A Crapload of Off-Air Emmy Nominations

Somehow, it seems like a majority of the fan-crazed shows that were nominated for the Primetime Emmys on Thursday are… off the air. These shows include Lost, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Monk, 24, Heroes and Flash Forward.

ABC’s Lost, which has been nominated every year since 2005, received 12 bids, making it the sixth-most nominated show this year. And let us repeat – it’s not even on the air any more. “For a show to be nominated when it’s not on the air anymore — we canceled ourselves but we’re still canceled — is pretty awesome,” said co-creator Damon Lindelof.

But Lost was a special situation because its creators set out the parameters when it started, dealt with a finite time to complete it and felt mounting pressure to go out with a bang, said co-creator Carlton Cuse.

“We told the story that we wanted to tell and we were really fortunate that we got to do that and end the show on our own terms,” he said.

“The story ended. It wasn’t because people lost interest or the quality of the show was falling off,” said Matthew Fox, who is nominated for outstanding lead actor in a drama series. “We were at the peak of our game.”

Also sort of at the peak of its game was The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien … well maybe that’s a stretch. But even though it was only on the air for 7 months… Conan has gained such a powerful fanbase (even better than his previous one) that his show just couldn’t be ignored. O’Brien didn’t shy too far away from the irony of being nominated on a canceled show, tweeting “Congrats to my staff on 4 Emmy nominations. This bodes well for the future of ‘The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien.’”