pm
I watched the first pod of episodes completely on its own merit without going on the net for news, spoilers, discussion, etc. and enjoyed it immensely - not as much as Season 1 but more than the lull in Season 2 (Dave, SOS, etc.)
I was suprised when I later read all the criticism. The flashbacks by their very nature are becoming harder to keep dramatically intersting and relevant without sliding into melodrama - they have now addressed this. Our Lostaways were ignored - yes, but the show has evolved to include the Others and Lost can’t stay in Season 1 for 4 seasons. Locke has changed - characters can’t stay the same for 4 seasons. Lost has jumped the shark - no, you jumped ship to Ugly etty and Grey’s Anatomy.
The boo-boys who hate Lost now but stay on the forums slagging it off are a rare and interesting breed. They must be attention seeking because if I ever lost faith in the show (God forbid), I would drop out of the ‘community’ altogether.
The Emmys are always going to recognize the new flavour of the month things like Heroes (good show), Grey’s and Ugly Betty. Quality will stand the test of time on DVD just as the best American films have survived and surpassed those Academy Award winners that have thankfully been forgotten.
Comment by roy — July 21, 2007 @ 7:34 am
They got the best writing nod. That’s enough for me really. I would have liked the Best Drama nod, and maybe best lead (for Foxy), but if they hadn’t gotten the best writing nod I would have to boycot the Emmy’s for life. Now, I’m just “snubbing” them this year.
Comment by MerlboroMan — July 21, 2007 @ 9:12 am
I think the people who elect the shows for the different categories are heroes fans. lol XD
Comment by beca — July 21, 2007 @ 11:40 am
I think discussion of the Emmys period is to say that the Emmys actually make a smidgeon of difference as to how much we value this show. We know Lost is where it’s at — why do we need a stupid award show to confirm our conclusions?
Why not just drop it altogether? I know I sure as hell don’t care what any of the judges who nominate and elect Emmy award winners have to say, or what any other award shows have to say for that matter. We should be reveling in the awesomeness of the fact that we have Lost to look forward to until 2010.
Comment by Roger — July 21, 2007 @ 6:18 pm
In other news, Lost also didn’t won the “Outstanding Achievement in Drama” award from TCA… The award went to The Sopranos and Heroes won “Program of the Year”.
After an amazing season (I think season 3 was even better than season 1) I was expecting Lost to gather many awards, but it looks like this is The Sopranos and Heroes year… In the latter case, what a hugely overrated show…
Comment by Sergio — July 22, 2007 @ 3:57 am
Well, i still feel like Lost was snubbed in terms of Best Actor, Best Actress, and Beast Supporting Actress among other things. And i dont think that has anything to do with the show’s mini season because even then their acting was still prime.
Comment by Ben Leeway — July 22, 2007 @ 11:49 am
I respectfully have to disagree with Doc on this one. If we as fans feel that the Emmys represent the best in television, then the snub in Best Drama category does need to be emphasized. It’s not a slight against the brilliant people behind the scenes to be upset by the lack of another nomination.
Lost is the most riveting television series of its time. Last season was completely worthy of a Best Drama nomination, if not an outright win. Personally, I’m going to give feedback to whatever organizations will hear me on the oversight. If we as fans are legitmately concerned about Lost’s “legacy,” then why not make the biggest stink imaginable? 20 years from now no one is going to remember Lost’s nomination for Best Single Camera Operator.
Comment by sandleford — July 22, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
Emmy voters don’t really use viewer numbers as an indication of what nominations should be accepted. If that were the case, things like Arrested Development would never see nominations.
Under the Emmy rules, producers/individuals can submit nominations. If I were a betting man, I’d say that there were no best actor/actress nominations from the Lost crew - the producers have gone to great lengths to address their belief that Lost is an ensemble.
As for best show, I would again state I don’t think Lost had a solid enough year to fairly say they deserve it. Producers have to submit 6 episodes to the board (there are some exceptions) but which 6 episodes could you submit to a panel that might not watch Lost (and thus be very confused)? You have around 250 minutes to show the best you’ve got without turning them off. That’s a challenge for ANY serial program.
