More Emmys in the future for 'The Daily Show' and writer JR Havlan '87?
JR Havlan drinks from a paper cup inserted in one of his Emmy statues.
- July 18, 2011 5:00am
After the announcement of the 2011 Emmy Award nominations last week, J.R. Havlan ’87, a writer for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” may want to start cleaning up his apartment. When he was featured in Cal State East Bay Magazine in 2010, he was running out of places to keep all the awards he’s won in his years writing for Comedy Central’s satirical news show. This year the writing staff is in the running once more for an Emmy in Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series — their 11th consecutive nomination.
Havlan made a special appearance on the Hayward campus in May, inviting students and friends to “Breakfast with J.R.” He shared stories from his career, talked about writing for books and television, and answered questions from the audience about comedy and “The Daily Show.”
Winning Emmys is a humbling experience, Havlan told the magazine. “It is literally a reflection of the respect people in your industry have for the work that you do.”
"The Daily Show" is also nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Series, which it has won every year since 2003. The writers last won in 2009, losing out last year to fellow satirists at “The Colbert Report.”
A writing win this year would put a seventh statuette in Havlan’s award-laden Manhattan apartment. And possibly an eighth as well — "Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" teams were also nominated for a Daytime Emmy in Outstanding Special Class Writing for their work on the October 2010 "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear."
We’re sure he can find a few more Emmy-shaped spots before the winners are announced September 18 … just in case.
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