27 Emmys Records That Could Be Broken This Year
Shōgun and Saturday Night Live have already set new Emmys records thanks to the 2024 Creative Arts Emmys this past weekend, and they could widen their leads during the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards on September 15 on ABC.
A whopping 27 new records could be set during the upcoming primetime ceremony. Here’s a breakdown of the historic wins of this year, ones that have already been made and ones that could still be to come, according to data from VegasInsider and our own digging.
2024 Emmys Records Already Set
Shōgun won an impressive 14 categories during the Creative Arts Emmys, which took place on Friday, September 7 and Saturday, September 8. This broke the record for the most Emmys won by a show in a single year. That record was previously held by HBO‘s John Adams limited series, which won 13. One of the most celebrated shows of the year, Shōgun is all but guaranteed to win again during the Primetime Emmys, during which stars Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai, and more could win the respective acting categories. The FX drama is poised to win the top honor of Outstanding Drama Series as well. Game of Thrones still holds the record for most Emmy nominations for a drama series in one year with 32 (Shōgun has 25 total).
On the comedy side, SNL became the became the first TV series to ever win 100 Emmys on Saturday, and it, too, could win more next week as Bowen Yang is nominated for his performance in the variety series.
With her fourth win for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for Big Mouth, Maya Rudolph tied the overall record for wins in this category and became the first woman to win the category four times.
Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman, Dear Evan Hansen) joined the small group of artists to reach EGOT status (winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) thanks to the 2024 Creative Arts Emmys. They won the Outstanding Music and Lyrics category for Only Murders in the Building.
With its 23 nominations for this ceremony, The Bear has officially beaten 30 Rock‘s record for the most total Emmy nominations for a comedy series in a single year (30 Rock‘s record was 22).
Potential 2024 Emmys Records
Katie Yu / FX
Drama
It could be a banner year for representation of marginalized groups this year. Just about every acting win Shōgun could secure would make for an historic moment, as the Emmys has rarely awarded actors of Asian descent (and most other demographics other than white people, for that matter).
Lead Actress
Should Sawai win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Shōgun, she would become the first actress of Asian descent to ever win the category. The same goes for Maya Erskine, who’s nominated for Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
Should Jennifer Aniston win Lead Actress in a Drama Series for The Morning Show, she’d be the first person to ever win Outstanding Lead Actress in both the drama and comedy categories. She won for Friends in 2002. If Imelda Staunton wins for the final season of The Crown, it would mark the third time an actress has won for playing Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix drama. Both Olivia Colman and Claire Foy won the category for their respective final seasons in previous years.
Lead Actor
Should Sanada win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Shōgun, he’ll become just the second man of Asian descent to win the category and the first Japanese man to win. The first Asian man to win the category was Squid Game‘s Lee Jung-jae.
If Gary Oldman wins for Slow Horses, he would break Richard Kiley‘s record and become the oldest actor to win in the Lead Actor in a Drama Series category. Kiley was 66 when he won for A Year in the Life. Oldman is also 66, but he will be one month older than Kiley was when he won if he takes home the prize.
Supporting Actor
If Shōgun‘s Tadanobu Asano or Takehiro Hira win Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, they could become the first Asian — and first Japanese — actors to ever win that category. Néstor Carbonell already won Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the period drama (see his speech above).
Supporting Actress
If Greta Lee wins for The Morning Show, she’ll become only the second woman of Asian descent to win the category. Archie Panjabi was the first to win it for The Good Wife in 2010. Ali Wong was only the second woman of Asian descent to win an acting Emmy earlier this year for Beef, and she also became the first Asian woman to ever win a Lead Actress award (she won the Limited or Anthology category).
If Elizabeth Debicki wins for The Crown, she would be the first Australian actress to win in the category.
Comedy
Chuck Hodes / FX
The Bear could break its own record for the most Primetime Emmys won by a Comedy Series in a single year. Season 1 won 10 Emmys in one night, setting a new record. Season 2 has already won seven Creative Arts Emmys, and it’s up for nine more in the primetime event.
