John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” won outstanding scripted variety series at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14, edging “Saturday Night Live” in the NBC show’s landmark 50th season. The ceremony took place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and was hosted by Nate Bargatze. The victory extends the HBO program’s years-long dominance after the Television Academy reclassified variety categories in 2023, separating interview-driven talk programs from scripted or sketch-based series.
“Last Week Tonight” has now prevailed each year since moving into the scripted variety field, continuing its run that previously encompassed the talk-series category before the rule change. The Academy’s listings confirm the win and the program’s eligibility under the scripted variety definition, which covers shows built around monologues, segments and sketches rather than guest interviews.
The race was a two-title contest this year: “Last Week Tonight” and “Saturday Night Live.” While “SNL” arrived with momentum from multiple Creative Arts Emmys tied to its anniversary programming, voters again favored the weekly deep-dive format and tightly scripted segments that have become the HBO series’ hallmark.
The Academy’s Creative Arts recap shows “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” leading its night with seven wins, with the ongoing series adding three more—signaling a strong crafts performance even as the main-series trophy went elsewhere.
The result underscores how the category’s 2023 overhaul continues to shape outcomes. By placing interview-heavy shows in a separate talk field and grouping sketch, monologue and prewritten segments under scripted variety, the rules positioned “Last Week Tonight” as a recurring favorite against legacy sketch institutions.
The category also sits within a telecast that highlighted shifts across the awards: drama and comedy winners came from streamers and premium outlets, while the reality competition prize went to “The Traitors.”
