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Podcast Summary • Podcast Transcript |
A transcript is a retrospective written record of dialogue, and like a script (a prospective record) may include other scene information such as props or actions. In the case of a transcript of a film or television episode, ideally it is a verbatim record. Because closed-captioning is usually written separately, its text may have errors and does not necessarily reflect the true Canonical transcript.
Transcripts for Lost episodes up to and including "Enter 77" are based on the transcriptions by Lost-TV member Spooky with aid of DVR, and at times, closed captions for clarification. She and Lost-TV have generously granted us permission to share/host these transcripts at Lostpedia. Later transcripts were created by the Lostpedia community, unless stated otherwise below.
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slugless is responsible for this transcription. It is one in the series of the Official Lost Podcasts.
Kris White: Locke bids Kate adieu, Hurley gets a free meal out of Sawyer, and Juliet declares 'The shield is down'. Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are here to discuss those key points and much more in today's Official Lost Podcast, hosted by ABC.com.
[Opening Lost Theme]
Kris White: Welcome to the podcast for the episode 'One of Us'. As mentioned, we have our favorite pod squad in the house today. They'll rehash Kate and Juliet's little trust exercise and, of course, they'll give us a sneak peak at our next episode, which airs Wednesday, April 11th, from 10 to 11 pm on ABC and is available the next day at ABC.com. First up though, we hear about a three hour tour gone wrong. Josh Holloway recounts for us a boating expedition he and Daniel Dae Kim took, and why Daniel will never go out to sea with him again.
[Lost end credits theme music]
Kris White: Ok, so a few weeks ago we were interviewing Daniel Dae Kim about what he likes to do during his down time. During that interview, he let it slip that Josh had a bit of a tale to tell us.
Kris White: Is there anything that you guys do for fun off camera? Like are there any bands or books or magazines that, you know, you guys pass around that everyone's like 'Oh my God, you have to listen to this CD'?
Daniel Dae Kim: Right, actually, Dom has been instrumental - no pun intended - in, uh, you know, in helping my musical tastes this year. Because, you know, in Hawaii, it's hard to find, you know, music and, uh, my usual avenues are gone to me. So he's recommended a few bands that I've ended up loving this year and, uh, that's been great. Josh and I [laughs] have many misadventures on his fishing boat, uh, trying to catch fish and I'll let you ask him ... I'll let you ask him about that.
[Segue music]
Kris White: So, of course like any good investigative reporter, we decided to follow Daniel's advice and went straight to Josh.
Kris White: Daniel Dae Kim was in here and he mentioned that, uh, you've been taking him out fishing and getting in ...
Josh Holloway: Yeah, I, uh, I will be hard pressed to get Dan on the boat again. [laughs] I took him out ... I was really, um ... had a ... the weather's pretty rough in, in Hawaii; that channel that you cross is extremely volatile. I hadn't been able to fish for a while because of the weather, so I was itching to fish this day. I was like 'I'm fishin', I don't care what the weather is'. So I watched and watched, and they lifted the small craft advisory that morning, so I was like 'Ok, we can go'. So I have Dan over at five in the morning.
[Background music plays]
Kris White: So just to pause for a second here, Daniel Dae Kim does have sea legs. We asked him.
Kris White: Now how 'bout, like last year you spoke a little bit about like, being on the ocean, like it was kind of sickening. Was it a little bit better for you this time on the ocean?
Daniel Dae Kim: Actually, yeah, uh, I guess people call it their sea legs. Um, mine have gotten a lot stronger and, uh, I actually enjoyed being out on the water.
Kris White: So, with that in mind, back to our story.
[Background music stops]
Josh Holloway: By the time we're about about a mile out, we're soaking wet. Head to toe - like people throwing five gallon buckets of watch at you about every ten seconds and I'm like 'It's fun!'. Turn your head, shake the water out of your eyes and keep goin'. So we go across the channel and uh, about the time we hit what we call the Penguin Banks, about fifteen miles out, a local guy called me and was like 'I hope you're on the Banks man', and I had just arrived. I was like 'Yeah, it's a little rough out here'. So me and Dan fished out with the waves another ... 'til twenty-something miles and then we turned around to kind of fish the line back. And we couldn't even stay on the line; it was too big. So it was ... there was a lot of silent moments on the boat. [laughs] And I was trying to instill confidence in Dan by being ... 'Ah, it's alright. This is nothin'. And I was like, you know ... and ... uh ... yeah, we we're quiet for a good hour. [laughs] So I don't think he's gonna be coming out anytime soon. I don't blame him. [laughs]
Kris White: Unfortunately, unlike a good investigative reporter, we didn't get any more details out of Daniel. So instead, we went back to our original question: What favorite band did Domenic recommend?
