That time Stephen Colbert trashed the Emmys — at the Emmys

Colbert at Emmys
(Image credit: Vince Bucci/Getty Images)

Every year, the Emmy Awards ceremony offers professionals in the television industry the opportunity to get dressed up and remind themselves how talented and important they are. And while the presenters of the awards are usually a part of the whole self-important charade, a genuinely hilarious moment occasionally breaks through — as in 2006, when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert took the stage to present the Emmy for Best Reality Series.

Coming just months after Colbert's now-legendary roast of President George W. Bush at the White House Correspondents Dinner, taking potshots at the Emmys must have been like shooting fish in a barrel. "Good evening, godless sodomites," Colbert begins — and things only get truthier from there:

The 67th annual Emmy Awards ceremony airs on Sunday, September 20 at 8 p.m. on Fox. Let's hope Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert take the stage again.

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Scott Meslow

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.