42 Wins of 73 Nominations
All in the Family is often regarded as one of the greatest television shows in network history. From 1971 through 1979, we watched the Bunker family squabble over just about everything from food to clothes to politics. The storyline follows a working-class man living in Queens with his wife, daughter, and son-in-law.
The show was groundbreaking in that it showed the disparity between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomer generation, as well as tackled topics that were considered taboo for network television such as racism, infidelity, and homosexuality. All in the Family was nominated for 56 Primetime Emmys in its eight-year run, winning 22 of them, including four for Carroll O’Connor for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series as Archie Bunker, himself.
42 Wins of 82 Nominations
In 1970, the idea of a young single woman moving to a big city to focus on her career was still slightly rare. Even more rare was a television show that focused on a young single woman living alone. However, The Mary Tyler Moore Show changed all that and gave us comedic gold at the same time. The story follows young Mary Richards who, after a break-up with her fiancé, decides to move to the big city and get her career started.
She is hired by WJM, as an associate producer, and that’s where the fun really begins as we watch her form new friendships and relationships. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was nominated for a total of 67 Primetime Emmys, winning thirty of them, including four for Mary Tyler Moore, herself, for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series.
45 Wins of 147 Nominations
In 1986, L.A. Law premiered with a two-hour movie and then ran for an additional eight seasons. The show’s premise centered around a prominent Los Angeles law firm and the lawyers and staff who worked there. Their cases often mimicked the prominent cases that were concurrently happening in Los Angeles, such as the L.A. riots of 1992, capital punishment, and the human immunodeficiency viruses pandemic.
The show highlighted many new faces and launched the careers of then relatively unknown Blair Underwood and Jimmy Smits. In its eight seasons from 1986 through 1994, L.A. Law was nominated for a total of 89 Primetime Emmy Awards, ultimately winning 15 of them, including four of them for Outstanding Drama Series in 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991.
49 Wins of 121 Nominations
Murphy Brown originally aired for ten years from 1988 to 1998 but later had a revival of 13 episodes in 2018. The storyline follows famous recovering alcoholic journalist, Murphy Brown, as she returns to her news show after a stint at a rehab clinic and begins rebuilding her life. Her colleagues are what help to make the show so rich, with characters such as daredevil Frank Fontana and the sunny personality, Corky.
Although she’s over 40 and single, one of the show’s most controversial storylines was Brown’s decision to become a single mother. Murphy Brown earned 62 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning 18 of them, including five for Candice Bergen for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series.
55 Wins of 58 Nominations
For eight seasons from 1984 to 1992, everyone’s favorite sitcom family was the Huxtables and we watched them every week. The Cosby show was the first of its kind to feature a predominantly black cast on a major network. In fact, the popularity of this show led to more predominantly black-led casts such as Amen, 227, In Living Color, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
The show followed the lives of Dr. Cliff Huxtable, his lawyer wife, Claire, and their five children as they all grew up in a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights, New York. The Cosby Show was nominated for a total of 33 Primetime Emmys and won six of them - none of which were for any of the actors, despite the fact that the show remained the number one television show for five consecutive seasons.
56 Wins of 177 Nominations
Everybody Loves Raymond ruled network comedy for nine seasons between 1996 and 2005. Raymond Barone (played by stand-up comedian Ray Romano), along with his wife Debra, must deal with their family interfering in all aspects of their lives: from raising their children to the way Debra keeps house. Raymond’s parents and brother live directly across the street, giving them unlimited access to the couple and, in turn, driving them crazy.
For its nine-year run, Everybody Loves Raymond earned 70 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning 15 of them, including one for the legendary Doris Roberts for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series in 2005—a year in which each of the main cast members were nominated.
57 Wins of 226 Nominations
Downton Abbey follows the lives of an aristocratic family and their family of servants dealing with the turning of the times between 1912 and 1926. The family grapples with finding an heir to inherit the family estate, marrying off their daughters, and finding their own places in a new world for the aristocracy. The servants also find themselves in a strange time under strange circumstances, since many in their field are leaving service for other endeavors.
Downton Abbey spanned six seasons, from 2010 and 2015. It was nominated for 69 Primetime Emmys and won 15 of them, including three for Dame Maggie Smith as Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham, for which she won Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series.
58 Wins of 117 Nominations
From 1997-2004, the legal drama The Practice had audiences wowed. In each episode, the audience watched the lawyers grapple with their own mortality while defending clients in high-profile criminal cases, which often mirrored the real-life criminal cases that were making headlines around the world at the time.
