2024 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Talk Series

Marcus Jones
·4 min read
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ConsiderThis
ConsiderThis

We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2024 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 13 to June 24, with the official Emmy nominations announced Wednesday, July 17. Afterwards, final voting commences on August 15 and ends the night of August 26. The 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, September 15, and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT.

Click on for more of our previous thoughts on what to expect at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.

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The State of the Race

The Outstanding Talk Series category was initially projected to only have three nomination slots this year, which would have been a huge bummer, because the primary issue people have with it is that it’s just more of the same every year. It never really feels like any newer shows have a shot at breaking in. For instance, it took “Late Night with Seth Meyers” almost a decade to finally receive a nomination.

The shows that made it up the hill quicker were all from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” alumni (more on that in a second), but the category receiving enough submissions to warrant four nomination slots this year does provide some hope that a wild card can make it in.

Some examples include Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live,” which has been celebrating its 15th anniversary after a TV season where events like Scandoval revitalized the network’s ratings and awards chances. “Hot Ones” represents YouTube’s big push into the TV awards space, and is hard to write off completely, as its interviews regularly enter into the cultural zeitgeist.

But the new contender that seems like it has the best shot at making the cut is latecomer “John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A.” The six part series that aired throughout the Netflix Is a Joke Festival was remarkable in that it finally cracked the code on how late night could work for streaming. The fact that Netflix has worked out most of the kinks in producing live streaming content contributes to that, but Mulaney, who has already won three Primetime Emmys as a TV writer and stand-up comedian, also found his own unique flavor as a host.

What gives him the edge over a long-running show like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” for example, is the attachment to an institution, which ends up shaping this race every year. Mulaney is widely known as an “SNL” alum (though he was never a full cast member), and the majority of Outstanding Talk Series contenders were best known for their contributions to either “Saturday Night Live” or “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

To go deeper on that, last season was the first time in nearly a decade where “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” was pulled out of the category, and still, the winner ended up being more of the same, with Trevor Noah’s final season of “The Daily Show” winning, making it two decades of only “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” or a show hosted by someone who was a correspondent on that specific era of the Comedy Central series winning Outstanding Talk Series every year.

That is why, despite there being less nomination slots in the category, “The Daily Show” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” feel like the safest bets as far as what shows will make the cut, especially since the former was able to bring Jon Stewart back to host the Monday night episodes.

Predicted Nominees:
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
“John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A.” (Netflix)
“Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC)
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)

Contenders:
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC)
“Real Time with Bill Maher” (HBO)
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC)

Also Consider This:
“Hot Ones” (YouTube)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race: The Pit Stop with Trixie Mattel” (MTV)
“Watch What Happens Live” (Bravo)

More Category Predictions:
Outstanding Animated Program
Outstanding Scripted Variety Series
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special

View IndieWire’s full set of predictions for the 76th Emmy Awards.

Last Year’s Winner: “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”
Still Eligible: Yes, but without Trevor Noah.
Hot Streak: Though the most recent Emmys were the first time ever that Trevor Noah’s “The Daily Show” won the Emmy, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and/or its previous correspondents have won the category each year since 2003.
Notable Ineligible Series: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (submitted as a Scripted Variety Series); “The Late Late Show with James Corden” (ended); “Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God” (ended)

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