Daniel Dae Kim: 'The Honorary Title', a New York band Dom turned me on to, and, uh, they're melodic, their songs have a lot of New York references which, you know, makes me a little homesick. Uh, they're ... they're just a great band to listen to when you're driving to work.
Kris White: I guess when all is said and done, Daniel really isn't all that much like his son of a fisherman character. He's just a New York boy at heart. Speaking of work, executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse take a break from their work on the season finale so that none of us feel left behind.
[Podcast theme music]
Carlton Cuse: [In a deep voice] Welcome to the Lost podcast. I'm Carlton Cuse and with me, Damon Lindelof.
Damon Lindelof: Is that your NPR voice?
Carlton Cuse: It's my movie trailer voice.
Damon Lindelof: It's good.
Carlton Cuse: For when this show's over and I can have a real career.
Damon Lindelof: You have to say something like 'Jack Shephard was a doctor like any other doctor, until ...'
Carlton Cuse: [In a deep voice] He went to the mysterious island of Lost.
Damon Lindelof: I was doing ... I was doing the comedy trailer.
Carlton Cuse: The comedy version?
Damon Lindelof: Which was like ...
Carlton Cuse: [In comedic voice-over voice] Jack Shephard was a simple doctor fixing people's spines in LA. Then, suddenly, in a wacky fashion, he ended up on a mysterious island.
Damon Lindelof: That's great. I'd watch that movie. But they'd have to put a question mark at the end of the 'Lost' there. It'd be 'Lost?'.
Carlton Cuse: [In a deep voice] Damon, talk about Lost going ... Locke going ... Talk about Lost ... Locke going ... Why is he out there with the Others? What kind of case did Locke make for Kate?
Damon Lindelof: Wow.
Carlton Cuse: Who writes this stuff? I mean, Kris, could you write this at least like so that like sounds conversational?
Damon Lindelof: I don't know what happened with Eddie and Adam last week but you've taken a massive step backwards in your podcasting abilities, I think, you know.
Carlton Cuse: I love Eddie and Adam but it just wasn't the same.
Damon Lindelof: The last time we left, you were doing these questions ... you were actually making them conversational again, and now you're back on script. And when you read a sentence like 'What kind of case did Locke make for Kate?', you know, it's kind of, uh, it's kind of hard to understand what the hell that means, because, I believe it's referring to Locke says to Kate 'Hey, I tried to make a case for you, but they wanted to leave you behind anyway'.
Carlton Cuse: Was it a Prada case?
Damon Lindelof: I don't know what kind of case it was. It could have been a guitar case. It could have been any kind of case ... a hat ... a hat case.
Carlton Cuse: I'm just saying I'm not happy with the question, I'm not happy with the way it was written.
Damon Lindelof: I guess the operative question is when are we gonna see John Locke again. I mean, you know, ...
Carlton Cuse: Not for a while.
Damon Lindelof: ... literally Carlton ...
Carlton Cuse: Not for a while Damon.
Damon Lindelof: I'm just tellin' ya, you make this big stink, he blows up a sub, he sees his father, ...
Carlton Cuse: He's all wet.
Damon Lindelof: ... bound and gagged ...
Carlton Cuse: What's up with that?
Damon Lindelof: He's soaking wet walking down the dock, um ... and now he says goodbye to Kate. You're telling me I have to wait? You give me Nikki and Paulo?
Carlton Cuse: Uh, uh, Nikki and Paulo, absolutely. They're a lot more interesting than John Locke, aren't they?
Damon Lindelof: I guess so. So how much longer are we talkin' before we see John Locke again?
Carlton Cuse: Five weeks.
Damon Lindelof: Five weeks from right now?!?
Carlton Cuse: Pretty much. I mean ...
Damon Lindelof: I think it's more like four weeks, right?
Carlton Cuse: Well I'll say four weeks.
