Saturday, September 27, 2025

Three shows with Conan O'Brien win Emmys


I'm returning to entertainment today by recognizing three Emmy-winning TV shows that featured Conan O'Brien. I begin with one where Conan himself was a producer, so he won the Emmy along with his show, by revisiting 'The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation' plus the Emmy nominees for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special.
Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special
  • Conan O'Brien Must Go (HBO Max)
  • The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation (Comedy Central)
  • Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. (PBS)
  • My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (Netflix)
  • Tucci in Italy (National Geographic)
As the promotional images from Twitter/X show above, three shows have two nominations, Conan O'Brien Must Go, The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation, and Tucci in Italy. Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman have just the program nomination. Gold Derby breaks the tie at the top with 60% of experts, 80% of editors, and 79.4% of users voting for Conan O'Brien Must Go, 40% of experts, 20% of editors, and 15.0% of users picking Tucci in Italy, 2.9% of users choosing Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr., 1.8% selecting My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, and only 0.8% thinking The Daily Show Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: MAGA: The Next Generation has a chance. It may be my favorite, but I'm in a tiny minority.
The Television Academy finally uploaded videos from the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, including Hosted Nonfiction Series Or Special: 2025 Creative Arts.

The team from Conan O'Brien Must Go accepts the Emmy for Hosted Nonfiction Series Or Special at the 2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
HAHAHAHA! These guys are almost as funny as Conan himself! Congratulations!

Also, kudos to the prognosticators at Gold Derby, who called this win. I admit I wasn't convinced two months ago.
That looks like a riot and it has star power with Javier Bardem and Taika Watiti, which might be why Gold Derby thinks it is likely to win. They thought so last year, but a special spinoff of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman won instead. It's also up against a sequel of sorts to Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, a three-time prior winner, so I'm skeptical of its favorite status.
By awards time, Gold Derby's odds showed every editor, 77.8% of experts, and 81.3% of users consolidating around Conan O'Brien Must Go while 11.1% of experts and 15.3% of users sticking with Tucci in Italy and 11.1% jumping ship to join 1.7% of users for My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman to (sort of) repeat. The consolidated support for Conan O'Brien Must Go turned out to be correct — this time.

I return to Nate Bargatze vs. Conan O'Brien for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) at the Emmys to set up the next award won by a program celebrating Conan.
Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)
  • Adam Sandler: Love You (Netflix)
  • Ali Wong: Single Lady (Netflix)
  • Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years (Hulu)
  • Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (Netflix)
  • Sarah Silverman: PostMortem (Netflix)
  • Your Friend, Nate Bargatze (Netflix)
Your Friend, Nate Bargatze leads with three nominations, followed by Ali Wong: Single Lady, Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years, Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and Sarah Silverman: PostMortem at two each, then Adam Sandler: Love You with only this one. Gold Derby's odds give a different order, with every editor and expert along with 81.1% of users choosing Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to win. Critics Choice and Golden Globe winner Ali Wong: Single Lady sits in second with the support of 12.9% of users, followed by Adam Sandler: Love You at 2.7%, Your Friend, Nate Bargatze at 1.5%, Sarah Silverman: PostMortem at 1.1%, and Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years at 0.8%. Based on these odds, whoever wins, Netflix will, too.
Watch Variety Special (Pre-Recorded): 2025 Creative Arts.

The team from Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor accepts the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) at the 2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
"Thank you to our friends and colleagues at the Kennedy Center, most of whom are not there anymore." My readers and I know who to blame for that. I wouldn't be surprised if the change in leadership contributed to the vote for Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor to support the previous leadership as well as Conan O'Brien. If so, "long live the resistance."


I close by revisiting 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' leads nominees for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) at the Emmys for the final Emmy won by a show featuring Conan.
Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special
  • BeyoncĂ© Bowl - Willo Perron, Brian Stonestreet, Gloria Lamb, Jonathan Stoller-Schoff, and Marina Skye (Netflix)
  • The 67th Annual Grammy Awards - Julio Himede, Kristen Merlino, Gloria Lamb, Ellen Jaworski, Margaux Lapresle, and Kaydee Lavorin (CBS)
  • The Oscars - Misty Buckley, Alana Billingsley, John Zuiker, and Margaux LaPresle (ABC)
  • SNL50: The Anniversary Special - Akira Yoshimura, N. Joseph DeTullio, Patrick Lynch, Melissa Shakun, Charlotte Hayes Harrison, and Sabrina Lederer (NBC)
  • SNL50: The Homecoming Concert - Keith Ian Raywood, Anthony Bishop, and Aaron Black (Peacock)
The Oscars is the defending winner, so it's a nominal favorite, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if SNL50: The Anniversary Special wins instead.
The Oscars, which Conan hosted, won again. Congratulations!

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for another entertainment entry tomorrow when I plan on examining the nominees for the Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards.

Previous posts about the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards
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