For the first time ever, Gold Derby is warning our readers to be wary of our Emmy predictions in one specific category.
The race for Best Variety Series is actually five races this year, due to the Television Academy reclassifying it as a non-competitive area award for the first time ever.
Under the rules, Emmy voters are not asked to pick one winner as usual. Instead, they must answer one question for each nominee: “Does this nominee merit an Emmy?” Any program that receives at least 90% “yes” votes will earn an Emmy, allowing for multiple winners. If no series receives 90%, then only the highest vote-getter will triumph.
More than 1,400 people have made their predictions for the Primetime Emmys, and the combined odds and experts’ odds suggest many are confused by the new Best Variety Series classification. We can hardly blame them; we had to re-read the TV Academy’s ruling several times before it fully sank in.
Currently, only The Late Show With Stephen Colbert is predicted to win the Emmy in our special “yes/no” predictions for the Best Variety Series contenders. Meanwhile, The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, and Saturday Night Live are all expected to walk away empty-handed.
Primetime Emmy Awards 2026
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But is that really going to happen? Would an Emmy voter really look at that field of popular talk and sketch shows on their ballot and vote “no” on four of them, thereby denying them their time in the spotlight?
Gold Derby has learned that Best Variety Series will be announced live during the Primetime Emmys broadcast, so just imagine the awkwardness if the programs learn in real time that the voting body didn’t think their work merited an award this year. Worse yet: what if four series win and only one has to remain in its seat at the Peacock Theater? It’d be totally cringe.
This year’s lineup is unique in that it includes a canceled show (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert), a suspended series (Jimmy Kimmel Live), two perennial favorites (The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live), and the 10-time defending champion (Last Week Tonight With John Oliver).
Due to the ongoing decrease in submissions for the Best Talk Series and Best Scripted Variety Series categories, the TV Academy also decided this year to merge them into one category: Best Variety Series. This is essentially a return to form, as it is mostly how the contest played out prior to 2015.
With the categories merged, nominations were selected proportionally based on how many submissions were received from each format. That added up to two scripted variety series (Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and Saturday Night Live) and three talk series (The Late Show, The Daily Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live).
Find out whether there are one, two, three, four, or five winners in this category when the 2026 Emmys air Sept. 14 on NBC.
