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Jimmy Kimmel Grills the Lost Bosses (Part 2)
Josh Holloway and Evangeline Lilly by Mario Perez/ABC
This is part two of funnyman Jimmy Kimmel's interview with Lost producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. TV Guide sat in on the Q&A as the talk-show host grilled the show's masterminds with his burning questions about how the season — and series — will end.
Jimmy Kimmel: Will Walt continue to grow until he's 9, 10, 11 feet tall?
Carlton Cuse: That's one of our favorite lines of the whole show: "Who told you that, Taller Ghost Walt?" You know, we had lunch at Arnie Morton's with Malcolm David Kelley, the actor who plays Walt.
Damon Lindelof: This was before the finale last year.
Cuse: And he was still the same size. We were like, "Thank god!" So we wrote him into the finale and then somehow, in that intervening six weeks, he hit puberty hardcore. He shows up [to shoot the episode] and it's like, "Wow, can he slam-dunk?"
Kimmel: See, you should've gone for an Emmanuel Lewis or a Gary Coleman. [Laughs] In my opinion, the episode where Nikki and Paolo were buried alive was the most different of all the episodes. It almost seemed like a Twilight Zone with a little Romeo & Juliet thrown in.
Cuse: I think what you're responding to is that it was the one episode that sort of acknowledged that this is just a TV show. We were responding very directly to the fans' criticism of those characters. I think some people really appreciated it as a satiric exercise and some were kind of offended that we would...
Lindelof: ... Break the fourth wall.
Cuse: We take the show very seriously, but we do so with a spirit of fun. And I think we have to acknowledge that sometimes we make mistakes. Nikki and Paolo were a mistake. I mean, we're trying to push the envelope — some things work, others crash.
Kimmel: I doubt there's ever been a show more responsive to its audience.
Lindelof: It has to be. Because Lost is highly serialized, we can jump the shark in such a way that people would stop watching forever. And some people have. If you were to poll them all, the common answer would be: "It got too complicated." People are constantly threatening to leave the show. It's not the most stable relationship. [Laughs] At a certain point, you go, "Come on! You're four years in. We're almost home. Just stick it out with us!"
Kimmel: By the final season [in 2010], it may get down to like 175 really hardcore viewers.
Lindelof: [Laughs] As long as you're one of them.
Kimmel: I will be. I've never wavered. Some episodes blow me away more than other ones, but I try to look at the big picture. I defend it when people say, "Oh, this episode's not as good." Maybe it's because I have to do a show every night and I know it can't knock your head off every single time.
Lindelof: Do you feel like there's a creative decision we could make that would make you stop watching?
Kimmel: I mean, if the Globetrotters sailed up to the island or if Tony Danza became a castaway….
Lindelof and Cuse: Uh-oh. [Laugh]
Kimmel: Is everyone on the island from planet Earth?
Cuse: [Long pause] Yes. That may be one of the best Lost questions we've ever been asked.
Lindelof: When you get asked questions like that, you have to be very careful how you answer.
Kimmel: Will we see the process of the Oceanic Six coming home and becoming international celebrities?
Cuse: We will probably not see them hanging out with Paris Hilton.
Lindelof: But you will see that period of excitement when they first come back before the end of the year. We really thought, "What would happen if there was a plane crash and everyone was believed dead and then six survivors turned up?"
Kimmel: Someone would probably write a book. They'd do Good Morning America. And they'd get a big settlement from the airline.
Cuse: The settlement does actually come into play. That's a big plot point in the finale.
Lindelof: Would you book the Oceanic Six on Jimmy Kimmel Live!?
Kimmel: Absolutely. No question about it.
Cuse: The overriding goal of the characters in Season 5 is to get on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Lindelof: That's what Jack is talking about in the flash-forward. He's not talking about the island.
Cuse: [Laughs] "We've gotta go back… on Kimmel!" And Kate's like, "No!"
TV Guide: Do you feel pressure to live up to last year's finale? How do you beat the flash-forwards?
Cuse: I don't know if you beat it. But the audience has been waiting to find out what happens after that scene between Jack and Kate [at the end of Season 3], and we're gonna deliver on that in the finale. We're doing some pretty cool s--t. It's just gonna be on a different bandwidth than last year. It's not about the M. Night Shyamalan trick.
Lindelof: Jimmy, that's actually a question I wanted to ask you. Do you find now that you've done the Ben [Affleck] and Matt [Damon] videos, everyone's saying, "How are you gonna top yourself?"
Kimmel: Yeah, but because that's a departure from my usual show, I have the luxury of not doing anything. So we're just gonna leave it alone. Certainly, if there were some spectacular idea, we'd do it. But there isn't anything better than what we did the last time.
Lindelof: That's the way we feel about last year's finale — that it's a special moment in time. That moment when Kate gets out of the car is a once-in-a-lifetime show experience.
TV Guide: The Internet has played a role in the buzz surrounding both of your shows.