The show followed several characters’ story arcs, but the main storyline followed firm owner Robert Donnell and the difficult choices he has to make both in his professional and private life. The Practice was nominated for a total of 42 Primetime Emmys, winning 15 of them, including one for Outstanding Drama Series in both 1998 and 1999.
59 Wins of 106 Nominations
From 1981 through 1987, audiences were treated to what life behind the scenes at a busy police precinct actually looked like. Hill Street Blues blended many more real-life issues, professional jargon and the characters’ professional and private lives, seamlessly.
The show followed the life and times of a police precinct in an anonymous metropolis, and the “Blues” in the title of the show referenced the blue uniforms the street cops wore. In its six-year run, Hill Street Blues was nominated for a total of 98 Primetime Emmys, winning a then-unheard-of record eight in their debut season alone, and a total of 26 Emmys overall.
61 Wins of 153 Nominations
American audiences LOVED M*A*S*H*, a sitcom based on Richard Hooker’s novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, which reflected on his time as a medical doctor stationed in Korea during the war. From 1972 through 1983, audiences laughed, oohed, and ahhed over the practical jokes, revenge, and other antics of the staff at the army medical hospital as well as cried with them as they grappled with very real war scenarios.
The final episode of M*A*S*H* in 1983 still holds the record for the most-watched television episode in history. M*A*S*H* was nominated for 111 Primetime Emmys and won 14 of them, including three of them for the show’s breakout star, Alan Alda, for Best Lead Actor In A Comedy Series.
61 Wins of 166 Nominations
For five seasons, audiences were morbidly obsessed with the show Six Feet Under. From 2001 to 2005, we followed the Fisher family as they grappled with their personal lives while preserving and running the family mortuary. Each of the 62 episodes featured a cold-open revealing that week’s client and the depiction of how each died—beginning with the first, in which the Fisher matriarch dies in a horrible car accident.
The show focused on the Fisher siblings and their take on human morality, the nature of life and death, and the lives of those who deal with loss on a daily basis. Six Feet Under was nominated for a total of 53 Primetime Emmys, winning nine of them between 2002 and 2006.
64 Wins of 184 Nominations
For five seasons, audiences were obsessed with HBO’s new crime show, Boardwalk Empire starring Steve Buscemi. From 2010 through 2014, Buscemi played prohibition era, Atlantic City politician and mob boss, Nucky Thompson. The idea for the show originated from the 2002 non-fiction book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City written by Nelson Johnson.
The show follows Thompson as he interacts with characters in both his professional and personal life, including mobsters, politicians, government agents, and the citizens of Atlantic City. Boardwalk Empire was nominated for an impressive 57 Primetime Emmy awards and won 20 of them in its five-year-run on air.
71 Wins of 230 Nominations
This show ran on HBO from 2012 through 2019 and was critically acclaimed for Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ performance, since its debut episode. Veep is considered a political satire comedy and follows the story of fictional Vice President and former Maryland senator, Selina Meyer, as she learns the ropes of her newly elected role.
In addition to taking on the mantle of Vice President, she must also navigate a rocky relationship with her daughter, deal with her on-and-off again relationship with her ex-husband, and try to ignore the fact that the President ignores her presence for the most part. In its seven-season run, the show was nominated for 68 Primetime Emmys, winning 17 of them, including six consecutive wins for Louis-Dreyfus for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
74 Wins of 208 Nominations
For a total of nine seasons between 2001 and 2014, audiences were glued to their screens as Kiefer Sutherland played Counter-Terrorist Agent Jack Bauer, who raced—literally—against the clock each season to save the country from different terror operatives in the drama 24. The show was unorthodox in that each season aired 24 episodes where each episode represented one hour in the same day.
Therefore, the nine seasons played out over nine total days in the life of Jack Bauer over the course of several years in the show’s timeline. During its run, 24 earned 80 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning 20 of them, including one win for Kiefer Sutherland in 2006 for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series.
77 Wins of 181 Nominations
From 1982 -1993 audiences loved going to Cheers once a week—the bar where everybody knows your name. The beloved sitcom charmed audiences everywhere as they watched the relationships unfold between the character Sam Malone, a bar owner, womanizer and ex-professional Red Sox pitcher played by Ted Danson, as well as the patrons and employees of the bar.
