Jay Leno may have the show, but Conan has the Emmy nomination.
"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" — and not "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" — is among the nominees for the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series Primetime Emmy.
TBS, which will air Conan's new show beginning in the fall, began a campaign last month to have Conan's previous work on "The Tonight Show" nominated for the Emmy.
The New York Times' Bill Carter wrote in June:
As incongruous as it may be to have a cable network urging an award for work done on a broadcast network, that might be topped if Mr. O'Brien does score an Emmy nomination. He would then be a prominent part of this year's award ceremony, which will be broadcast Aug. 29 -- on NBC.
Also nominated in the category are "The Colbert Report," "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," "Real Time with Bill Maher," and "Saturday Night Live."
"The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" was also nominated in the following three categories: Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Series; Outstanding Art Direction For Variety, Music Or Nonfiction Programming; and Outstanding Directing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Series.