The Late Show With Stephen Colbert closed its final Emmy season with a major win, taking outstanding variety series at the 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, presented Monday (Sept. 14) at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.
The victory capped a six-Emmy season for the show, its largest haul for any single season. Stephen Colbert was also among the night’s most-awarded individuals across the three Primetime Emmy nights, winning three Emmys as executive producer, host and writer.
Accepting the variety series honor, Colbert thanked “the over 200 people who threw themselves at this show for 11 years to try to do the best show they possibly could for you.” He also reflected on his broader run in the room, saying, “Over the last 21 years, I’ve interviewed at least 1,000 of you. Thank you for coming on to talk to this idiot.”
Colbert singled out his wife, Evelyn McGee, as his “favorite guest,” then closed with a farewell to viewers: “Thank you so much for watching. We hope you enjoyed the show. We had a great time doing it for you. That’s it. Thank you. We’ll catch you all on the flip.”
A changed variety race
This year’s outstanding variety series category arrived under new rules. Beginning with the 2026 Emmys, the Television Academy combined outstanding scripted variety series and outstanding talk series into one category, outstanding variety series. The academy also made it an “area award,” meaning nominees were not directly competing against one another in a traditional vote.
Instead, voters were asked of each nominated show: “Does this nominee merit an Emmy?” Any series receiving at least 90% “yes” votes could win. If no nominee reached that threshold, the show with the highest approval percentage would receive the award. In theory, all five nominees could have won; in practice, only The Late Show With Stephen Colbert did.
The other nominees were The Daily Show on Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver on HBO and Saturday Night Live on NBC. Three of those shows had previously won an outstanding series award. Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the only one in the group without a prior win in the category, is now 0-for-15.
Colbert’s program had won outstanding talk series in 2025, shortly after its cancellation was announced. This year’s prize also connected him to a category he previously won twice, in 2013 and 2014, with The Colbert Report. Late Show With David Letterman won the category six times, in 1994 and from 1998 through 2002.
Widow’s Bay dominates the field
While Colbert’s farewell-season win provided one of the ceremony’s signature moments, Widow’s Bay was the biggest Emmy winner overall. The comedy collected 14 Primetime Emmys across the three nights, setting new records for most wins in a single season by a comedy series and most wins in a freshman season by a comedy series.
The previous marks in both categories were set last year by The Studio, which won 13 Emmys. Widow’s Bay also continued a recent pattern in the comedy race: a first-season series has now won outstanding comedy series in three of the past four years, following The Bear in 2023 and back-to-back wins for The Studio and Widow’s Bay.
The year’s runners-up among programs were The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny, DTF St. Louis, The Pitt and The Traitors, each with seven wins. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and Pluribus followed with six apiece, while Spider-Noir won five and The Muppet Show won four.
Several other programs earned multiple awards across the three nights, including Beef, Love on the Spectrum, Margo’s Got Money Troubles and Palm Royale with three each. Two-time program winners included The Beast in Me, Bridgerton, Fallout, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, Hacks, My Mom Jayne: A Film By Mariska Hargitay, Ocean With David Attenborough and Remarkably Bright Creatures.
Records, tributes and reunions
Mariska Hargitay hosted the telecast, becoming the first woman to host the show in 15 years. She opened with “I Love TV Screens,” a parody of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ’N Roll,” which spent seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982. The opening featured cameos from basketball star Jalen Brunson, Jennifer Coolidge and Jean Smart.
Later, Hargitay performed a parody of Supertramp’s “Goodbye Stranger,” a No. 15 Hot 100 hit in 1979, saluting shows ending their runs this year. She also joined the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in a sketch spoofing Taylor Swift fans’ search for clues about Swift’s next moves. Swift, a friend of Hargitay, made a cameo in the sketch.
The ceremony also included a tribute to Dolly Parton, who died three weeks ago, from Sally Field and Reba McEntire. Noah Kahan performed Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during the In Memoriam segment.
Early in the show, Jean Smart for Hacks and Allison Janney for The Diplomat each won their eighth Primetime Emmy as performers, tying Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for the most Emmy wins in performing or acting categories.
Matthew Rhys made history as the first person to win outstanding lead actor honors in two fields: comedy series for Widow’s Bay and limited or anthology series or movie for The Beast in Me. Rhys won three Emmys across the three nights as actor and executive producer.
The Traitors won outstanding reality competition program for the third consecutive year, the first show to do so in the category since RuPaul’s Drag Race won four straight from 2018 to 2021. The Pitt became the first show since Mad Men to win best drama series in each of its first two seasons; Mad Men won in each of its first four.
The telecast also featured cast reunions honoring Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Baywatch and Charlie’s Angels. Of the three, only Buffy won an Emmy during its run; Baywatch was never nominated.