The show launched the careers of Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson, Kirstie Alley, and Kelsey Grammar, as well as inspired the spin-off show Frasier. In its 11 seasons, the show earned 119 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning 28 of them, including four for Rhea Perlman for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series.
77 of 220 nominations
For ten years, audiences across the country laughed, cried, and fell in love with the sitcom Friends. From 1994 to 2004, we watched six, single, then-unknown twenty-somethings learning how to navigate life in the Big Apple while grappling with their careers, relationships, and families.
Friends launched the careers of the now well-known actors Jennifer Anniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, and Adam Schwimmer. In its ten-year run, Friends garnered a total of 61 Primetime Emmy Nominations, winning six of them, scoring wins for both Jennifer Anniston and Lisa Kudrow for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series.
88 Wins of 203 Nominations
For 12 seasons, NYPD Blue was the top crime drama on television. From 1993 to 2005, audiences watched the detectives of the 15th precinct in New York solve crime after crime, while sometimes perpetrating crimes themselves to get the job done.
The storyline follows Detectives Simone and Sipowicz, as well as the rest of the department’s detectives, as they work to catch some of the worst criminals on the streets. NYPD Blue was nominated for a total of 84 Emmys, winning 20 of them, four of which were for Dennis Franz as Detective Andy Sipowicz as an Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series.
89 Wins of 336 Nominations
From 2006 to 2013, 30 Rock kept audiences laughing at the semi-behind-the-scenes look at what running an actual comedy sketch show might look like. Tina Fey, the creator of the show had been the head writer and a performer on Saturday Night Live, used her experiences to create comedic gold.
The show is a satirical spin on network television executives as well as the actors and actresses’ behavior behind the camera. In its seven-year run, 30 Rock received 112 Emmy nominations and took home 16 of them, including one for Tina Fey for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series.
97 Wins of 313 Nominations
Will & Grace originally aired in 1998 and can be hailed as a groundbreaking show since it was the first to feature two LGBTQ+ main characters. It was also groundbreaking in that it was the first network television show to feature men kissing on camera. The show follows Will Truman, a LGBTQ+ lawyer, and his best friend Grace Adler, a straight interior decorator as they deal with the ups and downs of being single in New York City.
Add two dopey, fun sidekick characters like flamboyantly gay Jack and amoral socialite Karen, and you’ve got network gold. Will & Grace was nominated for a total of 96 Primetime Emmys, and walked away with 18 of them, including at least one win for each of the four main characters for Outstanding Supporting Actress/Actor In A Comedy Series.
100 Wins of 217 Nominations
The X-Files on Fox originally aired from September 1993 through May 2002, but began a comeback with a six-episode season in 2016 and concluded with season 11 in 2018. The storyline follows two F.B.I. agents who work in an unassigned area of the bureau called the X-Files that investigates instances of paranormal phenomena.
Agent Fox Mulder, played by David Duchovny is a true believer, while his partner Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson) is a skeptic. The X-Files received a total of 62 Emmy nominations and wound up winning 16 of them, including one win for Gillian Anderson for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1997.
119 Wins of 383 Nominations
From 2009 to 2020, Modern Family graced our screens and showed us what it was to be a family in modern times. The show follows three different but related families as they face everyday trials and tribulations in a comedic way.
It is also filmed as a mockumentary—with the characters frequently speaking directly into the camera in a confessional type of interview environment. In its 11-year run, the show nabbed a total of 85 Emmy nominations, winning 22 of them, including one Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series for each of its first consecutive five years.
120 Wins out of 309 Nominations
For six seasons between 1999 and 2007, The Sopranos followed the life and trials of a New Jersey mob boss, both professionally and personally. When the issues both at work and at home start to become too much, lead character Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini, begins to have what he originally thinks is a heart attack but turns out to be a massive panic attack.
This forces the mob boss to seek psychiatric treatment. The audience gets to watch him grapple with even needing therapy at all, let alone with how much he can actually reveal to his doctor in order to get the proper treatment he needs. This show earned 112 Primetime Emmy nominations, and took home 21 of them.
120 Wins out of 263 Nominations
The nation got what seemed to be an inside look at the inner workings of the West Wing located at 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue when the show West Wing debuted in 1999 and ran through 2006—two presidential terms of fictional democratic President Jed Bartlett, played by Martin Sheen.
The show followed both the professional and private lives of the president’s administration and family as well as the trials and tribulations that a president of the United States might face. The West Wing was nominated for a total of 96 Primetime Emmys, winning 27 of them.
