Thursday, July 31, 2025

Colbert, Lydic, and Meyers take closer looks at the EPA and Epstein and Kimmel goes down the rabbit hole on 'windmills'

I'm covering the Outstanding Talk Series Emmy nominees today, but first I'm featuring their monologues, beginning with Stephen Colbert's EPA Stops Protecting The Environment | Americans Need To Have More Sex | Don Jr.: My Dad Is So Hot.

The EPA is seeking to scrap limits on greenhouse gas emissions, America’s fertility rate hit an all-time low, and the president’s son weighed in on the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle eugenics controversy.
I thought Scott Pruitt, Andrew Wheeler, and Rick Perry during Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump's first term were bad enough. They didn't have Project 2025 to misguide them. Ah, the gift that keeps on giving for the EPA Chief Lee Zeldin, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Hoover Cleveland himself, and others who are living down to their reputations as "air-fouling, oil-drilling, earth-raping conservative fossil fools." It's not like the BBC, MSNBC, CityNerd, and I didn't tell you so.

I'll get back to the proposed EPA policy change when I embed the other nominees. In the meantime, I was wondering if I would need to update Listening to people worry about lower birthrates on World Population Day is enough to drive me to drink on National Mojito Day. Stephen did it for me. He also connected it to Sydney Sweeney's ad, although I think she and American Eagle are just channeling Brooke Shields.

Desi Lydic also examined the EPA decision in Trump Asks Hegseth to Cool It With the Polygraphs & Kristi Noem Goes Horse Girl | The Daily Show.

In another installment of The Worst Wing, Desi Lydic tackles Lee Zeldin telling everyone in the EPA to be more chill about climate change, Marco Rubio lighting a birth control bonfire, and Kristi Noem finding another animal to scare. Plus, Pete Hegseth's got a new addiction: polygraph testing Pentagon insiders to see who's talked sh*t about him.
This was indeed a bad week to stop regulating greenhouse gases. Between that, Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem, and Pete Hegseth, it's "The Worst Wing," indeed.

The Daily Show won Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming (Segment) and has two nominations in the category this year, so I'm embedding Joe Rogan: The Path to Roganlightenment as a bonus.

From his humble beginnings in Newark to his scrappy days in Boston, Joe Rogan has always pushed his brains to the limit. Rogan's stand-up comedy led him to a career in television, eventually inspiring him to start his own podcast where he could ask the really important questions, like, "Wouldn't it be crazy if a wolf wore a fedora?" This is The Daily Showography of Joe Rogan.
This is who Spotify chose over Niel Young and is the leading podcaster? Nora Ephron was right when she wrote "no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public," even though she attributed it to H.L. Mencken.

This wouldn't be a closer look without Seth Meyers, so I'm sharing Trump "Haunted" by Epstein Questions, Says Epstein “Stole” Spa Staff as Polls Crater: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump returning to the U.S. after his Scotland trip that was supposed to be a personal business trip and golf vacation that ended up being mostly about how he never had the "privilege" of going to Jeffrey Epstein's private island.
My wife and I watched this and our reaction was that none of this made him look good; he just displayed his worst side.

Jimmy Kimmel wasn't on last night, but his show earned a nomination for Outstanding Talk Series, so I'm embedding The Rabbit Hole with Jimmy Kimmel: Windmills, itself an Emmy nominee.

Jimmy Kimmel falls down the Rabbit Hole with an investigation that will blow you away about the dangers of windmills and Donald Trump’s sworn enemy: The Wind.
That's as close as I can get to Kimmel on energy and climate change.

Follow over the jump for The Daily Show's nine Emmy nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards and Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Talk Series
  • The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
As I wrote above, The Daily Show has nine nominations in eight catgories plus four more for its spinoffs, yielding a total of 13 nominations in twelve categories. Jimmy Kimmel Live! has three nominations plus a fourth for its spinoff. Kimmel himself has a nomination for as a host for his other show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Finally, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has two nominations.

