Canceled Colbert Show Pulls Off Two Emmy Upsets
Canceled Colbert Show Pulls Off Two Emmy Upsets
The News
"The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" — canceled by CBS and off the air since May — won two upset Emmys on Saturday night at the first evening of the 2026 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
The show took Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, a category "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" had won ten years running since 2016, according to Deadline. Its digital spinoff "Colbert Before Air" won Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series.
"The Daily Show" host Desi Lydic won Outstanding Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for the second year in a row.
The Wins
The Daily Mail reported the canceled CBS show also picked up Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming, Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Series, Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Series, and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series. The show drew nine nominations for its final season.
"Jordan Klepper Fingers The Pulse: Give The Man A Prize" won Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program, beating PBS' "The American Revolution" and Apple's "The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy."
Timeline
Colbert takes over "The Late Show" after David Letterman's retirement. He would host for 11 years.
CBS announces the cancellation, days after Colbert's on-air rant over parent company Paramount settling a $16 million lawsuit with President Trump, the Daily Mail reported. The network called it "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night" and said it was "not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount."
The farewell episode airs with guests including Paul McCartney and Ryan Reynolds. Minutes later CBS runs its replacement, "Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen."
Night one of the Creative Arts Emmys at the Peacock Theater delivers the two upsets.
Reactions
"Late Show" executive producer Tom Purcell accepted the writing award. "I'd like to thank all who those who keep late-night going, [John] Oliver, [Jimmy] Kimmel, super important institution in this country, keep the flame burning, guys," he said on stage, per Deadline.
Lydic joked about her own winning streak: "I'm so afraid if I keep [winning] these, the White House will nominate me to be their press secretary." She added a line about her conservative parents: "My dad, who told me if I brought this home tonight, he would quit watching Fox News."
The Daily Beast, covering the same night, billed Colbert as "Trump's late-night nemesis." The Daily Mail said it reached out to representatives for Colbert for comment and had not heard back.
What's Next
The main late-night Emmy is handed out Sept. 14. "The Late Show" is up against "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," "The Daily Show," "Last Week Tonight" and "Saturday Night Live" — and Deadline judged Saturday's wins a good sign for its chances.
More
Deadline noted the "Colbert Before Air" win was itself a surprise: the digital series has aired roughly ten episodes in the past year, most of them two to four minutes long. It beat last year's winner, "The Daily Show: Desi Lydic Foxsplains," along with Tom Segura's Netflix comedy "Bad Thoughts," "The Randy Rainbow Show" and "SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma."
Lydic beat Randy Rainbow and "Big Law's" Kim Estes in her category.
It was previously claimed that CBS ended the show because it was losing $40 million a year, the Daily Mail reported. "The Late Show" won its first Emmy last year after 33 nominations. Colbert, 62, was defended publicly by Jimmy Kimmel and David Letterman after the cancellation was announced.
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