Release: Additional Primetime Emmys Rules Changes OKs "Lost" Finale

North Hollywood, CA, May 20, 2010 – Last night the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors approved several changes to the rules and procedures for the 2010 Primetime Emmy® Awards, one of which directly affects the highly anticipated May 23rd series finale of ABC’s Lost. The Television Academy’s Board voted to update submission rules regarding an extended episode’s permitted length, granting 2010 Primetime Emmy® Awards eligibility for ABC’s final episode of Primetime Drama Series, Lost. The upcoming series finale is currently scheduled to run two and a half hours on May 23, 2010. Past rules have limited submission of extended length episodes to twice the normal running time, or two hours for a standard Primetime Drama Series episode. Additional changes in rules and categories include the following: Makeup for a Single-Camera Series & Hair for a Single-Camera Series Makeup achievements in nonfiction programming will now be included in eligibility in the Makeup for a Single-Camera Series category; likewise Hair achievements in nonfiction programs will now be eligible in the Hair for a Single-Camera category. Both categories’ prior rules limited eligibility to makeup or hair achievements in a single episode of a drama or comedy series. TD Cam for a Series Half-hour shows and one-hour or longer shows will have nominations proportional to the number of submissions for each. This is a change from prior years, in which the top five vote getters, regardless of length, emerged as the nominations. Hanging Episodes Brought to the Television Academy’s attention by STARZ, which has a series with multiple hanging episodes, the last of which will air just after the deadline for the return of ballots this year, hanging episodes will now be permitted to be webcast for Primetime Emmy® consideration prior to their telecast should that telecast occur after the submission period has closed. Prior rules stipulated that eligible episodes be presented on the same platform as the episodes that qualify the series. Each year the Television Academy’s Board of Governors reviews in detail the rules and procedures for each award to determine if any updates, changes or additions are required. For more information, please contact Joanna Cichocki of PMK∙BNC at (310) 854-4800 or joanna.cichocki@pmkbnc.com. ###