What actors, actresses and TV shows have received the most Emmy awards and nominations?

The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards are just around the corner, with the good and the great from American prime television hoping to be rewarded for lighting up our screens in one way or another. HBO’s satirical comedy-drama Succession leads the way with 14 “major nominations” and 27 overall, while The White Lotus, another comedy-drama on the same network, is again up for several categories having been the biggest winner in 2022.

But rather than delve into this year’s ceremony in any great detail, which we have already done plenty elsewhere, we’re going to take a trip down memory line and cast ours minds back to the most successful TV shows, actors and actresses in the history of the Emmy Awards, which were held for the very first time all the way back in January 1949.

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The most successful TV show in Emmys history

Was there any doubt as to which TV show is the most successful in Emmy history, both in terms of nominations and awards? Saturday Night Live, which has been running since 1975, is streets ahead of any other program and you can only imagine it will stay that way due to its longevity.

SNL, which has been nominated for two Emmys this year (Outstanding Scripted Variety Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series), has received a whopping 324 nominations over the years, more than double that of Game of Thrones (159), which is second on the list.

And it has converted those nominations into 84 Emmy Awards, 25 more than GoT, which has little chance of catching up given the series concluded in 2019. NBC sitcom Frasier, which ran from 1993 to 2004, is third on 37 Emmys.

The most successful actors in Emmys history

As a result of Saturday Night Live’s success, the most decorated individual in the history of the Emmy Awards is its creator Lorne Michaels, also the show’s producer from 1975 to 1980 and from 1985 to the present day. The writer has received 102 nominations, 25 more than MTV producer Sheila Nevins, the person who has won the most prizes (31 to Michaels’ 21).

But if we’re looking for actors and actress, we have to move our eyes down the all-time winners list a little. Matters are complicated somewhat by the fact plenty of nominated and winning on-screen performers have also been rewarded for off-field roles.

The most nominated actor

Alan Alda has received 34 nominations, the vast majority of which came for his role in wartime sitcom M*A*S*H, more than any other male actor. The 87-year-old has picked up six Emmys, the most recent of which came as a Supporting Actor in The West Wing in 2006.

Actors with most Emmy Award wins

That puts Alda behind Art Carney, Tim Conway (both six) and Edward Asner (seven) on the all-time winners list, although the actor who has won most Emmys, according to the awards themselves, is Carl Reiner, who picked up awards for his on-screen roles in 1950s sketch show Caesar’s Hour and 90s sitcom Mad About You, although the majority of his 11 Emmys came as the creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show in the 1960s.

The most successful actresses in Emmys history

The most nominated actress

In terms of actresses, there is also a heavy Saturday Night Live influence when it comes to nominations. Tina Fey, who performed various roles on the sketch show, has a record 45 nominations, many of which came for her on-screen work. Three of her nine wins came for her performances as an actress.

Actresses with most Emmy Award wins

Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have both picked up a record eight acting Emmys, one more than Mary Tyler Moore and Allison Janney. Leachman’s awards came for her performances in six different shows, including Malcolm in the Middle, although Louis-Dreyfus has actually won a total of 11 Emmys, with three coming as producer of political satire comedy Veep, in addition to six as Lead Actress on the same show, one for Seinfeld and one for The New Adventures of Old Christine.

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