Look at this year’s drama nominations: Boston Legal, House, Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, and Sopranos. The first two are really stand-alone for the most part. Grey’s Anatomy could probably find a 6 episode arc or so. Heroes could probably find 6 episodes in a row (probably submitted the first 6) and Sopranos had a very short year to draw from. How could you expect someone who doesn’t watch Lost to understand the tension behind Locke locking Sawyer in the brig with his father? That’s been 2 years of building that you can’t recreate in a “Previously on Lost.”
I think the best way to look at this situation is two-fold. First, there were some REALLY good nominations for the show this year. Terry O’Quinn and Ben Emerson are so amazing at what they do that it is sad to have to pick between them. TTLG is nominated in three prestigous categories and is in incredible company. Second, Lord of the Rings didn’t walk away with a Best Picture Oscar until after Return of the King. There’s a certain ceremony to the awards, and I think even if Lost -had- been nominated, Sopranos is due for a very good year.
Comment by icyone — July 23, 2007 @ 9:31 am
As a huge music, movie and TV fan, I’ll never, for the life of me, get why so much emphasis is played on the Grammy’s, Oscars and Emmy’s, unless you’re in the marketing department of EMI, 20th Century Fox or ABC. They suck donkey balls, they always have, always will.
Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP lost the album of the year Grammy to those tired old hipsters Steely Dan (who I loved in the 70’s), who had made the shittiest album of their career, that’s all you need to know about how stupid awards shows in something totally subjective like the arts really are. I could literally fill a page with similar pathetic wins for crap that didn’t deserve it in the three competitions. Your fixation on the Emmy’s is baffling. Why anyone seeks validation from something so trivial and corrupt as the Emmy’s is beyond me.
I’d like for you to change your…perspective. It’s totally cool that LOST is mainly for the hardcore now; they have a commitment from ABC to finish the series in 48 eppies, it’s not going to get canceled because they’re not drawing 20 million + per week, the ratings are fine with just the hardcore fans. They don’t *need* the people who are still wondering about the polar bears or the Numbers or whatever mystery that we hardcore got the answer to long ago to keep the show going, to have it make it through another season.
That said, have to respond to this:
In those days, we die hards were either feigning contentment, or were goading the criticism with half baked excuses or pleas to just ‘let it hit its stride.’
I’m going to throw a really radical notion your way, Doc. You ready? Some of us *gasp* actually really liked the first six episodes of the season. You read that right. I was ecstatic that it was Others-centric, that we got some wonderful bits of info out of those eppies, some really great scenes (the first five minutes of ATOTC, “I’ll take you there, I’ll take you home”, the airport scene after John ate the magic paste, the last 10 minutes or so of EMFHS from when we see Ben and James hiking up the cliff, Eko’s death) and we barely saw *shudder* Hugo *shudder* or Claire, both of whom I’d love to see written out in 0401 and I’m disappointed are still around and Tom isn’t.
Some of us actually liked Stranger in a Strange Land, because it was really well directed by Paris Barclay, had a great one-off character in Isabell and had Jackbacks that didn’t have me scrambling for the FF button like every other one did. Achara’s “You are a leader, a great man. But this, this makes you lonely, and frightened, and angry” summed up Jack in the way that all the previous FB’s couldn’t manage to do and the Jack/Juliet scene after she was branded was really well done.
Some of us hated the on-Island Hugo and Charlie nonsense in Tricia Tanaka is Dead and if it weren’t for the flashbacks, which Cheech Marin stole, would never watch the episode again.
Some of us really liked Expose and if TPTB felt they had to write out Nikki and Paulo because of the outcry about them and how poorly they were introduced–I never cared, they’ve screwed up a bunch of things, why that became an issue was totally lame to me. I thought the whole ruckus was absurd and boiled down to “OMG! OMG! They’re taking time away from Charlie feeding Claire peanut butter! OMG!” or a similar “my favorite isn’t getting screentime because of *those* two”, even though I bet someone with a stopwatch would prove that Danny Pickett got more screen time and I read nary a peep about him (why he had a hateon for James, that’s another story). At least they sent them out with, hands down, one of the very best deaths on the show ever and Michael Giacchino’s music for that final scene was beyond brilliant.
I know you have to write with a broad brush, but seriously, writing “a majority of fans…” would be more accurate and not lump those of us who don’t buy the standard party line/conventional wisdom/groupthink about eppies, characters or the direction the show was/is going in into one big lump.
Just sayin’.
Comment by Henry Holland — July 24, 2007 @ 9:31 am