It was a “Schitt” show at the Primetime Emmy Awards. “Schitt’s Creek” won all seven comedy categories on Sunday in an unprecedented sweep: comedy series, actress for Catherine O’Hara, actor for Eugene Levy, supporting actor for Daniel Levy, supporting actress for Annie Murphy, writing for Daniel Levy, and directing for Daniel Levy and Andrew Cividino. Including its casting and costume wins at the Creative Arts Awards, its total haul this year — for its final season — is nine. No wonder awards season is Moira Rose’s favorite.
Here are all the ways “Schitt’s” entered the Emmy record books.
1. It’s the most awarded comedy in a single year
“Schitt’s Creek’s” nine victories surpassed the eight that “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” took home the past two years (“Maisel” also won comedy series in 2018, but not last year). No show had ever won all seven comedy categories at the main ceremony before.
2. It’s the first comedy and second show to win all four main acting awards in one year
Before Sunday, “Angels in America” was the only program to win all four main acting categories in one year. Four shows had gone 3/4: “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1973, ’76), “All in the Family” (1978), “Taxi” (1983) and “Everybody Loves Raymond” (2002).
3. It’s the fourth show to win Best Comedy Series, Actress and Actor in the same year
Since Best Comedy Series was added at the fourth Emmys in 1952 — undergoing various name changes along the way — the only shows besides “Schitt’s Creek” to win that prize and the lead comedy acting awards in the same year were “30 Rock,” “All in the Family” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” “30 Rock” won for Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin in 2008, 30 years after “All in the Family” nabbed the lead statuettes for Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton. The seminal Norman Lear sitcom also grabbed the three categories in 1972. “The Dick Van Dyke Show” collected the trifecta in 1966, with wins for Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. The series also did so in 1964, but that one comes with an asterisk as the acting categories weren’t split into genres that year, which you could argue is more impressive that it pulled it off.
There’s another caveat with “Caesar’s Hour.” In 1957, the sketch series swept the two lead comedy races (Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray) and the two non-genre-specific supporting categories (Carl Reiner and Pat Carroll), but that year — and that year only — the Emmys gave out awards for Best Series — Half Hour or Less and Best Series — One Hour or More instead of Best Comedy Series and Best Drama Series. Two comedies prevailed: “The Phil Silver Shows” won the former and “Caesar’s Hour” claimed the latter, but the TV academy does not recognize either as having won Best Comedy Series.
SEE Here’s the full list of Emmy winners
4. Best Comedy Series and Actress have matched for the sixth straight year
The top comedy prize and funny lady honor have gone to the same show since 2015, and “Schitt’s Creek” and O’Hara have kept it going. “Veep” and Julia Louis-Dreyfus won from 2015-17. With the HBO comedy on hiatus in 2018, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and Rachel Brosnahan swooped in and prevailed for its inaugural season. And last year, Emmy voters knelt to “Fleabag” and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who denied JLD from going 7 for 7 for “Veep.”
5. “Schitt’s Creek” is the third comedy to win its first Emmy for its final season
The series joins “Barney Miller” and last year’s winner “Fleabag” in this tiny club. The former received seven Best Comedy Series nominations during its eight-season run, missing just for its first season as a midseason replacement on ABC’s schedule. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1976-77), “All in the Family” (1978) and “Taxi” (1979-81) all beat “Barney Miller” before the police sitcom finally triumphed with its eighth and final outing in 1982.
“Fleabag” got exactly zero nominations for its first season when it was eligible in 2017, but its second and final season was a total phenomenon last summer, snaring 11 bids and winning six, including three for Phoebe Waller-Bridge for comedy series, actress and writing. “Fleabag” is a unique case because it only lasted two seasons — Waller-Bridge is open to revisiting “Fleabag” one day… maybe when she’s 50 — and most shows, especially Emmy nominees for their final seasons, run longer than that (there’s also “My World and Welcome to It,” which won comedy series in 1970 for its first and only season). “Barney Miller” and “Schitt’s Creek,” which wrapped in April with its sixth season, were both closer to 10 seasons than one when they ended, so you could argue their wins are more notable since it’s much harder to experience this kind of breakthrough so late in a run.
6. It ended some droughts in comedy writing and directing
Daniel Levy’s writing win marked the first for a series finale since “30 Rock” triumphed in 2013. He and Cividino are the first directing duo to win since Joe and Anthony Russo prevailed in 2004 for “Arrested Development.”
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