Late-night producers are angry over Emmy category changes: SNL now has to compete with John Oliver, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon

Deadline

Saturday Night Live has won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series four years in a row. But a week ago, in announcement that came after dark on the East Coast, the TV Academy merged the Variety Talk and Variety Sketch categories back together after splitting them apart in 2015. That means the Lorne Michaels-produced SNL, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers will have to compete against each other and frequent winner Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. “It’s going to be an uphill climb for everyone now,” a late-night source tells Deadline. "The changes were labelled 'asinine' and 'absurd' by those in the late-night world, who admitted to being frustrated and disappointed by the changes, which were announced after 6pm on Friday night in New York, where the majority of these shows are based," reports Deadline's Peter White. He adds: "The move has been made as a result of the Academy’s Rule of 25 – which was an update of its Rule of 14 – meaning that if there are less than 25 entries in a category for two years in a row, it will be combined with another category. Last year, late-night had 24 entries and the year before it had 20. But it has had as many as 28 in 2015 and in 2021, with the likes of Peacock’s The Amber Ruffin Show and Wilmore and possibly HBO’s Sam Jay show and Showtime’s Ziwe show, it was likely to be higher. It’s clear that the lack of sketch entries played a part. The sketch category has had dwindling numbers of entries with only 14 in 2020. The boom years of sketch shows such as Inside Amy Schumer, Key and Peele and Portlandia is over, while Drunk History has also ended." White reports that the late-night hosts -- particularly potential 2021 host James Corden -- may be so turned off by the changes that they may not try to campaign for Emmys and even turn down hosting the annual ceremony. "The other frustration is that the move comes in a year in which late-night shows have been particularly nimble and relevant," says White. "The Covid-19 pandemic, which saw all of these pivot to shooting from home for a large part of 2020, and the chaotic Presidential election have seen their stock rise for many viewers. A number of late-night sources have questioned whether next year they will put the same effort into FYC campaigns, which cost millions of dollars, as a result of the changes. The hosts themselves may feel a bit hard done by, given that they are regularly asked to host the awards. Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 2020 event on ABC and seven of the last 11 ceremonies have been hosted by late-night stars including Colbert, SNL’s Michael Che and Colin Jost, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon. In fact, one of these years includes the year that Fox, which does not air a late-night show, went hostless."