The canceled program won the Outstanding Talk Series category last year.

Stephen Colbert and The Late Show score Emmy nomination for final season

The canceled program won the Outstanding Talk Series category last year.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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July 8, 2026 10:45 a.m. ET

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Stephen Colbert on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’. Credit:

Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty

- *The Late Show* was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series.

- Stephen Colbert’s show wrapped in May after being canceled by CBS.

- *The Late Show* won for Outstanding Talk Series in 2025.

*The Late Show With Stephen Colbert* has landed one last Emmy nomination.

On Wednesday morning, the canceled CBS program — which signed off for good in May — was nominated for Outstanding Variety Series at the 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards.

Joining Colbert and *The Late Show* in the category are *The Daily Show*, *Jimmy Kimmel Live*, *Last Week Tonight With John Oliver*, and *Saturday Night Live*.

Last summer, CBS announced the cancellation of the series, marking the end of *The Late Show*‘s historic 33-year run.

“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire *The Late Show *franchise at that time,” the network said in a statement, adding that the move was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.”

Stephen Colbert accepts the Outstanding Talk Series award for ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ in 2025.

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty

Reports have suggested the network was losing upward of $40 million a year on the production. Many skeptics, however, have pointed to Skydance Media’s acquisition of Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, as a cause, speculating that the new leadership wanted to stay out of President Donald Trump’s crosshairs.

Former *Late Show* host David Letterman recently made headlines with his claim that Colbert was “dumped” so that he couldn’t make any more “trouble” for CBS.

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2026 Emmy nominations: See the full list (updating live)

Stephen Colbert stages late-night host reunion ahead of final 'Late Show' episode

The industry rallied around Colbert and *The Late Show *following the shocking cancellation. A few months later, Colbert’s iteration of *The Late Show* won an Emmy for the first time. Colbert received a standing ovation when he walked out to present an award, and then again when the show won Outstanding Talk Series.

“I want to thank CBS for giving us the privilege to be part of the late-night tradition, which I hope continues long after we’re no longer doing this show,” Colbert said during his acceptance speech. “Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it.”

He added, “I have never loved my country more desperately. God bless America, stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor!”

This year, the Television Academy unified the Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Scripted Variety Series categories into Outstanding Variety Series. It is also now an area award, meaning a jury will judge each nominee individually based on its own merits and vote “yes” or “no” to “Does this nominee merit an Emmy?” Any nominee that hits the 90 percent “yes” threshold will receive an Emmy, so yes, that means all five nominees can walk away winners. If no nominee reaches 90 percent, the nominee with the highest “yes” percentage will be the winner.

Colbert and *The Late Show* crew will learn whether they go out as consecutive champions when the Emmys air live Sept. 14 on NBC and stream on Peacock.

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Source: “AOL Awards”