Last Week Tonight has withdrawn itself from consideration at this year’s Critics Choice Awards after the organization behind the Awards narrowed the definition for its Best Talk Show category.
That’s according to an exclusive report in The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday afternoon.
The John Oliver-hosted show had won Best Talk Show over the past four years, but this year was directed to submit in the Best Comedy Series category instead after The Critics Choice Association’s TV nominating committee adjusted its criteria for talk shows to only include those that “involve conversation” (ie: guests).
THR reports that people associated with Last Week Tonight have expressed frustration with the change in eligibility requirements, which weren’t put in writing or shared with the show prior to the submission deadline.
Rather than compete against what would traditionally be termed “primetime fare” in the Best Comedy Series category (recent winners include Ted Lasso, Abbott Elementary, and The Bear), Last Week Tonight withdrew itself from consideration.
HBO and the Critics Choice Association did not immediately respond to LateNighter’s request for comment.
The move to change its qualifications was seen as a response to the Television Academy making its own adjustments for Emmy consideration, with Critics Choice looking to keep its own categories in line with the Academy’s. However, unlike the Emmys’ move to ultimately split its Outstanding Variety Talk Series category in two, the Critics Choice Association opted not to—at least not this year.
The association’s leadership “recognizes the awkwardness of this situation and will be re-evaluating its categories ahead of the next awards cycle,” THR reports.
Last Week Tonight has been the dominant winner among talk shows at both the CCAs and at the Emmys, where it claimed victory every year between 2016 and 2022. In 2023, the show was moved to Outstanding Scripted Variety Series, where it has won both of its years in the new category, beating out the previously dominant Saturday Night Live.
Since Last Week Tonight left the Emmys’ Outstanding Talk Series category, The Daily Show has won in both 2023 and 2024.
The Critics Choice Association’s TV nominations are scheduled to be announced Thursday at 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET. Voting takes place early next month ahead of the show’s live cablecast on E! Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025.