Damon Lindelof: He'll pop back up in episode 19.
Carlton Cuse: I have no idea when you're listening to this podcast, but it's episode 19.
Damon Lindelof: You've now seen episode 15, so 16, 17 ...
Carlton Cuse: Ok, so it's four more weeks.
Damon Lindelof: You have to see three more episodes before John Locke reappears.
Carlton Cuse: Don't ... Don't ... Don't be doing all this math on my head.
Damon Lindelof: I won't, yo.
Carlton Cuse: Ok, it's episode 19.
Damon Lindelof: Ok.
Carlton Cuse: Locke - he's back.
Damon Lindelof: Ok, that's good.
Carlton Cuse: How much does Juliet really know about the smoke monster, Damon?
Damon Lindelof: Well that's an interesting question Carlton. I guess that, uh, she tells Kate, as they're hiding in the tree, that she's never seen it before and she's acting very scared, but it feels ... its seems like Juliet is able to act in many ways that are quasi-duplicitous or not entirely honest. 'Cause she certainly knows how to repel the smoke monster.
Carlton Cuse: Right.
Damon Lindelof: So that would lead her ... and then after she does, she goes 'Ok, I've seen it before but we don't know what it is'. So I wouldn't .. I wouldn't exactly take her at her word there, either.
Carlton Cuse: Can I ask you something else?
Damon Lindelof: Yes, you may.
Carlton Cuse: What is the difference between being duplicitous and being quasi-duplicitous?
Damon Lindelof: Well, being duplicitous is out-and-out lying and, uh, being quasi-duplicitous is, sort of, fudging the truth. Like when I told you this morning that you looked nice. [Both laugh] That was being quasi-duplicitous.
Carlton Cuse: I thought that was just duplicitous.
Damon Lindelof: Well, 'cause you look ok, but you don't look nice.
Carlton Cuse: This definitely didn't happen with Eddie and Adam. Let me just say that. [Damon laughs]
Damon Lindelof: That's because you can fire Eddie and Adam. [Carlton laughs]
Carlton Cuse: And they wore their pants. [Damon laughs]
Damon Lindelof: Wow, they wore their pants?
Carlton Cuse: They wore their pants.
Damon Lindelof: That was probably a good move.
Carlton Cuse: It was a very odd experience doing the podcast under those circumstances.
Damon Lindelof: So I'm a little curious about Juliet getting left behind. I mean, what's up with that? Why do you think Ben ditched her?
Carlton Cuse: I think that, uh, you know, maybe there's kind of two possible explanations. One is he was tired of Juliet and didn't want her around anymore, or maybe there's something ... there's some other reason why he left her behind.
Damon Lindelof: Interesting. I'll stay tuned to find out what Reason B could potentially be.
Carlton Cuse: That's possibly interesting.
Damon Lindelof: Maybe there's something personal between the two of them that, uh, he pissed her ... she pissed him off.
Carlton Cuse: Clearly there is. I mean clearly there's some unresolved tension there. Maybe, uh, maybe we'll find out about that sometime.
Damon Lindelof: You know what I'd love to see? Another Juliet flashback, because I was ... at the end of the last one, after they essentially hit her husband with a bus, I'd love to know what happened when she came to the Island.
Carlton Cuse: Well that's a pretty good lead in to a ...
Damon Lindelof: What?!?
Carlton Cuse: ... pre-hash of 'One of Us'.
Damon Lindelof: Oh my God!
Carlton Cuse: 'Cause strangely and surprisingly that ...
Damon Lindelof: Do you see how ...
Carlton Cuse: ... actually is a Juliet flashback.
Damon Lindelof: Do you see how it's done now Carlton? [Carlton laughs] How one looks at the ... looks at the sheet that Kris prepares and then creates flow.
Carlton Cuse: It is astonishing how you can read so well. [Damon laughs]
Damon Lindelof: It's one of my greatest skills.
Carlton Cuse: It is. That's ... uh ... it's amazing. I would never sell it short.
Damon Lindelof: Thank you. So let's talk about 'One of Us'.
Carlton Cuse: I like 'One of Us'. I think its really one of our better episodes this season, and it does give us that next missing piece in that Juliet flashback story. It kind of tells us what happens after, you know, the scene we saw previously when Alpert recruited her. And now we get to find out what happens.
