The variety categories have undergone changes at the Emmys over the years, but lately the winners haven’t. “The Late Show with David Letterman” won for five years in a row (1998-2002). Then “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” prevailed for a record-breaking 10 straight years (2003-2012). “Daily Show” spinoff “The Colbert Report” won twice (2013-2014) before “Daily Show” won once more (2015). Stewart passed the Emmy baton to another protégé, John Oliver, whose “Last Week Tonight” is the latest series to dominate for years on end. Is it unstoppable for the foreseeable future?
“Last Week Tonight” won Best Variety Talk Series for the first time in 2016 and kept winning for seven straight years until 2022. But that didn’t end the show’s winning streak. In 2023 it just switched categories. It used to be classified as a talk show in the same vein as “The Daily Show,” “Late Show” or “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” but the television academy decided that now it should compete as a “scripted variety series” that belonged with sketch shows like “Saturday Night Live.”
The 2023 head-to-head contest between “Last Week Tonight” and “SNL” was especially exciting because it was the first time the two juggernauts faced off in a top program category. And both went into that race with a winning streak; “SNL” had won the discontinued Best Variety Sketch Series category six straight times (2017-2022). But Best Scripted Variety Series proved to be no contest: “Last Week Tonight” strolled to another victory, collecting its eighth straight program award. Now in 2024 it’s going for win number-nine, and there’s a good chance it’ll get it.
As of this writing Expert journalists and Gold Derby Editors are unanimous that Oliver and his team will collect another round of trophies. So are our Top 24 Users. One of our All-Star Top 24 is currently going out on a limb for “SNL,” but the odds overwhelmingly favor the incumbent champ. The question is, will “Last Week Tonight” keep winning for as long as it’s on the air? Remember that the “Daily Show”/”Colbert Report” duopoly only ended once their stars left those shows. Failing that, it may take another TV phenomenon to unseat Oliver from his Emmy throne.
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