Colbert’s Late Show Pulls Emmy Upsets, Desi Lydic Shines for The Daily Show

At the Emmy Awards’ first night, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert defied expectations with two wins: the Colbert-produced digital short form series The Colbert Before Air won Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama Or Variety Series, and The Late Show won Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series, a category long dominated by Last Week Tonight. The Daily Show also had a strong night, with Desi Lydic winning Outstanding Performer in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series and her fellow host Jordan Klepper Fingers The Pulse: Give The Man A Prize taking Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program, beating out The American Revolution and The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy. Lydic’s win marks her second consecutive win in that category. The outcomes hint at a competitive main late-night Emmy race on Sept. 14 among Colbert, Kimmel, The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight and SNL.