2024 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Talk Series
Marcus Jones
We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2024 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 13 to June 24, with the official Emmy nominations announced Wednesday, July 17. Afterwards, final voting commences on August 15 and ends the night of August 26. The 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, September 15, and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT.
See our previous thoughts on what to expect at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards here.
The State of the Race
Counter to initial expectations, “John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A.” has been submitted in the Outstanding Talk Series category rather than the Outstanding Scripted Variety Series category for the 2024 Emmys. While it is not a complete shock, as scripted-variety would be a hard sell for a show that featured a chat panel (and less games than something like “After Midnight”), it does now create a steeper uphill climb for the comedian who took the Netflix Is a Joke festival by storm.
Since 2003, the Emmy category for late-night talk shows has awarded “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” or one of its alumni. Perhaps that is part of the reason Comedy Central brought Stewart back following this year’s win for Trevor Noah’s final season.
But when it comes to winning Emmys, Mulaney is no Baby (J). He just won Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for his stand-up special “Baby J,” and has two more Emmys to boot. It also helps that “Everybody’s in L.A.” is being credited as the first streaming series to nail the late-night talk show format after almost a decade of false starts.
However, there is a real dearth of talk shows this year, to the point where its nomination slots have nearly halved, now allowing for only three shows to make the final cut. Given the category’s history, it seems safe to assume “The Daily Show” will be back, and that “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” will probably make it in as the titular host is the only other contender to have won this category (for his previous show “The Colbert Report”).
So the question becomes whether that third nominee is someone new like Mulaney, or “Hot Ones” (which is giving a go at the Emmys for the first time,) or one of the network hosts that regularly get nominated but are always overlooked, like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” or “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
Current Contenders (In Alphabetical Order):
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
“Hot Ones” (YouTube)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC)
“John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A.” (Netflix)
“Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC)
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)
“Real Time with Bill Maher” (HBO)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race: The Pit Stop with Trixie Mattel” (MTV)
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC)
“Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo)
More Category Predictions:
Outstanding Animated Program
Outstanding Scripted Variety Series
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special
View IndieWire’s full set of predictions for the 76th Emmy Awards.
Last Year’s Winner: “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
Still Eligible: Yes, but without Trevor Noah.
Hot Streak: Though the most recent Emmys were the first time ever that Trevor Noah’s “The Daily Show” won the Emmy, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and/or its previous correspondents have won the category each year since 2003.
Notable Ineligible Series: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (submitted as a Scripted Variety Series); “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (ended); “Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God” (ended)
