What do Sarah Paulson, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Michelle Williams, Catherine O’Hara and Jean Smart all have in common? They’re the only performers to sweep all five major TV awards — Emmys, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Critics Choice Awards and Television Critics Association — in a single television season. These grand slam winners represent limited series (“The People v. O.J. Simpson” for Paulson, “Fosse/Verdon” for Williams) and comedy series (“Fleabag” for Waller-Bridge, “Schitt’s Creek” for O’Hara, “Hacks” for Smart), while no one has yet accomplished this feat for a drama series. Of note, other actors have claimed all five trophies but for different seasons, such as Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), Claire Danes (“Homeland”), Tina Fey (“30 Rock”) and Julianna Margulies (“The Good Wife”). Scroll through our photos below to see more info on the record-breaking TV awards actors sweeps of the Emmys, Globes, SAG Awards, Critics Choice and TCAs.
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Sarah Paulson (2016)
Image Credit: FX “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (FX)
Paulson played real-life prosecutor Marcia Clark on the first installment of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series. After previously being nominated for “American Horror Story” and “Game Change,” this marked Paulson’s first victory at the Emmys and other awards shows, though the actress had previously prevailed at Critics Choice for both “AHS: Asylum” and “AHS: Freak Show.”
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Phoebe Waller-Bridge (2019)
Image Credit: Amazon “Fleabag” (Amazon)
The first season of Waller-Bridge’s short-lived TV comedy was virtually ignored by trophy shows, aside from a sole actress bid at the Critics Choice Awards. Flash-forward to the second (and final) season and almost every awards group under the sun seemed to fall in love with “Fleabag,” anointing her with wins for acting and producing. (Perhaps Hot Priest is to blame.)
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Michelle Williams (2019)
Image Credit: FX “Fosse/Verdon” (FX)
While Williams hasn’t had much luck at the Oscars (four nominations and counting), she hit it big on the TV side thanks to her award-winning role as actress/dancer Gwen Verdon. Her co-star Sam Rockwell almost went home empty-handed for playing love interest/legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, but then he took home the SAG Award at the end of that awards season.
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Catherine O’Hara (2020)
Image Credit: Pop “Schitt’s Creek” (Pop)
O’Hara and the rest of the cast were virtually ignored for much of the Canadian series’ six-season run, until the old episodes dropped on Netflix and introduced it to an entirely new audience. “Schitt’s Creek” made Primetime Emmys history by going 7-for-7 in the comedy categories, and then O’Hara just kept winning until there were no more awards shows left to give her any statues. It’s fitting, then, that her character Moira Rose once called “awards” her favorite season.
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Jean Smart (2022)
Image Credit: Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max “Hacks” (HBO Max)
At 70 years old, the legendary actress joined this elite club for the 2021-22 TV season for her role as veteran Las Vegas stand-up comedian Deborah Vance. In her various speeches, Smart thanked her co-star Hannah Einbinder, who plays a young writer hired to shake up Deborah’s stand-up routine.
