TRIVIA TIME!
Lightning Round With Co-Hosts
YOU EGOT-IT!
Whoopi Goldberg, Rita Moreno and Mel Brooks are three of the 12 masters who have each received an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony—the coveted EGOT. If John Legend wins this year for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for portraying the title character in April’s live production of Jesus Christ
Superstar, he’ll nab the prestigious EGOT honor at age 39.
SHE’S THE ONE
Thanks to her knockout role as an MI5 spy in BBC America’s Killing Eve, Sandra Oh became the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for Lead Actress in a Drama.
A FIRST LADY FIRST
Jacqueline Kennedy received a special Trustees Award for her televised tour of the White House in 1962. (Lady Bird Johnson accepted the statuette on Kennedy’s behalf.) Michelle Obama received attention when her episode of Billy Eichner’s game show Billy on the
Street earned a 2015 nomination. It lost to Comedy Central’s Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis.
HAIL TO THE CHIEF
When Julia Louis-Dreyfus won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for playing President Selina Meyer in Veep in 2017, she hit a milestone: The actress now has a total of eight Emmys as a performer, having also won for her work on Seinfeld and The New Adventures
of Old Christine. This ties her with former record holder Cloris
Leachman. Alas, Louis-Dreyfus is not eligible this year, as Veep has been on hiatus. Leachman’s Mary Tyler Moore
Show co-star Ed Asner is the most decorated male performer, with seven trophies.
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
Betty White was 88 when she won for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her hosting stint on Saturday
Night Live in 2010. (Two years later, she was nominated for hosting the reality game show Betty White’s Off Their Rockers.) On the other side of the spectrum, Roxana Zal was 14 years, 314 days old when she won the 1984 award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for Something About Amelia.
WINNING IS COMING?
Count the bodies and the trophies: The fantasy epic Game of Thrones holds the record (38) for the most wins by a scripted series, beating out Frasier. It’s nominated for a whopping 22 Emmys this year, the most of any series.
SHUTOUTS
Somebody, please investigate! Former
Murder, She Wrote star Angela Lansbury has zero wins out of 17 nominations dating back to 1983 (and she hosted the Emmys in 1993). John Goodman was snubbed all seven years he was nominated for Roseanne and failed to get a nomination this year.
THE DOCTOR IS IN
Kelsey Grammer is the only actor to be nominated for the same character in three different series: His Dr. Frasier Crane was cited for Wings (once), Cheers (twice) and Frasier (10 times!). He won five Emmys, four for Frasier and one for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance as Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons.
FEELING BLUE
If you want that statuette, pick up a badge and gun. Characters in law enforcement have received the most Emmy love, with 33 and counting. Past winners include Dennis Franz for NYPD Blue (four), Tony Shalhoub for Monk (three) and Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless for Cagney & Lacey (six total). Do you object? Note that 13 other awards have gone to lawyer characters.
MOST IMPRESSIVE, STAT
The 1995 ER episode “Love’s Labor Lost,” in which Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) cares for an ailing pregnant woman, is the most victorious single TV episode of all time. It picked up five statuettes in all, including one for director Mimi Leder, the second woman to win in the category.
DOUBLE THE FUN
Jeff Daniels, Sterling K. Brown, Jason Bateman, Alex Borstein and Jane Lynch each received two Emmy nominations in 2018. But Atlanta star Donald Glover and Barry’s Bill Hader can beat that: They’re each cited for writing, directing and starring in their hit series. They’re also in competition for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for hosting gigs on Saturday Night Live.
How they feel about hosting
Che: “It’s a celebration. People work hard in this industry, and we want it to feel like a big moment for them. Also, this may be the last time they ever ask us.”
Jost: “Bob Hope told us, ‘Try to find a creepy old house on a hill and then start making noises.’ But that might have been advice about ghosting.”
Favorite TV snack
Jost: “Sno-Caps. I know— I’m 84 years old.” Che: “Jalapeño kettle chips.”
Theory as to how Game of Thrones will end
Jost: “Ideally with a rap video. Imagine all the characters from the series coming back to do a rap verse. ‘Get that dragon a mic, ’cause he’s about to spit fire!’” Che: “A giant meteor hits everybody.”
Favorite comedian/ actress
Che: “Ellen DeGeneres. She’s a standup and she’s battle-tested. Stand-ups always still flock to each other. I bet she’s a cool hang.” Jost: “Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Seinfeld— a really funny actor being really funny.”