Can Conan return to the Emmy lineup one last time?
Since the finale, Conan has risen to sixth place in the Best Variety Talk Series odds, just one spot out of the field of five, having climbed over Desus & Mero and nine-time nominee Jimmy Kimmel Live! The latter was nominated last year alongside four of the current top five: frontrunner and five-time reigning champ Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. The fifth predicted nominee, Late Night with Seth Meyers, which is in fourth place ahead of Full Frontal, has never been nominated for series. OBriens. From 2003-07, Late Night with Conan OBrien collected five nominations for Best Variety Series  it was split into Best Variety Talk Series and Best Variety Sketch Series in 2015  losing every time to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Late Night did win writing in 2007). In fact, all three of OBriens late-night shows have earned series bids, which no one else can claim, mostly because people dont usually do more than two shows or havent yet outside of Coco (see: David Letterman, Stephen Colbert). SEE Conan OBrien says farewell to late night in his final talk show episode  But as we all know, OBriens late-night tenure was unique and briefly fraught, though at the time it felt interminable. After just seven months, The Tonight Show with Conan OBrien ended in January 2010 when OBrien opted to step away instead of agreeing to push back his show to make room for his predecessor Jay Lenos talk show. To many peoples surprise, OBrien chose to go to TBS, launching Conan in November 2010 following an agreement in his NBC exit deal that prevented him from appearing on television for seven months. Six months after he left NBC, The Tonight Show with Conan OBrien was nominated for Best Variety Series in 2010  #neverforget OBriens tweet  and then in 2011, Conan was nominated for its first season, but it hasnt been nominated in the category since. But OBrien is also an established name, a past Emmy nominee and winner, and remains a highly respected force in comedy  all things that could help him out this year. As Conan wound down, just days before nomination voting ended on June 28, tributes poured in from all corners  his fellow late-night hosts, celebrities and comedians  praising his impact, kindness and genius, and perhaps also serving as a reminder that this is someone weve all been taking for granted the past decade because he was on a lower-profile network. OBriens sign-off was also pitch-perfect, just like his Tonight Show one. The tenor was different, of course, since hes leaving this time on his own volition  hes set to launch a variety show on HBO Max  but it was emotional, funny and full of pearls of wisdom just the same. The real challenge for Conan will be breaking (back) into a category that can be very samey-samey  if it werent for the new proportional submission rules, we probably wouldve gotten the same six nominees for a third year in a row last year (The Late Late Show with James Corden was the one that missed out). But if anyone can do it, its Team Coco. PREDICT the 2021 Emmy nominations through July 13  Emmy odds for Best Variety Talk Series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is the favorite  Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Dont miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz.