Who Would Win in a Contest of All-Time Greatest Emmy Winners?
Many TV fanatics also consider themselves statisticians, and we're no exceptions. Following yesterday's Emmys, we've decided to look back at Emmy history, stack up the ceremony's greatest winners, and vote for the greatest Emmy recipients in all major categories. Is Lucille Ball better than Jean Stapleton? Does Seinfeld top Cheers? Join us for an epic battle.
Best Lead Actor -- Comedy
· Dick Van Dyke, The Dick Van Dyke Show
· Carroll O'Connor, All in the Family
· Alan Alda, M*A*S*H*
· Michael J. Fox, Family Ties
· Kelsey Grammer, Frasier
· Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Winner: Carroll O'Connor. Alan Alda and Alec Baldwin come close, but Archie Bunker is the finest character (and performance) in primetime history.
Best Lead Actress -- Comedy
· Lucille Ball, I Love Lucy
· Mary Tyler Moore, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
· Jean Stapleton, All in the Family
· Betty White, The Golden Girls
· Candice Bergen, Murphy Brown
· Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Winner: This is the toughest acting category to judge, but I'd pick Jean Stapleton. Lucy may be a groundbreaking comedienne and the funniest dame of all time, but Edith Bunker is sublime in both her battiness and sly steeliness.
Best Supporting Actor -- Comedy
· Don Knotts, The Andy Griffith Show
· Ed Asner, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
· Danny DeVito, Taxi
· John Larroquette, Night Court
· Michael Richards, Seinfeld
· David Hyde Pierce, Frasier
Winner: Finally, a category with a definitive champion: Ed Asner's Lou Grant. He's the only comic character I know whose snapdragon edges work just as well in a dramatic format.
Best Supporting Actress -- Comedy
· Vivian Vance, I Love Lucy
· Valerie Harper, The Mary Tyler Moore Show
· Rhea Perlman, Cheers
· Laurie Metcalf, Roseanne
· Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seinfeld
· Cynthia Nixon, Sex and the City
Winner: Great though they may be, Vivian Vance and Cynthia Nixon would rank at the bottom of this list (after just edging out the inclusion of Megan Mullally). Julia Louis-Dreyfus gets a solid fourth and Rhea Perlman ranks third, so between Valerie Harper and Laurie Metcalf, I think I'll choose Metcalf's gawking Aunt Jackie.
Best Comedy
· I Love Lucy
· The Mary Tyler Moore Show
· All in the Family
· Cheers
· Seinfeld
· Arrested Development
· 30 Rock
Winner: Get a load of that. I took advantage of 2009's seven-nominee count in this category to stuff in as many deserving classics as I could (and still, I opted to leave out Get Smart, Taxi, The Wonder Years, Frasier, The Office, and Dick motherf*cking Van Dyke!). Well? I'm sure many feel Seinfeld is entitled to the throne, but when it comes to timeless timing, I'm voting for I Love Lucy. Anything resembling "funny" in 2010 owes a debt to Desilu.
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Comments
Wow, this is the most arbitrary list of names. All in the Family was groundbreaking, I guess, but it does not hold up. Both Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton, fine actors as they are, tend to tear up too much. Surprisingly, the actor who holds up on this show is Sally Struthers. And don't be dissing Don Knotts. No way.
Oh, yeah, and 30 Rock and Arrested Development will not even be remembered 10 years from now. Thanks for remembering Dick Van Dyke the actor, but his show is much better than either of those and inspired so many workplace comedies such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and, yup, "30 Rock." And where the hell is "M*A*S*H?" Alan Alda, yes, most definitely deserves the place you have given him. Rest in peace Bea Arthur.
Are you sh*tting me? LOL
Maybe you are too young, but The Honeymooners is the standard by which all sit-coms are judged. Please name one that has surpassed it in the combination of laughs and poignancy. How many on your list are about 4 people and often in a living room? How many copies have there been of the bumbling, well meaning husband and the steady wife? (I Love Lucy, the reverse) Name a show that has a bigger heart.
Louis Virtel what a "motherf*cking" looser you are. Oooops, I quoted a Self-Nominated literary giant.
A wise man once said, "oopinions are like rectums, everyone has one," The only thing is Mr. Virtel chooses to display his on line, no matter how incorrect he is.
Seriously? No mention of The Wire?
I will always love Lucille Ball - she was amazing and I still watch I Love Lucy! And let's not forget Vivien Vance; she was wonderful also.
WHAT HAPPENED TO BLACK SHOWS AND ACTORS SUCH AS THE COSBY SHOW (BILL COSBY, ECT.); LIVING SINGLE (QUEEN LATIFA, ECT.,); SANFORD AND SUN , ECT.
The first couple of seasons O'Connor and Stapleton were dynamite. But then they slowly evolved into cariactures.
Harper gets my vote for supporting. Rhoda was a great character but only on MTM and the first part of the first season of RHODA. Once she got married and saddled with a dull character like Joe, she was lost forever.
The first couple of seasons O'Connor and Stapleton were dynamite. But then they slowly evolved into cariactures.
Harper gets my vote for Supporting Actress--Comedy. Rhoda was a great character but only on MTM and the first part of the first season of RHODA. Once she got married and saddled with a dull character like Joe, she was lost forever.
No Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad who did more with her looks to her husband and children than most actors could do with words.
Disappointing and myopic list.
Bess, the point of this list is to stack up Emmy winners. Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad never won the (comedy) Emmy.
You spelled "loser" wrong.
Sublime comeback Louis.
The other thing your list points out, besides the dearth of good roles for women, was the Emmy voters racism in leaving out great "black" shows, especially comedies. Sanford and Son and The Cosby Show just to name two.
Where do Happy Days and The Carol Burnett Show fit in Emmy nominations? I thought both had a lot?
Seinfeld will never eclipse Cheers, 26 emmys for the latter vs. 10 for the former...enough said. Seinfeld had one important impact on society, it made acting like a moron posh....