Canceled Colbert Show Peaks With 9 Emmy Nominations

There's a last hurrah for Stephen Colbert's long-running late-night program. The final season of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert scored nine Emmy nominations on Wednesday, the strongest showing of his 11-year run behind the desk; the show's previous high was five, in 2020-22, Variety reports. The CBS show that ended May 21 is up for outstanding variety series as well as writing, directing, production design, technical direction, and camerawork, lighting, sound mixing, picture editing, and music direction.

The revamped variety series category now works as an "area" award: Each nominee is judged on whether it deserves an Emmy, with any show clearing a 90% approval threshold winning—meaning multiple winners are possible, though at least one is guaranteed. Colbert's show faces off against Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Daily Show, and Saturday Night Live. None of those shows has been canceled, though Kimmel's was shut down for five days last fall after President Trump called ABC to take it off the air, the Los Angeles Times points out. Final voting runs Aug. 17-26, with the Primetime Emmys scheduled for Sept. 14 on NBC.

• The Pitt and Hacks dominated the drama and comedy categories.