To no one’s surprise, Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” took home the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. What was surprising was that Colbert used the public victory to make the case that the writers and staff of “The Late Show” should be hired, pronto.
“I just want to point out that if you like the comedy tonight, my old writers wrote it,” Colbert said at the beginning of his acceptance speech.
He then thanked the over 200 people who worked on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” for the past 11 years.
“The thing about these late shows is that — besides being a really good steady job — they require so many people that they’re a fantastic incubator for young people to come in to learn to work professionally on a deadline in cooperation, in collaboration. That is the future of our business that we have to look after,” Colbert said. “I want you to know I got some great news. They are all tech avail. Hire them. They will make your show better, and they will make your day easier.”
Colbert then thanked the many celebrities in the room on Monday night. “Over the last 21 years, I’ve interviewed at least a thousand of you,” he joked. “Thank you for coming on to talk to this idiot. I want you to know that you are the perfect guest, the segment went great and I’m sorry I forgot to play your clip.”
But Colbert’s biggest thank you of the night went to his wife, Evelyn McGee Colbert, whom he called “Evie McGee.”
“Thank you, darling. Thank you for being my only crew and my only guest during COVID, my only audience and the only audience I really care about. Yours is the laugh that I want for the rest of my life,” Colbert concluded.
Prior to Monday’s show, “The Late Show” won five Emmys as part of the Creative Emmys category: Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Series, Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Series, Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming (Segment) and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series.
“Late Show with David Letterman” first premiered on CBS in 1993 as a rival to NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” The series quickly became beloved among comedy fans and remained a late night giant once Colbert took over the chair in 2015. Colbert’s contract was scheduled to end this year. But when contract negotiations were happening last year, CBS opted not to renew Colbert’s contract and to end “The Late Show” in May.
The timing of this ending drew a great deal of criticism, both within the industry and from the public at large. Colbert has long been highly critical of President Donald Trump and the Trump administration on his show, and the announced ending came weeks before Skydance acquired Paramount. That deal only happened after Paramount settled a lawsuit from Trump against CBS’ “60 Minutes” for $16 million. Critics of the cancellation have claimed that “The Late Show” ended to curry favor with the Trump administration. CBS has defended the move as purely a financial decision, citing the large cost of late night shows compared to their dwindling viewership as well as the months-long runway “The Late Show” had to wind down the series.
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