Lead Actress
Quinta Brunson made history with her Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Abbott Elementary Season 2. Should she win again for Season 3, it will mark two milestones: the first time in history a Black woman has won the award twice, and the first first time a Black woman has won that category two Emmys in a row. If Ayo Edebiri or Rudolph win for The Bear Season 2 or Loot Season 1, respectively, it would still be the first time a Black woman has won the category two ceremonies in a row.
If Selena Gomez wins Outstanding Lead Actress for Only Murders In The Building, she’ll become only the second Latina actress to win that category, joining America Ferrera, who won for Ugly Betty.
Supporting Actress
Edebiri won Support Actress for The Bear Season 1 but was bumped up to Lead Actress for Season 2. If Sheryl Lee Ralph wins Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Abbott, she’ll be the first Black woman to ever win that category twice.
Liza Colón-Zayas could become the first Latina actress to win in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category if she wins for The Bear Season 2. If Carol Burnett, 91, wins for Palm Royale, she’d become the oldest actress to ever win the category and any acting Emmy overall. The current oldest winner ever is John Gielgud, who was 87 when he won for Summer’s Lease.
Lead Actor
If Larry David, Steve Martin, or Martin Short win for Curb or Only Murders, respectively, they each could break Eugene Levy’s record for the oldest actor to win the Emmy for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Levy was 73 when he won for Schitt’s Creek. David is 77, Martin 79, and Short 74.
Should D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Reservation Dogs‘ final season, he would become the first Indigenous actor to win that category (or any category). He’d also break the record currently held by Michael J. Fox for youngest winner of that category. Fox was 25 when he won for Family Ties. Woon-A-Tai is 22.
Woon-A-Tai’s category will be announced before the limited series/anthology categories, in which Indigenous actors Lily Gladstone and Kali Reis are nominated.
Supporting Actor
Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary) or Lionel Boyce (The Bear) could become only the second African-American actors to win in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category and the first one in more than 40 years (the first and only actor to ever do so was Robert Guillaume in 1979).
Yang could become the first Asian-American actor to ever win in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category if he wins for SNL.
Outstanding Comedy Series
Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s potential record is a disappointing one. It currently holds the record for the most Outstanding Comedy Series nominations without a win with 11. If it loses again for its final season, its record will extend. The series has only ever won two Emmys, one for picture editing and one for directing, across its 12 seasons.
Limited or Anthology Series
Netflix
Lead Actress
Sofía Vergara could become the first Latina actress to ever win in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited series category if she wins for Griselda. She would also be the first Colombian actress to win in this category.
Supporting Actress
If Gladstone wins for Under the Bridge, or Reis for True Detective: Night Country, either could become the first Indigenous actors to win in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series (or any acting category, if Woon-A-Tai doesn’t win earlier in the night).
Nava Mau could become the first Latina actress to win in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series category if she wins for Baby Reindeer, and she could also be the first transgender actress to ever win an Emmy in any acting category. Gladstone is nonbinary, which means they could also become the first trans person to win an acting Emmy.
Supporting Actor
If Robert Downey Jr. wins Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for The Sympathizer, he’ll be the first person in history to win an Oscar, a Daytime Emmy, and a Primetime Emmy in the same year. (He won Best Supporting Actor for Oppenheimer and a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lifestyle Program for Downey’s Dream Cars.)
Reality
If RuPaul’s Drag Race wins any of Outstanding Reality Competition Program again, host RuPaul would extend his record for the most Emmy wins for a person of color (the host is an EP on the series, which means he wins if the show wins the top honor). RuPaul’s record is currently 11, but it could be extended to 12. After eight consecutive wins for Outstanding Host of a Reality or Competition Program, the Queen of Drag lost the category this year to Alan Cumming for The Traitors.
RuPaul’s Drag Race also holds the record for the most Emmy wins for a reality competition series with 29, but The Amazing Race holds the record for the most wins in the Outstanding Reality Competition Program category with 10. The Amazing Race has 15 Emmy wins overall.
76th Emmy Awards, September 15, 8/7c, ABC
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