Emmys Announce Award Category Shakeups for 2023 Ceremony

The Emmy Awards are undergoing a bit of a change ahead of the 2023 ceremony next September. On Tuesday, the Television Academy announced that two new categories – Talk Series and Scripted Variety Series – will be added to the 75th Emmy Awards, a shakeup that will likely pit Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and Saturday Night Live, continuous winners in their respective categories, against one another.

The two new categories will replace the Variety Talk and Variety Sketch Series categories, the Television Academy confirmed. The newly-introduced Outstanding Talk Series categories will be for shows that focus on “unscripted interviews or panel discussions between a host/hosts and guest celebrities or personalities.” The organization noted that “a talk series can include scripted elements and other aspects of a variety series such as monologues, musical performances, etc., so long as the main intent of the program is interviews/discussions.” The new Scripted Variety Series category is for those programs “that are primarily scripted or feature loosely scripted improv and consist of discrete scenes, musical numbers, monologues, comedy stand-ups, sketches, etc.” Series in this category “may occasionally feature unscripted elements, but the main intent of the series is scripted or performed entertainment.”

With the rule change comes eligibility changes that will affect some notable shows, including Last Week Tonight, which previously qualified in Talk Series and will move to the Scripted Variety Series category, where it will face off against SNL. Oliver’s series has dominated the variety talk category since 2016, beating out the likes of The Daily Show, The Late Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Meanwhile, shows such as Jon Stewart’s The Problem and David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, previously up in the sketch category, will likely move to the Variety Talk category.

In a press release announcing the changes, Frank Scherma, Television Academy Chairman and CEO, said, The Television Academy’s Awards committee and Board of Governors carefully review Emmy rules annually and adjust and refine competition requirements, often with input from television leaders, to reflect and support the current industry environment.” The press release noted that the changes “align with the dynamic and rapidly evolving television industry.”

The category change is just one of several changes to take place ahead of the 2023 Emmy Awards. The Television Academy also announced a cap on nominations-round voting, meaning members will no longer be able to vote for an unlimited number of selections in a category. Meanwhile, the Single Camera and Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series categories have been combined into the tracked category Picture Editing for a Comedy Series and the Cinematography for a Single Camera Series (half-hour) and Multi-Camera Series categories have been combined into the tracked category Cinematography for a Series (half-hour). A new Outstanding Game Show category is also being introduced. A date for the 2023 Emmy Awards has not been announced.