The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has never won an Emmy, and depending on who you ask, that’s well deserved. The program has been nominated for 33 awards since 2015, but again, it’s never actually taken one home. That losing streak is probably coming to an end. Colbert has become an overnight symbol of Liberal resistance after his show was canceled by CBS under dubious circumstances. Jon Stewart categorized the decision as the “path of least resistance,” a way to ease Paramount’s financial burdens and gain favor with Donald Trump under the new merger deal with Skydance.
There’s been no shortage of outrage over the end of Colbert, which is scheduled to go off the air when his contract ends with the network in 2026. I mean, for his Monday night taping, Colbert assembled every white comedian over the age of 40 to rally around him. It was a who’s who of people your parents confuse with each other; Stewart, Adam Sandler, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen and Seth Meyers all made in-crowd appearances. Moreover, their cameos were soundtracked by kings of decades past, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Weird Al Yankovic.
In addition to the parade of the most famous people of 2015, there were other outcries about Colbert’s cancellation. Stewart broke some profanity records and finally stepped into his old shoes in a record 29-minute segment addressing the cancellation, and Democratic lawmakers have demanded an investigation into the reason Colbert is being taken off air.
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And yeah, it would be great if there was this kind of serious rallying around like any other problem facing the American public. But you guys don’t get it. This is TV. This is Colbert. If you still find yourself thinking, “This isn’t going to save the show,” you’re probably right. Colbert has a lot of time left on air, and he can’t bring every single other TV host out every night. But damn, this is really going to play well to Emmy voters.
Does Colbert deserve an Emmy for Late Show? That’s not my call. But does Colbert have the singular greatest Emmy campaign of all time? Oh yeah. This could be his last shot, his last chance to win for a show canceled by evil corporate overlords and targeted by a mad tyrant. He’s got the most sympathetic cause out there. Emmy voters who don’t vote Colbert will probably feel like they’re letting the bad guys win. If Colbert loses, we can place bets on getting headlines like “Colbert’s Loss Feels Like a Trump Win All Over Again,” and “Election Night 2.0: Colbert Loses for Last Late Show Emmy.”
It’s not that Colbert has never won an Emmy — The Colbert Report (a better show) consistently won trophies back in the day. And it’s not that The Late Show never won awards, either. Under Letterman, the show took home nine Emmys over 22 years. It’s just that Colbert’s Late Show has never won. And for some, that will be enough to cast a vote where The Late Show is nominated. Colbert only competes against The Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! for Best Talk Series, making it a narrow field to compete with. Unless Kimmel gets the axe next, Colbert has a clear path to victory.
The question is: Is winning an Emmy a worthy consolation prize?
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