Some of the biggest shows on the 2025 TV schedule are gearing up for the medium’s biggest night, as audiences will get to see which of this year’s Emmy Award nominees will be taking home the prestigious trophies. Of course, a single night devoted to Primetime just isn’t enough, thus the need for two nights of ceremonies to hand out a variety of Creative Arts Emmys to all the winning talents. And perhaps shockingly, one of those wins went to the controversially canceled Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
This marks the first time that the late night staple was named as the winner of any Emmys while in its Stephen Colbert era (Colbert-a?), and the timing is quite interesting, coming less less than two months after CBS announced The Late Show’s cancellation, and a month after Skydance and Paramount’s mega-merger was finalized. Is it possible TV Academy voters are stealth campaigning for The Late Show’s cancellation to get reversed? Let’s take a look at what we know.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s First Emmy Win
Despite Late Show with David Letterman pulling out annual Emmy nominations during 16 straight seasons, during which it won 6, Stephen Colbert’s decade of hosting has been all but radio silent on that front, getting beat out during many of those years by his former Daily Show colleague John Oliver. But 2025 marked a huge first for the show, which was honored in the following category:
- OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES: Jim Hoskinson (April 15 episode featuring guests David Oyelowo, Finn Wolfhard, Special Apperance by Alan Cumming, Performance By Ok Go)
Going up against fellow nominees The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Late Show stood above thanks to director Jim Hoskinson. This award also marks a first for Hoskinson, who has been nominated 19 times previously in the same category. Not just for this late night show, but also for his work on Colbert Report and the 2017 special Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going to Clean Up This Sh*t?
Are Emmy Voters Trying To Save The Late Show From Cancellation?
This is obviously a question that doesn’t just have the simplest kind of Yes or No answer, since it would require every voter to offer up their own personal answers. But one can make general assumptions using far less concrete information.
The timing of events could technically support this idea. The nominations announcement more or less coincided with CBS’ cancellation news, so all the nods it got were pretty much in the cards before it was axed. However, the final day for members to vote was August 18, which came after nearly a full month of behind-the-scenes reports and rumors pointing to why execs pulled the plug on the show amidst CBS’ legal issues with Donald Trump.
The blame was thrown on money-hemorrhaging financial troubles, as well as on YouTube for taking views from linear TV, and not to mention Colbert’s three-year contract reportedly expiring, but rumors and reports still swirled around the idea that the cancellation was motivated by less morally sound instincts. As such, there could have been a small campaign behind the scenes for voters to give The Late Show‘s penultimate season proper accolades.
Even if there was a way to prove that every Emmy voter who sided with Colbert’s Late Show wanted to get it back on the air, that doesn’t actually mean such efforts will be successful. At no point did “lack of Emmy wins” come up as a reason why CBS wants to exit the late night scene, so it likely wouldn’t be the most effective way to inspire change.
That said, I don’t think it would hurt anyone’s feelings if The Late Show does manage to beat out Daily Show and Last Week Tonight to pull of its first win for Outstanding Talk Series. Even if CBS doesn’t jump on the chance to keep him around, maybe the awards success could convince another network or platform to bring him onboard.
Be sure to tune into the 77th annual Primetime Emmy Awards telecast when it airs live on CBS and streams via Paramount+ subscription on Sunday, September 14, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Before that, though, the Creative Arts Emmys will be aired the night before, September 13, on FXX at 8:00 p.m. ET.
