Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” ends with an Emmy win, securing Outstanding Variety Series as it wraps its final season. The program takes the award at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, four months after it finishes its CBS run.
Multiple outlets describe the victory as coming in a reworked variety-category format. The New York Times and IndieWire note that the Emmy process for 2026 includes an overhauled approach, with the category effectively operating as an “area award,” where nominees meet a high threshold of votes to earn recognition. IndieWire says nominees receiving at least 90 percent of the vote can be recognized. The Deadline report adds that the Late Show wins for a second consecutive and final time, defeating nominees including “The Daily Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Saturday Night Live,” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
While outlets focus on the show’s wrap and the category’s structure, they consistently report the same core outcome: the Late Show’s final Emmy is its Outstanding Variety Series award.
