Voting for the 78th Emmy Awards has officially closed; the clapboard clapped shut on Wednesday at 10 pm PT. Just before the deadline, on Tuesday, freshly retired Late Show host Stephen Colbert posted a personal For Your Consideration plea on Instagram. Not for himself, but his (up until very recently) late night compatriot Jimmy Kimmel. Sitting outside in a locale that looks awfully gray for August (maybe he’s in New Zealand Middle Earth for his Lord of the Rings movie!), Stephen made a simple and direct case for Jimmy meriting the prize: “You know he deserves an Emmy. Besides, look how cute he is!” Such lovely sportsmanship to champion another competitor in his own category… even though there’s no timeline in which The Late Show **doesn’t** win Outstanding Variety Series for their last year in existence. And I say that even with John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight back in the same category. But back to Stephen and Jimmy! As reported by People Mag:
Stephen Colbert is back with a beard and an equally important message for Emmy voters.
On Tuesday, Aug. 25, the Late Show with Stephen Colbert alum shared a video of himself sitting outdoors in an effort to urge voters to consider his friend Jimmy Kimmel for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.
“Oh, hi. Stephen Colbert here at the end of the world,” Colbert, 62, jokingly began. “You know, there’s 24 hours left in Emmy voting and if you’re anything like me, you haven’t even started yet, so let’s get going.”
The clip then showed Colbert looking at his tablet as he specifically pointed out the Outstanding Variety Series category. Colbert’s Late Show is also nominated in the category, which includes nods for The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Saturday Night Live.
“Kind of a weird voting system this year, but I think we can all agree that Jimmy Kimmel deserves an Emmy. I don’t care if you’ve never even seen his show. You know he deserves an Emmy,” he said, before showing a portrait of Kimmel, 58. “Besides, look how cute he is!”
“Anyway, please consider thinking that Jimmy deserves an Emmy,” Colbert concluded. “I do. I love you.”
Kimmel has also encouraged Emmy voters to keep Jimmy Kimmel Live! in mind this year, posting a “for your consideration” video to Instagram on Aug. 18, featuring all the times President Donald Trump has mocked him. “Thank you, Mr President, for your consideration #FYC,” Kimmel captioned the video.
…Both Kimmel and Colbert have supported each other through the years, with Kimmel wishing his friend a “fond farewell” back in May before going dark during the final episode of The Late Show. Kimmel kept Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air on May 21 “out of respect” for Colbert, sharing the day before that he hoped those getting rid of the show “feel ashamed of themselves tonight.”
A few things: 1) da-YUM, Stephen looks mighty scrumptious with that beard!! 2) It’s a simple gag, but the pretend computer typing still made me chuckle, and 3) The “here at the end of the world” line made me weep with joy at this man’s brilliance. It’s deceptively sharp, because “end of the world” could mean a remote location (which he does appear to be in), or it could also mean… well, you know. We need more of that intelligent wordplay on TV, not less! And speaking of wording, I love the way Stephen ultimately concluded with, “Please consider thinking that Jimmy deserves an Emmy.” Jimmy’s own Insta FYC video also had a boffo ending with the particular Trump clip it closed on. Still, I don’t think there’s any stopping The Late Show from winning, but we’ll find out for sure on Emmys Sunday Monday September 14. One winner we do know already, just announced this week, is the recipient of the inaugural Legacy Award. They announced this new award back in January, meant to honor shows that have made a lasting impact over a minimum of 60 episodes and five seasons. And the very first Emmy Legacy Award goes to: I Love Lucy! An excellent choice; Emmy has no ‘splaining to do.
Stephen Colbert deserves an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony or whatever else is left in the pile of awards honoring the extraordinary achievements of human beings.
A presidential medal of freedom and a Kennedy Center Honors
It looks like he might be in Scotland with that phrase, end of the world.
I love Jimmy Kimmel and John Oliver. That’s a hard one. Both were amazing this past year. But I am going with Jimmy Kimmel. He was so great this past year with his monologues.
But, wait, wouldn’t Stephen also be nominated? He left in the spring of this year. That’s sweet rooting for someone else.
Lightpurple, you are cheeky. I thought of the presidential medal of freedom too, but dismissed it right away for obvious reasons. And the Kennedy Center Honors is a stroke of genius.
Yeap, Stephen is here in Middle Earth. Though we say ‘at the bottom of the World’ rather than ‘the end of the World’. Though it’s not going to stay grey for long as Spring is almost here and the days are getting warmer.