For seven years, if your name wasn't John Oliver, you were just happy to be nominated in the talk show category at the Emmy Awards.
Between 2016 and 2022, “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” dominated the category, a streak bested only by Oliver’s former “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” which won variety talk show for the entire decade from 2003 to 2012. It remains the longest winning streak for any primetime series in Emmy history.
But the category has been no stranger to change in recent years. Until 2015, late-night talk shows competed with the likes of “Saturday Night Live” in the variety series category. Then the Television Academy split the category into variety talk series and variety animated series. It’s been overhauled again for the 2023 Emmys when “Last Week Tonight” was moved to the new variety series category, where it now faces off against “Saturday Night Live.” (If you’re lost, you’re not alone.)
With talk series now in its own category, the door is open for traditional late-night talk shows to once again compete for an award that no radio series has won since “Late Show With David Letterman” in 2002.
At the belated 75th Primetime Emmy Awards in January, Trevor Noah’s final season at the helm of “The Daily Show” won its first Emmy for talk show. In September, the show will again have to compete against the same contenders — “The Daily Show,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The only show missing this time is “The Problem with Jon Stewart” on Apple TV+, which was canceled in October.
With late-night TV becoming a genre of its own, here are the reasons each nominee won an Emmy:
Daily Offer
Coming off its win, Comedy Central’s long-running political satire has the momentum to win the category again. One factor working in its favor—and certainly the biggest hurdle the other nominees will have to overcome—is the return of Stewart, who has signed on to helm the Monday edition every week until the 2024 presidential election in November. The other shows are anchored by a rotating cast of correspondents each week. If nothing else, the Academy has plenty of experience honoring Stewart and this sharply written show, and this nostalgic romp may be hard to resist.
Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Speaking of The Daily Show, the only reason the decade-long series ended in 2013 was because one of its former correspondents, Stephen Colbert, launched his own series, The Colbert Report. The series gained momentum and eventually dethroned The Daily Show for two years in Emmy wins before Colbert replaced Letterman on The Late Show. Despite being a late-night TV series, The Late Show has been nominated since 2017 but has never won an award.
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Seth Meyers has risen to become one of the most revered names in television, and his show has achieved what few others simply can’t—it’s gone viral. His “Day Drinking” segments with celebrities like Kristen Stewart and Dua Lipa, for example, have racked up millions of views on YouTube this season alone. It’s been a long journey for Meyers and his team to get the Academy’s attention, as he wasn’t nominated until 2022, but he’s been a consistently celebrated contender ever since.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The longest-running late-night talk show host has spent more than 20 years on ABC. In addition to hosting the show, he has expanded his audience with stints hosting the Oscars four times and the Emmys three times. But with his 21st year as a host, there’s never been a better time to give the man Hollywood calls the shots.