Damon Lindelof: And Alpert is the guy who was the Mittelos Bioscience representative.
Carlton Cuse: The man showing her the slides and telling her what a great place Portland was, although, my guess is they're probably not really going to Portland because the episode was called 'Not in Portland'.
Damon Lindelof: But maybe we were just trying to deceive the audience and, in fact, the entire show takes place in an island off the coast of Portland.
Carlton Cuse: That is possible. That's true. How does Portland compare to Tallahassee?
Damon Lindelof: I would say if Tallahassee were a one, Portland would be a four.
Carlton Cuse: A four?!?
Damon Lindelof: On a scale of one to five.
Carlton Cuse: Oh, on a scale of one to five. Oh ok.
Damon Lindelof: Right. Although Portland is ... Although Tallahassee is also a one on a scale of one to twenty. [Carlton laughs]
Carlton Cuse: I thought it was going to be a one to ten scale, but ok, that's good.
Damon Lindelof: I love Tallahassee, I want to visit Tallahassee and I'm sorry that we're giving Tallahassee such a bad rap.
Carlton Cuse: You don't want to go to Tallahassee because if you go down there ...
Damon Lindelof: I do!
Carlton Cuse: ... you're gonna get lynched.
Damon Lindelof: I would. I'm public enemy number one. Honestly, Tallahassee is a fantastic ... Why are you shaking your head, Carlton?
Carlton Cuse: I love Tallahassee. [Damon laughs]
Damon Lindelof: Alright, well ...
Carlton Cuse: Ok.
Damon Lindelof: I think we should probably ...
Carlton Cuse: Let's move on to some questions here.
Damon Lindelof: Let's get, uh, let's get to some questions.
Carlton Cuse: Alright, I'm gonna start, ok?
Damon Lindelof: Would you?
Carlton Cuse: Hey, how about that question music Kris?
[Question music]
Damon Lindelof: So catchy.
Carlton Cuse: Ok, uh, "Cameras used for filming Lost". This is a good question because you are very technically orientated Damon, by 'The Failed Hanso Experiment' ...
Damon Lindelof: Wow.
Carlton Cuse: ... one post in the last ninety days. "Hey guys, I have a question/suggestion for you guys. I noticed that while watching Season Three, that the look of the show is less cinematic than Seasons One and Two. I was wondering if this is due to new filming equipment used on the set of Lost, or is it something else. I suggest you guys go back to using the same type of cameras used in the filming of Seasons One and Two."
Damon Lindelof: That is a great suggestion. I think we should. [Carlton laughs]
Carlton Cuse: Ok.
Damon Lindelof: I mean ...
Carlton Cuse: We will.
Damon Lindelof: That's a great note. We've been, uh, shooting the show on Betamax this year ...
Carlton Cuse: It was ... there's got to be an effort to save money someplace.
Damon Lindelof: Sometimes you cost corners ... you, you ... uh ...
Carlton Cuse: You 'cost' corners?
Damon Lindelof: You cut corners.
Carlton Cuse: I guess all that reading has taken away from your talking ...
Damon Lindelof: My ability to speak. Sometimes we cut corners to, uh, to ... to in turn cut costs and, uh, that's why we started shooting the show on Beta this year. So, we'll go back to film.
Carlton Cuse: Thirty-five millimeter Panavision.
Damon Lindelof: Who wrote that?
Carlton Cuse: 'The Failed Hanso Experiment'
Damon Lindelof: Failed Hanso Experiment, you've just won an HD television, courtesy of Jeffery Fordis at ABC Publicity. Please send him a letter [Carlton laughs] to collect ...
Carlton Cuse: He's now ... he's now putting a gun to his head.
Damon Lindelof: Anybody who watches the show on HD ... on high-def would never doubt ...
Carlton Cuse: There's no free tv. There's no free tvs.
Damon Lindelof: ... its cinematic quality.
Carlton Cuse: [In a deep voice] No free tv.
Damon Lindelof: Uh, Carlton, I've got a question for you.
Carlton Cuse: [In a deep voice] Yes Damon.
Damon Lindelof: Uh, by 'insert creative name here'. [Carlton laughs]
Carlton Cuse: I like that.
