The Emmys are funny things. They're the Oscars of primetime television, and hold just as much relative prestige. So imagine what a travesty it would be if LOST's series finale, "The End," was not even considered for an award!
That almost happened due to the abnormal running time of the episode, which, at two and a half hours, was more than twice the length of an average episode by a good thirty minutes. According to old Emmy rules, this would mean that the episode would not be considered -- extended episodes more than twice the usual length of an episode were not to be considered.
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences didn't make an exception for "The End" -- they made a complete rule change. The Academy's board of governors, perhaps in light of the extended episode, announced the rule change on their website recently. I have to say, I think they made the right decision.
LOST, perhaps more than any other year since its first season, definitely stands to win some big awards. Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn are, once again, in very good standing for Best Supporting Actor, while I think that Matthew Fox could very well have a shot at Best Actor in a Drama. And LOST will most certainly be nominated for Best Drama, though it will likely face strong competition from cable favorites Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Will it pull through for the win? Chances are good, and it's likely that voters will be inclined to support something as monumental as the show's final season. But then again, Avatar did get snubbed at the Oscars, didn't it?
Avatar didn't get snubbed. A movie can't win Best Picture solely on the fact that it "looks good in 3D." I'm not saying Hurt Locker should've won, but Avatar was easily the weakest in the category.
Perhaps not snubbed, but I think it deserves to win just like Star Wars deserved to back in 1977. But that's a completely different matter.
I think both Matthew Fox and Michael Emerson were at their best this season. Excellent performance. I'm guilty to say that I've never felt that Fox deserve an Emmy until I watch his performance in this last season of Lost. He should stand a good chance. Of course I believe Lost should win Best Drama, but I'm never good at predicting who would win at the Emmys.
Matthew Fox deserves an award for a very long time and particularly deserved one or two for his double performance in Through The Looking Glass! He's totally underrated, and I'm glad many people this year saw the light! (ha…! like in the moving last minutes of 'The End'…) : he ABSOLUTELY deserves something for the finale (and for his six years of intense acting on Lost).
This episode was not "two and a half hours"The final episode ended up being only 1 hour and 42 minutes long when I edited the commercial breaks out.That leaves 48 minutes of commercials!That's longer than an entire episode of Lost which is usually 40 minutes.They could have aired another entire episode in that same time period, with some answers, and still have 8 long minutes left over to play commercials.If you want to read my take on "The End" finale, or other theories of Lost, including a full explanation of the pregnancy problem and other issues, I have them all here, including a large set of screen shots from Lost showing evidence of alternate realities:http://www.flickr.com/photos/lz-128/