Emmys fun fact: ‘Hacks’ is only 3rd show in history to win Best Comedy Series for Season 3 after losing first 2 bids
When Emmy presenter Catherine O’Hara announced “Hacks” as the winner of Best Comedy Series at Sunday’s Primetime ceremony, awards pundits everywhere had to pick their jaws up off the floor. “The Bear” was the overwhelming front-runner to claim its second victory in that top category, especially after setting a new comedy record in 2024 for 11 wins in the same season. But “Hacks” prevailed, and in doing so it became only the third show in history to win Best Comedy Series for Season 3 after losing its first two bids.
The other two laffers to accomplish this rare Emmy feat are “Get Smart” in 1968 and “Sex and the City” in 2001, which means “Hacks” now finds itself in rare company indeed. For the record, “Get Smart” lost for Season 1 in 1966 to “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and lost for Season 2 in 1967 to “The Monkees”; “Sex and the City” lost for Season 1 in 1999 to “Ally McBeal” and lost for Season 2 in 2000 to “Will & Grace”; and “Hacks” lost for Season 1 in 2021 to “Ted Lasso” and lost for Season 2 in 2022 to “Ted Lasso.”
“Hacks” only won three Emmys this year, but they were three major awards: series, actress (Jean Smart) and writing (Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky). To compare, its biggest rival “The Bear” won 11 total trophies in a mix of Primetime and Creative Arts races: actor (Jeremy Allen White), supporting actor (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), supporting actress (Liza Colon-Zayas), directing (Christopher Storer), guest actor (Jon Bernthal), guest actress (Jamie Lee Curtis), casting, cinematography, picture editing, sound editing and sound mixing.
In its heralded third season, “Hacks” followed the journey of legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Smart) trying to fulfill her life’s dream of becoming a late night talk show host. She was aided along the way by her on-again, off-again assistant Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), who ultimately schemed her way into being Deborah’s new showrunner.
The other six Best Comedy Series nominees this year were “Abbott Elementary,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Palm Royale,” “Reservation Dogs” and “What We Do in the Shadows.” From this group, “Only Murders” took home three Emmys for music composition, music & lyrics (“Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It?”) and production design, while “Palm Royale” won the trophy for Best Main Title Theme Music; the other shows went home empty-handed.
In case you missed it, here is the moment where O’Hara named “Hacks” as the 2024 Emmy winner for Best Comedy Series:
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