The nominations for this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards dropped this week, letting us know the frontrunners who will be vying for one of those golden statues at the September 12, 2022 ceremony. Some titles were pretty expected — like Succession and Ted Lasso — others not so much — like Yellowjackets and Abbott Elementary — and others were surprisingly missing from the roster — like Our Flag Means Death and Pachinko.
Whatever your opinion on this year’s roster, though, every time new nominations are announced we are always wondering about superlatives — what’s the show with the most nominations ever? What about the one with the most wins?
And so, to answer that and to see all together what the top of the top really looks like, here are the ten shows with the most Emmy wins in the history of the awards— while you might expect some, others are pretty much guaranteed to surprise you!
10. E.R., 1994-2009
Wins: 23, including Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Julianna Marguiles in 1995 and Outstanding Drama Series in 1996
Nominations: 124
Medical dramas are a staple of television, but before there was Grey’s Anatomy — which ended up actually surpassing its predecessor as the longest-running primetime medical drama in US history — there was E.R.. Following the lives of the staff of the emergency room at the fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, E.R. saw a revolving cast throughout its fifteen-season run, and launched many a career — including that of one Mr. George Clooney.
9. The Carol Burnett Show, 1967-1978
Wins: 25, including Outstanding Music-Variety Series in 1974 and Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Series in 1975
Nominations: 70
The Carol Burnett Show is not the only variety show on this list — spoiler: see the top of the list for more — but it doesn’t mean that its eleven seasons were unsuccessful. The show helped establish Burnett herself as a television and comedy staple, so much so that now there’s even a life achievement Golden Globe award that is named after her— of which she was, of course, the first recipient.
8. The West Wing, 1999-2006
Wins: 26, including Outstanding Drama Series in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003
Nominations: 95
Aaron Sorkin’s political drama The West Wing is widely considered one of the best television shows of all time, and it’s not difficult to believe when looking at its impressive collection of Emmy awards and nominations. Its seven seasons saw some ups and downs in popularity and viewership, but never enough to truly touch its status as a by-now iconic show.
7. Hill Street Blues, 1981-1987
Wins: 26, including Outstanding Drama Series in 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984
Nominations: 98
The first and only police procedural on this list, Hill Street Blues follows the staff of a police precinct in an unnamed large city — to great critical success and influence since it inspired many similar shows in the following years in both the United States and Canada.
6. Cheers, 1982-1993
Wins: 28, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 1983, 1984, 1989 and 1991
Nominations: 117
During its eleven seasons, Cheers established itself as one of the most popular and beloved sitcoms on US television. Its storylines follow a group of Bostonians who all gather at the real-life bar Cheers. Cheers’ series finale was so widely watched that it became the most watched episode of the entire Nineties — a popularity that is well-reflected in the number of Emmys the series has received. This included acting Emmys for Rhea Perlman, Woody Harrelson, Bebe Neuwirth, Kirstie Alley, and star Ted Danson.
5. The Mary Tyler Moore Show, 1970-1977
Wins: 29, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 1975, 1976 and 1977
Nominations: 67
The seven seasons of The Mary Tyler Moore Show focused on the character played by Mary Tyler Moore herself, Mary Richards — an unmarried (big for the time) and independent woman focused on her career at a fictional television station in Minneapolis. The series also featured a stellar cast of supporting characters, played by names like Ed Asner, Betty White and Valerie Harper.
4. The Simpsons, 1989-ongoing
Wins: 35, including eleven for Outstanding Animated Program and sixteen for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance and Outstanding Narrator
Nominations: 97
The Simpsons’ run so far includes a whopping thirty-three seasons and a grand total of almost 730 episodes, so it’s no surprise that it appears so high up this ranking — with the no easy task of representing animation since it’s the only one of its kind. Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie are one of the most long-lived American families on television, after all.
3. Frasier, 1993-2004
Wins: 37, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998
Nominations: 107
I know what you’re thinking — the student surpasses the master. Or better, the spin-of surpasses the original series. Frasier follows the life of Frasier Crane, one of the main characters of Cheers, after he leaves Boston and returns to his hometown in Seattle. A critical darling, like all other titles in this series its sheer number of Emmys was a record at the time — before another series arrived to dethrone it.
2. Game of Thrones, 2011-2019
Wins: 59, including Outstanding Drama series in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019
Nominations: 160
The eight seasons of Game of Thrones were a true pop culture rollercoaster — from an amazing phenomenon that basically everyone was watching to textbook example of how not to write an ending for your multimillion dollar franchise. It did give us some amazing performances, though, especially during its first four seasons, which earned several of the cast members wins and nominations in their own right.
1. Saturday Night Live, 1975-ongoing
Wins: 86, including two for Outstanding Variety Series and five for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
Nominations: 296
Forty-seven seasons, almost a thousand episodes and hundreds of celebrity guests probably explain why Saturday Night Live — one of the longest-running network shows in the United States — sits at the top of this ranking. The subjects of SNL’s sketches vary from pop culture to political events with a rotating number of cast members— many of whom have gone on to pursue brilliant careers in other television shows or in cinema.
Were you able to guess some of the titles on this list? And how incredible it is that Game of Thrones is sitting smugly at number two when its final season was enough to dropkick the entire series into oblivion?
(image: HBO)