Damon Lindelof: Two posts in the last ninety days. Immediately I said, whatever this question is, I'm reading it. "Damon and Carlton, when you do a flashback scene such as the fuselage crash on the beach in 'Exposé', do you completely re-shoot the scene with the old props and actors, use some fancy technology to drop in the characters in events that pertain to that episode's back story, or not have to re-shoot because you already shot footage for every possible backstory you guys had thought of at the time because you're omniscient super-geniuses? Impressed either way, insert creative name here."
Carlton Cuse: Well obviously it's C, it's the latter. We ... we are ... we shot everyone's backstories all simultaneously.
Damon Lindelof: Yeah, when we were down there shooting the pilot, J.J. was like, you know, we had cast Paulo and Nikki already [Carlton laughs], and everyone was like 'What are we gonna ... why are we shooting this?'. And he ... we were like waiting ...
Carlton Cuse: Wait, you'll know in fifty episodes.
Damon Lindelof: It'll all make sense later.
Carlton Cuse: Actually the real answer is B. We took the actors and we, through a very complex green screen process ... not very complex ... through a green screen process, we stuck 'em into the old footage, uh, to make them appear as though they were there during the crash of the plane.
Damon Lindelof: And also a little bit of A too, I mean ...
Carlton Cuse: A little bit of A too. We restaged ...
Damon Lindelof: ... we restaged like some pieces of flaming ... This is actually a funny story. Jean Higgins, who is our line producer, um ... amazing, responsible for everything that, sort of, you see on screen, along with Jack Bender down in Hawaii, keeps ... has been calling us for the better part of two years now, saying 'Can I throw the fuselage away?'. [laughs]
Carlton Cuse: We're like 'Nope'.
Damon Lindelof: [laughs] 'No, hold on to it.' She goes 'But they left the beach, you know. They're now ... the fuselage is now'. We'll never know when we'll need it again, and fortunately when 'Exposé' came along, um, there it was.
Carlton Cuse: Exactly.
Damon Lindelof: Jean is kind of like my mom when I was like ten years old, she'd come into my room and be like 'Do you want to throw this away?' and I'd be like 'No, I need that.' She'd be like 'What for? When's the last time you used it?' and I'd be like 'I don't know, but I need it.' And that's kind of the same relationship now that we have with Jean.
Carlton Cuse: Um, ok Damon, I've got a question for you buddy.
Damon Lindelof: Go for it Carlton.
Carlton Cuse: Uh, "Any chance we'll see Libby again this season? I miss her and it seems like there is so much more backstory to tell with her. All the mysteries surrounding the mental institution [laughs] and giving Desmond her boat.
Damon Lindelof: Do you think mental institutions are funny?
Carlton Cuse: [laughs] No, but I'm just thinking like, how much mystery is there surrounding giving Desmond her boat? I mean, we sort of explained ... they sat down and had coffee, she said 'Take the boat.' Do we need to see ... although a flashback where she actually signs the deed of title could be very exciting.
Damon Lindelof: She did ... she did make a reference to the fact that her husband had died though, and maybe there's some sort of, kind of story to tell there. I would say that you certainly haven't seen the last of Libby; we miss her too. Um, one of the things that, you know, people always ask us, 'Have you made mistakes on the show or do you have regrets about the show?' One of those regrets is that we weren't really able to service Cynthia Watros better as an actress better. Um, in Season Two obviously, um, there was a lot of grumbling about ... as there was this year, that we weren't giving our regulars enough screen time, and with Mr. Eko and Ana Lucia sort of joining, you know, the cast of characters, Libby sort of got short shrifts. So, we ... we owe those answers and we ... we have every hope that Cynthia is gonna come back and uh ... come back to the show and, uh, you know, grace us with her presence again so we can answer them.
Carlton Cuse: Well spoken.
Damon Lindelof: Uh, I haven't even read this question yet. Again, I just ... just saw the subject heading and I checked it off, so um, this is by 'FoundDamonPanties', three posts in the last ninety days. So that's good ...
Carlton Cuse: Ok.
