Will ‘The Bear’ make Emmys history by winning all 6 acting races?
Directly after setting a new comedy series record for most simultaneous Emmy nominations (23), FX’s “The Bear” emerged from last weekend’s Creative Arts Awards with seven wins, constituting an event record for a non-sketch comedy program. Its reception of both possible guest acting trophies (for Jon Bernthal and Jamie Lee Curtis) is by no means unprecedented, but it will be the first show to ever enter the main primetime ceremony with the ability to accomplish a six-for-six acting sweep.
“The Bear’s” potential to make history by concurrently collecting all half dozen comedy performance prizes hinges on a mixed group of reigning champions and first-time nominees. Its male and female lead candidates are Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri, who respectively achieved lead and supporting wins for season one last winter. Edebiri is replaced in the current featured actress race by Liza Colón-Zayas, while Ebon Moss-Bachrach is seeking a second consecutive supporting actor award alongside castmate Lionel Boyce.
Coincidentally, “Only Murders in the Building” had the same chance at sweeping this year’s comedy acting categories, but that ship has sailed since it already lost both guest contests. It and “The Bear” were preceded by just four other comedy series that earned the requisite nominations for such an achievement, the first of which was “Cheers” (1991), which only ended up winning the lead and supporting actress awards (Kirstie Alley and Bebe Neuwirth).
“Everybody Loves Raymond” stands as the only show to attempt this comedy record twice, having finished with double supporting victories (Brad Garrett and Doris Roberts) on both its 2003 and 2005 outings. Next came “30 Rock” in 2009 (one lead win for Alec Baldwin), which was followed a year later by “Glee” (supporting and guest wins for Jane Lynch and Neil Patrick Harris).
On the drama side, there have been eight acting sweep attempts involving six different series, with two-time hopefuls “ER” (1995; 1997) and “Mad Men” (2011-2012) having produced just one win between them (supporting actress, Julianna Margulies, “ER,” 1995). The remaining cases involved “Northern Exposure” (1993), “Picket Fences” (1994), “The Crown” (2021), and “Succession” (2023), the third of which would have gone all the way if it hadn’t lost the male guest award before the main ceremony commenced.
If “The Bear” accomplishes this feat and achieves repeat series, directing, and writing wins, it will follow “Schitt’s Creek” (2020) as only the second program to ever conquer all seven major comedy categories at once. Most of Gold Derby’s Primetime Emmy predictors are on board with it winning all but the female acting awards, with Edebiri and Colón-Zayas holding support rates of just 27.9% and 5.4% against “Hacks” frontrunners Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder. Despite their clear underdog positions, the TV academy’s obvious love for “The Bear” could easily tip the scales in their favor and further solidify its status as one of the most successful shows in Emmys history.
PREDICT the 2024 Emmy winners through September 15
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?