The late-night television landscape shifted during the first evening of the Emmy Awards as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert secured two major upsets, including a category win that interrupted a decade-long winning streak held by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
Unexpected Upsets at the Creative Arts Emmys
The canceled series The Late Show with Stephen Colbert delivered a surprising sweep at the event formerly known as the Creative Arts Emmys. Executive producer Tom Purcell accepted the award for Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series, noting the fierce competition from industry peers John Oliver and Jimmy Kimmel on stage at the Peacock Theater. I’d like to thank all who those who keep late-night going, [John] Oliver, [Jimmy] Kimmel, super important institution in this country, keep the flame burning, guys,
he said on stage.
The victory broke a formidable stronghold in the category. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver had previously claimed the award for ten years in a row starting in 2016. The competitive category also featured Jimmy Kimmel Live! In addition to the writing win, the digital series Colbert Before Air captured the Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama Or Variety Series, alongside a separate picture editing win for the CBS show. The Colbert Before Air win was considered surprising given that the digital series, as best one can tell, has only aired ten episodes in the last year, mostly around 2-4 minutes in length.
The Colbert Before Air victory came up against last year’s winner The Daily Show: Desi Lydic Foxsplains, Tom Segura’s Netflix comedy Bad Thoughts, The Randy Rainbow Show, and SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma. The latter has particularly campaigned this season and has built huge buzz with the format, which sees celebrities and civilians give hot takes on the New York subway.
The Daily Show Triumphs and Lydic’s Stage Jokes
The Daily Show also made a strong showing during the evening and did not go away empty handed. Jordan Klepper Fingers The Pulse: Give The Man A Prize won Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program, surpassing PBS’ The American Revolution and Apple’s The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy.
Meanwhile, Desi Lydic secured her second consecutive win for Outstanding Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, having also won last year. The Daily Show host beat Randy Rainbow and Big Law’s Kim Estes. Lydic entertained the audience at the Peacock Theater with sharp humor regarding her repeated success, joking about what winning these awards could mean for her: I’m so afraid if I keep [winning] these, the White House will nominate me to be their press secretary.
Lydic added another quip about her conservative parents, stating, My dad, who told me if I brought this home tonight, he would quit watching Fox News.
CBS Rolls Out Final Campaign Strategy
The awards momentum arrives nearly a year after CBS stunned viewers by announcing it would end The Late Show after an 11-year run, citing financial reasons. In response to the upcoming conclusion, Stephen Colbert’s final Emmy campaign is officially underway, and CBS has released a new For Your Consideration
video. The campaign promotes The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for this year’s Emmy Awards, with the star-studded video celebrating memorable moments from the show’s final season and making a strong case for Colbert to win Outstanding Talk Series.
The promotional video features appearances from several of Colbert’s fellow late-night hosts and Emmy competitors, including John Oliver, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, and Andy Cohen. However, Jimmy Kimmel is notably absent from the campaign despite publicly supporting Colbert during last year’s Emmy race. CBS packed the FYC video with celebrity appearances from Colbert’s final stretch on the air, featuring moments with William Shatner, Bette Midler, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Billy Crystal, Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Prince Harry, and Paul McCartney to highlight the show’s star power ahead of Emmy voting. Following the previous cancellation announcement, Kimmel famously purchased a billboard urging Television Academy voters to support Colbert instead of Jimmy Kimmel Live! during the previous Emmy race, and Colbert later thanked Kimmel after taking home the award. Earlier this year, Kimmel told The Hollywood Reporter that he hoped Colbert’s team might return the favor during this Emmy season.
Upcoming Competition and Next Major Date
The recent category wins bode well for Colbert’s chances to win the main late-night Emmy on September 14. The Late Show enters this year’s awards with nine Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Variety Series. The Television Academy merged the former talk series and scripted variety series categories, and under the revised rules, more than one program can receive an award in the category.
On September 14, Colbert is up against Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight, and Saturday Night Live.