Gold Derby agrees on the most likely winner, but flips the odds of the other two. 83.3% of experts, 33.3% of editors, and 68.6%of users predict The Daily Show will repeat. On the other hand, 66.6% of editors, 16.7% of experts, and 27.6% of users expect The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to upset. I suspect the editors believe CBS canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will drive a sympathy vote. They might just be right. Only 3.8% of users have cast long shot votes for Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special
  • The Daily Show: "Jon Stewart and the News Team Live at the Chicago DNC" – John Neroulas and Patrick Weaver (Comedy Central)
  • The 67th Annual Grammy Awards – Thomas Holmes, John Harris, Eric Schilling, Jamie Pollock, Jeffrey Michael Peterson, Michael Parker, Andres Arango, Juan Pablo Velasco, Aaron Walk, Christian Schrader, Eric Johnston, and Doug Wingert (CBS)
  • The Oscars – Paul Sandweiss, Tommy Vicari, Steve Genewick, Tom Pesa, Biff Dawes, Pablo Munguia, Kristian Pedregon, Patrick Baltzell, Michael Parker, Christian Schrader, and John Perez (ABC)
  • SNL50: The Anniversary Special – Robert Palladino, Ezra Matychak, Frank Duca, Doug Nightwine, Christopher Costello, Caroline Sanchez, Josiah Gluck, Jay Vicari, Tyler McDiarmid, Geoff Countryman, Devin Emke, and Teng Chen (NBC)
  • SNL50: The Homecoming Concert – Thomas Holmes, Christian Schrader, Eric Schilling, Lawrence Manchester, Dan Gerhard, Jason Crystal, Jamie Pollock, Juan Pablo Velasco, Anthony Lalumia, Mike Bové, Cesar Benitez, Talia Krause, and Al Theurer (Peacock)
My standard take on sound categories is that music nominees have the advantage, so it's between The 67th Annual Grammy Awards and SNL50: The Homecoming Concert with the latter favored because it's a celebration of television. Electorates matter.
Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Series
  • After Midnight: "Featuring Jonah Ray, Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Gordon" – Christine Salomon, Lauren Gadd, Dawn Henry, Chris Hamilton, Cory Hunter, Cary Symmons, and Jani Zandovskis (CBS)
  • The Daily Show: "Jon Stewart & The News Team Live at the Chicago DNC" – Michael Williams, John Floresca, Charlie Foerschner, Jeff Latonero, James McEvoy, Matt Muro, Tim Quigley, Phil Salanto, Michael Schmehl, and Rich York (Comedy Central)
  • Everybody's Live with John Mulaney: "How Tall Are You?" – Chris Salomon, Bert Atkinson, Ed Horton, Karin Pelloni, Cole Overholser, George Prince, John Perry, Keyan Safyari, Damien Tuffereau, Suzie Weis, and Terrance Ho (Netflix)
  • Saturday Night Live: "Host: Jack Black" – Bill DiGiovanni, John Pinto, Paul Cangialosi, Anthony Tarantino, Dave Driscoll, Brian Phraner, and Daniel Erbeck (NBC)
  • The Voice: "Live Finale (Part 1)" – Allan Wells, Manny Bonilla, Mano Bonilla, Martin J. Brown Jr., Robert Burnette, Suzanne Ebner, Guido Frenzel, Alex Hernandez, Scott Hylton, Scott Kaye, Jofre Rosero, Steve Thiel, and Danny Webb (NBC)
Saturday Night Live won last year, so I think it's the favorite this year.

Now for the categories I covered in John Oliver examines 'Gang Databases' plus 'Last Week Tonight's six Emmy nominations.

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series
  • The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
  • Saturday Night Live (NBC)
The Gold Derby odds also overwhelmingly favor Last Week Tonight with John Oliver to repeat here, too, as 91.7% of experts, 88.9% of editors, and 85.2% of users picked it to win again. The Daily Show sits in second with 8.3% of experts, 11.1% of editors, and 7.5% of users think it will upset. Only 7.3% of users think SNL has a chance. This ranking looks right to me.
Now for the awards to be presented at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series
  • The Daily Show: "Jon Stewart Delivers a Mug-Smashing Take on Musk's DOGE" – David Paul Meyer (Comedy Central)
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live!: "Anthony Mackie, Lizzy Caplan, and Musical Guest Bartees Strange" – Andy Fisher (ABC)
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: "India Elections" – Paul Pennolino (HBO)
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: "David Oyelowo, Finn Wolfhard, Special Appearance by Alan Cumming, Performance by Ok Go" – Jim Hoskinson (CBS)
This is the last award today predicted by Gold Derby, where the experts and editors disagree, with all the experts expecting The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to win, while all the editors anticipate Last Week Tonight with John Oliver will earn a third Emmy in this category. Electorates matter in miniature! The users break the deadlock with 80.7% aligned with the experts and 11.1% allied with the editors. The Daily Show is in third with 5.9% of users supporting it, and 2.2% of users choosing Jimmy Kimmel Live! I'll look at this category again on Thursday before I decide whether to go with the editors or experts.
The experts haven't moved, but the editors have, as 33.3% now pick The Daily Show, leaving 66.7% sticking with Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. I'll take the experts' confidence, however misplaced, and predict The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Outstanding Production Design for a Variety or Reality Series
  • The Daily Show: "Jon Stewart & The News Team Live at The Chicago DNC" – Dave Edwards, Lauren Browning (Comedy Central)
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live!: "December 11, 2024", "December 12, 2024", "February 13, 2025" – David Ellis, Hillarie Brigode, and Heidi Miller (ABC)
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: "Mass Deportations" – Eric Morrell, Hugh Zeigler, and Amanda Carzoli (HBO)
  • RuPaul's Drag Race: "RDR Live!" – Jen Chu, Gavin Smith (MTV)
  • Saturday Night Live: "Host: Lady Gaga" – Akira Yoshimura, Keith Ian Raywood, Joe DeTullio, Andrea Purcigliotti, Patrick Lynch, and Sara Parks (NBC)
SNL has won this award four of the past five years, including last year, while RuPaul's Drag Race won this the year before last, so I am again handicapping this category in that order.
Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming (Segment)
  • The Daily Show: "The Dailyshowography of Kamala Harris: Just Normal" – Lauren Beckett Jackson (Comedy Central)
  • The Daily Show: "The Dailyshowography of Stephen Miller: What He Does in the Shadows" – Storm Choi (Comedy Central)
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: "Facebook Content Moderation" – Anthony Miale (HBO)
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: "That Stuff's American" – Ryan Barger (HBO)
  • SNL50: The Anniversary Special: "Physical Comedy" – Ryan Spears, Paul Del Gesso, Christopher Salerno, Daniel Garcia, Sean McIlraith, and Ryan McIlraith (NBC)
The Daily Show won this award last year and would normally be my pick to repeat. The fly in the ointment is that both The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver have two nominations each, so they run the risk of vote splitting, and the sentiment is likely to be with SNL's 50th anniversary specials, which I think will win this award.
I'll re-examine both of these categories when I cover SNL's nominations.

That's a wrap for today's installment and for July's blogging. Stay tuned to see if I cover game shows next, since I mentioned Kimmel's nomination in that category, or something else entirely for the first p;ost of August.

Previous posts about the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards
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