It’s serious — “The Bear” just broke the Emmy record for a comedy series.
The second season of the hit FX series, which aired in June 2023, led the tally for comedy series with 23 nominations, including outstanding comedy series. It now surpasses the 22-nomination Emmy record held by NBC’s “30 Rock” since 2009. The all-time series record of 32 nominations, held by HBO’s “Game of Thrones” since 2016, remains firmly in place.
In addition, the show picked up major nominations for lead comedy actor (Jeremy Allen White), lead comedy actress (Ayo Edebiri), supporting comedy actor (Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Lionel Boyce), supporting comedy actress (Liza Colón-Zayas), directing (Storer for “Fishes” and Ramy Youssef for “Honeydew” TK) and writing (“Fishes” by Joanna Calo and Storer).
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The guest comedy categories were also brimming with nominations for the series, including mentions for Jon Bernthal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Olivia Colman, Bob Odenkirk and Will Poulter) Colman and Poulter are the only actors not nominated for the episode “Fishes.”
With its robust number of acting nominations, the show came close to standing alongside “Succession’s” back-to-back records set in 2022 and 2023 when it landed 14 mentions, surpassing the limited series “Roots,” which had previously held the record with 13.
The divisions between comedy and drama categorization at the Emmys have become increasingly tenuous in recent years. In the comedy series category, “The Bear” will compete against “Abbott Elementary,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Hacks,” “only Murders in the Building,” “Palm Royale,” “Reservation Dogs” and “What We Do in Shadows.”
Created by Christopher Storer, the dramedy follows Carmy (White), an award-winning chef who returns to his hometown of Chicago to manage his brother’s sandwich shop following his suicide.
The Season 3 premiere of “The Bear,” which dropped on June 22, reached 5.4 million views in its first four days of streaming, marking the best performance for an FX premiere on Hulu and the most-watched season premiere for any scripted series.
The Creative Arts and Governors Gala ceremonies will occur over two nights on Sept. 7-8. The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, Sept. 15.
