A version of this story about “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
When the Television Academy shuffled the variety categories this year, it moved “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” from the variety talk category, where it had won seven years in a row, to the new scripted variety category where it would be facing off against another juggernaut in “Saturday Night Live,” the most nominated and winningest show in Emmy history.
But for “Last Week Tonight” director Paul Pennolino, the move was nothing new: In the Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, he’d been going up against (and losing to) “SNL” director Don Roy King, an idol of his, for years.
“I knew I was racing against Usain Bolt,” he said with a laugh. “There was no way I was going to win,...
When the Television Academy shuffled the variety categories this year, it moved “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” from the variety talk category, where it had won seven years in a row, to the new scripted variety category where it would be facing off against another juggernaut in “Saturday Night Live,” the most nominated and winningest show in Emmy history.
But for “Last Week Tonight” director Paul Pennolino, the move was nothing new: In the Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, he’d been going up against (and losing to) “SNL” director Don Roy King, an idol of his, for years.
“I knew I was racing against Usain Bolt,” he said with a laugh. “There was no way I was going to win,...
- 8/15/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
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