131 Wins of 275 Nominations
This spinoff of Cheers from 1993 through 2004 followed one of our favorite characters, Dr. Frasier Crane, back to his hometown of Seattle where he has landed a job as a radio psychiatrist. The show follows the trials and tribulations of Frasier—a hopeless romantic—as he tries to find love.
The show threw in a few twists like a neurotic younger brother who is hopelessly in love with Frasier’s maid Daphne, and a tough old-fashioned father with no empathy for fools. Frazier received rave reviews and earned 37 Primetime Emmys out of 109 nominations during its 11-year run.
138 Wins of 392 Nominations
From 2007 through 2015, AMC Network’s Mad Men ruled cable television. The drama followed the successes and failures of a high-profile advertising agency based out of Manhattan, New York on Madison Avenue—hence the name “Mad” Men. The storyline followed the life and trials and centered around creative genius Donald Draper, played by the devilishly handsome Jon Hamm.
Draper is hard drinker, smoker and a womanizer who does everything he can to hide his infidelity from his wife. The show also follows the lives and times of Draper’s coworkers and their families. Mad Men was nominated for a total of 116 Primetime Emmys, winning 16 overall, including one in 2015 for Jon Hamm as Outstanding Lead Actor in A Drama Series.
153 Wins of 238 Nominations
From 2008 to 2013, audiences were gaga over yet another AMC Network original, Breaking Bad. Talk about a genius idea for a show! Take a biology teacher, give him an incurable form of cancer and a magical recipe for the best meth ever manufactured, then add a quirky younger sidekick, and a bunch of other more seasoned drug dealers, and you’ve got television gold that even spawned another show, Better Call Saul.
The show follows dispirited high school teacher Walter White, and a former student, Jesse Pinkman, as they navigate the dangers of the criminal underworld. In its five seasons, Breaking Bad won 16 Primetime Emmys out of 58 nominations - four of them for Bryan Cranston as Walter White for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series.
155 Wins of 370 Nominations
From 1994 to 2004, viewers fell in love with the cast of E.R. as the show followed the loves, lives, losses and wins of the staff of the Chicago County General Hospital emergency room. And let us not forget that this is the gem that gifted us with handsome doctors like Dr. Mark Greene (played by Top Gun’s Anthony Edwards), Dr. Doug Ross (played by the ever-timeless George Clooney), and the babyface of medical student John Carter (played by Noah Wyle).
For ten years audiences tuned in each Thursday at 10 pm to watch the drama unfold. Until Grey’s Anatomy, E.R. was the longest-running medical drama in American television history. In its 10 years on air, E.R. received 120 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning 22 of them, including one for Outstanding Drama Series in 1996.
177 Wins of 329 Nominations
Since 1989, audiences of every generation have fallen under the spell of The Simpsons. There’s a chance that you’ve watched at least one episode of The Simpsons at some point in your life. But just in case you’re not familiar with America’s favorite animated family, the series is a satirical depiction of American life, often taking jabs at some of the day’s most serious topics.
It follows the animated lives of the Homer Simpson, a working-class man and his family: wife Marge, son Bart, and daughters Lisa and Maggie—and the community around them in Springfield (state unknown). In its 31 seasons, The Simpsons has earned a total of 136 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning 46 of them.
178 Wins of 464 Nominations
Since October 11, 1975, audiences have been tuning into the NBC network on Saturday nights to catch the latest late-night satirical comedy sketches that Saturday Night Live has become infamous for. I mean—this is the show that gave us comedy greats such as Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, Adam Sandler, and Tina Fey.
SNL has been on the air for 45 years and it shows no signs of stopping any time soon. It has been nominated for a total of 275 Primetime Emmy Awards, including 15 nominations, just in 2020, and has won 73, including one Honor Award—The most of any show in Emmy history.
376 Wins of 608 Nominations
The series may have only lasted eight years, but from 2011 through 2019, Game of Thrones kept audiences enthralled with its fantasy drama about kings and queens, dragons and magicians, and love and revenge. GOT (as affectionately dubbed by fans) was adapted from the storylines of A Song of Ice and Fire, a book series written by George R. R. Martin.
The storyline follows many characters in their quests and battles all for one reason—to be the one to rule the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Game of Thrones has been nominated for an overwhelming 165 Primetime Emmy awards, breaking the Primetime Emmy Awards record with 59 Emmy wins—the most of any won by a drama series.
