The current Best Talk Series Emmy lineup almost perfectly aligns with last year’s, with the main difference being the elimination of one nomination slot coinciding with the ineligibility of the long-canceled “The Problem with Jon Stewart.” As it happens, that show’s titular host still managed to secure a bid as an executive producer of “The Daily Show,” which is now generally predicted to achieve a second consecutive (and 13th overall) program win.
For the seventh year in a row, “The Daily Show’s” talk series challengers include “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the former of which has been nominated on an annual basis since 2015, the year talk and sketch programs were first afforded separate categories. Rounding out the roster is “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” which initially broke through here in 2022.
In order to determine the true likelihood of “The Daily Show” retaining its title, let’s take a closer look at each nominee. Be sure to make your predictions in this and 24 other Primetime Emmy categories by September 15.
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
This February – 14 months after Trevor Noah stepped down as solo host of “The Daily Show” – 1999-2015 star Jon Stewart returned to share anchoring duties on a rotating basis with longtime correspondents Ronny Chieng, Jordan Klepper, Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic, and Dulcé Sloan. By the 76th Emmys eligibility cutoff date of May 31, over 50 episodes primarily focused on the 2024 U.S. presidential election had aired under the new format.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC)
The oldest show in this lineup (only counting each one’s most recent iteration) reached its 21st anniversary in January. In addition to often riffing on said election himself, Kimmel welcomed hundreds of guests between September and May, including Martin Scorsese, Snoop Dogg, Carol Burnett, and Kim Kardashian.
“Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC)
Now in its 11th year, this fourth NBC “Late Night” iteration (immediately following 2009-2014’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”) stars the titular former “Saturday Night Live” cast member and head writer and features a house band led by his fellow “SNL” alum, Fred Armisen. Included among his 2023-2024 guests were Werner Herzog, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Morgan Freeman, and Kurt and Wyatt Russell.
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)
Colbert has now hosted this institutional series for nine full seasons, having originally taken over for retiring 1993-2015 star David Letterman. He had spent the previous decade presenting the two-time Best Variety Series-winning Comedy Central news program “The Colbert Report,” which notably spun off from Stewart’s initial version of “The Daily Show.”
So, what will win the 2024 Emmy for Best Talk Series? Although switching hosts might hinder other programs when it comes to awards success, “The Daily Show” is set to greatly benefit from doing so given that it previously won 11 series prizes with Stewart behind the desk. What’s more, it already speaks volumes that, in the 2023 absence of composite category juggernaut “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” voters chose to bestow the first specific Best Talk Series Emmy upon the Comedy Central show over more traditional options.
Last year, just 14% of Gold Derby’s Emmy predictors caught on to the truth that the TV academy wouldn’t go for a network talk series, but most chose the wrong alternative, with less than a quarter of the subset ultimately backing “The Daily Show” over “The Problem with Jon Stewart.” Now that the title holder has proven itself and Stewart is back on board, there doesn’t seem to be any stopping it from establishing a streak.
PREDICT the 2024 Emmy winners through September 15
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