Stephen Colbert is finally stepping out behind Jon Stewart’s shadow, at least in the eyes of Emmys voters. While fans have appreciated the two different styles of news commentary from the comedy geniuses, Colbert hadn’t been able to stop The Daily Show’s 10-year domination of the Outstanding Variety Series category, until last night. The Colbert Report took home the Emmy and another for outstanding writing for a variety series.

The Colbert Report had some tough competition beyond The Daily Show, as well. The other nominees were Jimmy Kimmel Live, Real Time with Bill Maher, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live. As the Huffington Post points out, The Daily Show had won the category for 10 straight times and the show has won 18 overall since it began in 1996. So, Colbert will definitely have a lot to brag about on tonight’s episode.

According to Deadline, after picking up the award, Colbert said it was thanks to the jokes, noting “I think we had a really good year.”

The site notes that Colbert consistently thanked his mentor, Stewart. Colbert had, after all, gained fame as a member of the Daily Show news team. “Jon invited us to have a passionate opinion about what we were writing about and made sure our own thoughts were in there,” he said. “I learned from him how to write satirical comedy. And he’s still there for me. I can call him anytime and ask for ideas and moral support or just the energy to do 160 shows a year. I’m the luckiest man in the world that I can call him anytime for advice and strength.”

While Colbert hasn’t said anything about the win on his official Twitter page (he did post a photo with Michael Douglas), his show’s page has retweeted several congratulatory notes.

iamge: CBS