Jon Stewart’s ‘The Daily Show’ Return Could Lead to an Emmys Win Streak for Talk Series
Marcus Jones
This article contains IndieWire’s preliminary Outstanding Talk Series predictions for the 2024 Emmys. We regularly update our predictions throughout awards season, and republish previous versions (like this one) for readers to track how the Emmys race has changed. For the latest update on the frontrunners for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, see our 2024 Emmy predictions hub.
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
It is hard to not find the situation with Outstanding Talk Series to be pretty bleak. For over two decades anything related to “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” has won. More recently “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was winning the previous iteration of the category so much that the Television Academy changed the rules to move it to a different category where it would go against fellow dominant Emmys contender “Saturday Night Live.” In the end, the former won, making it so that the Emmy voters ended up doubling down on awarding “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” alumni.
This year, with “The Daily Show” host position still not filled, Comedy Central welcomed back Jon Stewart to fill in on the Monday episodes given how he was freed up from his Apple TV+ show that was moved into this category for its second and final season, and then nominated. Just based on the track record of pairing Jon Stewart with “The Daily Show,” this feels like an awards race one can already call.
And the reason that has become an issue is that the entire late night landscape is in decline around it. When Stewart first stepped down, the floodgates had opened for both his replacement Trevor Noah, and several of his former correspondents to host their own talk shows to fill the void. There was also a push for late night TV to be more inclusive, eventually leading to shows like “Desus and Mero” and “A Little Late with Lilly Singh.”
But the Emmy voters for the Outstanding Talk Series seem to be so single-minded that almost nothing has been able to break in. And even the network shows that do get nominated regularly feel like they never had a chance at anything more. Right now, with less and less talk shows being submitted, much less existing, it will be the first time since the 1990s that the Emmy category for late night talk shows has less than five nominees.
So ultimately the question becomes less of what show will win, and more of which other shows besides “The Daily Show” make the cut.
Current Contenders (In Alphabetical Order):
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC)
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
“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)
To see IndieWire’s full set of predictions for the 76th Emmy Awards click here.
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)