Damon Lindelof: ... Im glad that you found my panties and if you will send them to Jeffery Fordis at ABC, he will be sure to give them back to you. Um, "Dear Carlton Beavis and Damon Butthead. Firstly, the usual, love the show, you guys do a great job. Shout outs to the cast, creative team, staff etc. Best show on earth ever. But something is bugging me since last Wednesday, after watching Exposé. Paulo and Nikki are reading a newspaper waiting for the Flight 815 with the date of Thursday, September 24th, 2004. Which, by the way, according to the Gregorian calendar, was a Friday. But we learned before that the flight departed September 22nd - a Wednesday. So what happened? I hope that was not a prop error; otherwise I would have to believe the people with which that made that were voting for Sanjaya while doing the work and getting distracted with it. All the best, keep up the great work. Peace." So how do we explain that, Carlton?
Carlton Cuse: [sighs] I can't.
Damon Lindelof: Are you going to go fire someone now?
Carlton Cuse: I think [laughs] ... I'm going to be leaving now to go find someone.
Damon Lindelof: FoundDamonPanties, congratulations, you just got someone fired.
Carlton Cuse: The important part of that is that you found Damon's panties.
Damon Lindelof: Yeah.
Carlton Cuse: That's really the most significant thing.
Damon Lindelof: I'm pretty sure it was the 22nd, which was the night ... the day that the premiere actually aired.
Carlton Cuse: Now you've got the International Date Line, that's a problem too.
Damon Lindelof: Oh yeah, that's right, it's Australia, which is a ...
Carlton Cuse: It's Australia, so ...
Damon Lindelof: ... day ahead.
Carlton Cuse: ... that's a day ahead.
Damon Lindelof: And it could have been the late edition ...
Carlton Cuse: Yeah.
Damon Lindelof: ... which would have been the next days paper. So ...
Carlton Cuse: So maybe it all makes sense.
Damon Lindelof: So we just saved someone's job.
Carlton Cuse: There's ... there's a guy named Gregg Nations who keeps all of our timelines, and he's ... he ... we're gonna go have a little come to Jesus meeting with him as soon as this podcast is over.
Damon Lindelof: I guarantee you, though, that the prop department called Gregg and said 'What should the date on the paper be?'
Carlton Cuse: Yeah.
Damon Lindelof: ... and Gregg said 'It should be September 24th.'
Carlton Cuse: Right, so he's got some way to explain that. I don't know how.
Damon Lindelof: He'll come in and explain it for you.
Carlton Cuse: Yes, he will. He'll come in ...
Damon Lindelof: Wearing my panties.
Carlton Cuse: We'll do that in some other podcast.
Damon Lindelof: Fantastic.
Carlton Cuse: [Laughing] Sometime in the distant future. "How many producers to screw in a light bulb?", Damon, by 'Jodie_loves_Lost'.
Damon Lindelof: Wait can I ... the answer is three. Now you can ask the question.
Carlton Cuse: Why?
Damon Lindelof: 'Cause you said 'How many ...'
Carlton Cuse: Ok ... yea, no ...
Damon Lindelof: ... producers ...
Carlton Cuse: ... there's usually a joke. It's like, you know, how many teamsters does it take to screw in a light bulb, you know ...
Damon Lindelof: Right. You better not tell that joke. I know how many Jewish ...
Carlton Cuse: [In a loud voice] Ten. You got a problem with that?
Damon Lindelof: [Laughs] That's good.
Carlton Cuse: "Damon and Carlton, I've been re-watching Seasons One and Two of Lost lately and I'm amazed watching the credits to see how many producers there are. Just curious, what's the difference between a producer, an executive producer, a supervising producer, a co-executive producer, a co-producer, and an associate producer? And why, Damon and Carlton, are the ones ... are you the ones to do the podcast? Are the other producers not as entertaining or did you guys just draw the wrong straws? [Damon laughs] And have you noticed that if you look at the word producer enough, it starts to look like it's spelled funny? Thanks, love the show more than ever."
Damon Lindelof: Who's this from?
Carlton Cuse: 'Jodie_loves_Lost'
Damon Lindelof: Ok. First off Jodie, it's time to get back on the meds. [Carlton laughs] Second, if the word producer ... if you're staring at it for too long, seriously, just don't stare at it. Secondly, all those fancy titles are basically just that; they're just titles. So, you know, you basically start in the business ... if you are a writer, as a staff writer and then you move up to story editor, then executive story editor, then co-producer, then you're officially a producer, then you go supervising producer, uh, co-executive producer, and finally executive producer, which is the top of the proverbial food chain.