Cuse: I don't think Lost could've existed in the pre-Internet era. Now you have the ability to both catch up with the show and also discuss and explain it. The camaraderie of the fans that come together over the Internet to discuss Lost is a huge factor in its success.
Lindelof: Lost has always been a cult show in its DNA. It started out as being the band that everybody was listening to and is sort of migrating down to the people who are just fans of punk rock.
Kimmel: When the series wraps, is there any chance of a Lost movie?
Cuse: Our goal is to finish the show and have it feel satisfying. We have no plans at this point to do a movie.
Lindelof: We don't wanna do "and then" storytelling. Like, "Yes, that's the entire thing. And then the one thing we didn't tell you was this."
Cuse: When the show ends, it's over.
Lindelof: But I think it goes without [saying that until then], the show is gonna get weird. Weirder.
Cuse: [Laughs] I'm glad you added that amplification. Recently, we were doing [an interview for] a clip show and after about two hours of explaining plot, I was like, "This show is insane! We are certifiably insane people."
Kimmel: Then I'm insane, too, because I'm all in.
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Apr 24, 2008 7:45 PM
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Thanks for sharing such a great interview with us.
And, if this is insanity, than how great it is to feel a part of that insane world!
Enjoyed last night's show, as I do EVERY Lost show, and the more it keeps me guessing, the better I like it. It's great to get questions answered, but when each one opens another question it's wild and wonderful and long may it last!! I DON'T want to know what happens - yet - I just want to get wonderful little teasers and spoilers to keep me asking WHAT? WHY? HOW? and YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!
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Apr 25, 2008 9:46 AM
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Great interview!! I happily admit that I'm insane over LOST too. I have too many hours of viewing invested in the show and its characters to not hang around for the big payoff. I want to know what's around the next bend in this roller coaster. Move over, Jimmy! Save me a seat on the edge of the chair.
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Apr 25, 2008 1:12 PM
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I wish he had asked what the original plan for Nikki and Paolo was. I really wanted to know what they were originally going to do with these characters.
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Apr 25, 2008 2:36 PM
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OK - so we saw the "smoke monster" again last night...but it didn't answer a lot of questions other than Ben seems to be able to manipulate it. I'm glad Locke called him on it too! (Fans don't forget details like that.)
Last night - it was truly the first time I felt bad for Ben.
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Apr 25, 2008 3:26 PM
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If Chris Carter had executed his "mythology arc" as well as Cuse and Lindelof have with Lost's story, I wouldn't have such a low opinion of The X-Files, whose ending left such a bad taste in my mouth.
I also admire the way that the show does not pander to or provide a soft comfy experience for the viewing audience. You feel as though anything can happen to anyone, even characters you like.
If The X-Files or Star Trek:The Next Generation had taken half as many chances that Lost has, I would rate them as great television shows, not just slightly above average which is what I consider them now, in retrospect.
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Apr 25, 2008 3:35 PM
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How could anyone feel bad for Ben? He let his daughter be killed. A real father would have given up the island and everything else just to save his child. Ben was so cold and unfeeling about the whole thing. Maybe in addition to healing people, the island works as a giant dose of Prozac, and people do not have normal feelings any longer.
The violence of killing Alex last night was unlike anything ever before on this program. Charlie’s death was the saddest for me since the program began. Shannon’s death tugged at my heart, but Charlie dying made me cry. Most of the other deaths did not have quite the same impact. Yet last night there was something in the way Alex was killed off that was so cold and unfeeling. Maybe it was just another actress that made us care about her character. Unlike most of The Others, Alex had a good heart, and the way she was just slaughtered was horrifying. Somehow it was just so much uglier than any other death on LOST.
Maybe it was just the fact that instead of Ben saying, “I love you Alex,” he denied her as his daughter. You could just see the aloneness on the actresses face; here was a child that was being denied by her own father. She died alone, and lonely, and scared, and being denied by the one man who should have cared for her more than anyone else...
I have long since given up on LOST being any sort of Logic in the end. I never received a logical conclusion to the Hatch, or the computer entering number, or why when it all blew up Desmond survived. What did they do with the children from the plane? What about the second, smaller island that Jack, Kate, and Sawyer were held on last season? That was never really explained. How is this entire island powered up?
My reasons for tuning in? Kate is hot. Clair. I was such a fan of Charlie, and can not turn away even though he is dead. I am still waiting for Shannon to return to life. Hugo is the kind of person I could be friends with (unlike so many TV characters that I could not stand if they were real people). Following Jack’s story to the end.
My bet is Sun is in the coffin, and that already saddens me. It is so much like losing another friend.
These are probably the unluckiest people that ever existed.
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Apr 25, 2008 11:00 PM
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Is there any chance Charlie could have escaped from the aqua station after the
bad guy blew up the window to the hatch
letting all the water rush in and drown Charlie?? Charlie could have swam out of the blown up window to safety (I am
hoping so)! Also what is the big "smoke
monster" thing? I felt bad for Ben too but I do believe he gambled with his own
daughter's life and he lost....I think he was truly shocked that they killed her. It was sad....
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Apr 26, 2008 12:31 AM
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