Ted Danson has two Best Comedy Actor Emmy nominations under his belt for “The Good Place,” but he’s lost both to “Barry’s” Bill Hader. With the two-time defending champ MIA this year, the third time could be the charm for Danson, who’d become just one of three men to win the category for multiple shows.
Sixteen men have won Best Comedy Actor more than once, but 14 of them did so for one show, including Danson, who triumphed in 1990 and ’93 for “Cheers.” Only Richard Mulligan and Michael J. Fox have managed to bag statuettes for two shows; the former won for “Soap” in 1980 and “Empty Nest” in 1989, while the latter three-peated for “Family Ties” from 1986-88 and then took home a record-tying fourth Emmy in 2000 for “Spin City.”
To be fair, a lot of these multiple champs were only ever nominated for one show, usually their best-known work, including icons like four-time champ Carroll O’Connor (“All in the Family”) and two-time winner Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H”). Until his first bid for “The Good Place” in 2018, all of Danson’s comedy actor nominations were for “Cheers,” as he was shortlisted for the sitcom’s entire 11-year run. He was tied with Alda and four-time winner Kelsey Grammer (“Frasier”) for the most nominations at 11 until he pulled ahead with his two “Good Place” nominations, which means he can extend the record again this year to 14.
But with Hader out of the running, the beneficiary may not be Danson, who had some lovely moments in the “Good Place” series finale as our favorite demon architect Michael tried his hand at human life. Eugene Levy tops our odds for another beloved comedy that just wrapped its run, “Schitt’s Creek,” with Danson right behind him in second. “Schitt’s Creek” broke through last year with four bids, including Best Comedy Series, just one fewer than “The Good Place.” And despite its critical love, “The Good Place” has never been an Emmy favorite, with just seven nominations total and its first in comedy series last year.
If Danson can’t join this exclusive multiple shows winners club this year, fret not: He’s already got that Tina Fey–Robert Carlock NBC show on deck, playing a businessman who runs for mayor of Los Angeles “for all the wrong reasons.” The as-yet-untitled series was supposed to premiere this year, but production was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rounding out our top six are Larry David (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”), Michael Douglas (“The Kominsky Method”) and Steve Carell (“Space Force”).
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