Carlton Cuse: There's complications like ... you can also ... there's also credits 'produced by' because there's a producer who's actually in charge of the physical production, and that person is actually a producer, whereas, in some cases, the people with these producer titles are writers. So there .. that is the hierarchy for writers and as you ascend, you get a producer title that goes with your writing skills and talents, and you're involved actually in helping to produce the episode.
Damon Lindelof: They're like belts in karate.
Carlton Cuse: They are, exactly, or military titles.
Damon Lindelof: Sure.
Carlton Cuse: Yeah.
Damon Lindelof: But also, you don't have to be a writer, like Jack Bender is an executive producer on the show and he runs the show in Hawaii.
Carlton Cuse: So ... yeah he's a director and Steven Williams is a supervising producer and he's also a director. Jean Higgins is, uh, in charge of physical production and she's a co-executive producer and Pat Churchill is a producer and she is ... she also works on the physical production side. All the other people that have producer credits are writers. And, so ... so that ... because there are so many producers, I mean, first of all, this is probably logistically ...
Damon Lindelof: Now they've got a point though. The more you say the word producer, the more strange it sounds.
Carlton Cuse: Exactly, Jodie's right. Anyway, so there is ... uh ...
Damon Lindelof: Forget what I said about your meds ...
Carlton Cuse: Its such a logistically challenging show that we have, I think, fourteen people that have a producer or above title on the show. But it's ... it's ... I can't imagine there's any other scripted series that's as complicated to produce as Lost, in the known universe.
Damon Lindelof: And how go your negotiations to become a mega producer on the show, Carlton? How's that working out?
Carlton Cuse: [laughing] I'm a senior supervising, uh, emperor producer.
Damon Lindelof: Emperor is nice.
Carlton Cuse: An emperor producer is good.
Damon Lindelof: It has a nice ring to it.
Carlton Cuse: Ok, well there you have it. That's all we can say on that subject. [Damon laughs]
Damon Lindelof: And it's not a lot. I hope you watered your plants while we were ... while we were doing our dissertation on producing.
Carlton Cuse: One more question and were out?
Damon Lindelof: Sure Carlton. I don't have anymore, so if you've got one more for me ...
Carlton Cuse: Alright. "Hello amigos. Greetings from Brazil. I've got some questions for you. Number one: Were you guys talking serious about Rousseau having a flashback? She seems to know a lot about what happens on the Island?" There's three of these so you don't have to ponder 'em too much.
Damon Lindelof: One, yes, Rousseau will eventually have a flashback, but I would actually argue that considering that she's been there for sixteen years, Rousseau knows strikingly little about the Island. I'm always fascinated by how she spends her time, I guess just eating bugs and hanging out and reciting poetry to herself. Because every time ... we've only been ... our characters have only been there for about eighty days and every time Rousseau sees something, she goes 'I've never seen this before.'
Carlton Cuse: That's awesome.
Damon Lindelof: So, there you go.
Carlton Cuse: Uh, "Number two: Will we learn more about the DeGroot's in the third or fourth season? By the way, that Karen chick was/is hot."
Damon Lindelof: Yes, and we concur.
Carlton Cuse: "Number three: Is it true that the show, 'Don't Make Me Play This Banjo' is already in pre-production?" [Damon and Carlton laugh]
Damon Lindelof: I hope so. They haven't reached out to ... Carlton is obviously the star of that show; I'm just the, sort of, plucky comic relief. But, um, it is in pre-production I would hope and it'll be on ...
Carlton Cuse: You're sort of my Timberlake producer for ... for that show, aren't ya?
Damon Lindelof: That's cool. Yeah, I am. I just kind of sit there and ...
Carlton Cuse: Alright, guys ... thanks so much and we're out of here.
Damon Lindelof: See you next week.
Carlton Cuse: [In his voice-over voice] See you next week for the next edition of the Lost podcast.
[Lost end credits theme music]
Kris White: That's it for this podcast. Join us again next week for a friendly chat with Mr. Friendly, actor M.C. Gainey. We'll discuss what it's like playing a long-time baddie and the first time he met Carlton Cuse on a little cult hit called 'The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.' 'One of Us' air Wednesday, April 11th from 10 to 11 PM on ABC, and the next day at abc.com.