The Late Show with Stephen Colbert team had itself a night Saturday at the first of this weekend’s two pre-telecast Emmy ceremonies.
Up for nine awards, Colbert’s show won six of them, quadrupling its lifetime Emmy total in a matter of hours.
And it may not be finished yet: The Late Show is one of five nominees for Outstanding Variety Series at the main Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on Monday, September 14.
Saturday’s showing would certainly seem to bode well for Colbert’s chances.
The show won Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series for its series finale, as well as Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for the same episode.
It also took Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Series and Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming (Segment).
The show’s YouTube series Colbert Before Air added another trophy, winning Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series.
And, as LateNighter reported earlier, Colbert’s writers won Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, ending Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s ten-year winning streak in the category.
The three categories The Late Show lost Saturday were Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special, and Outstanding Production Design for a Variety or Reality Series.
But Colbert wasn’t the only late-night winner on night one.
Jimmy Kimmel won Outstanding Host for a Game Show for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, while Comedy Central scored two wins tied to The Daily Show. Desi Lydic won Outstanding Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for The Daily Show: Desi Lydic Foxsplains, and The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Give the Man a Prize won Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program.
And Saturday Night Live picked up Outstanding Makeup for a Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program. It was the third straight win for Louie Zakarian‘s SNL team and its 12th overall.
View a slideshow of Saturday night’s Emmy winners below:
The Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Last Week Tonight are all nominated for Outstanding Variety Series at the main Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, along with The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live—with a very real chance that more than one of them could win.
A broadcast featuring taped highlights from Saturday and Sunday nights’ pre-Emmy presentations is set to air next Saturday, September 12, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FXX and will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
