Jean Smart One Win From Historic Emmy Sweep
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- Jean Smart has won lead comedy actress for every eligible season of HBO Max's "Hacks" — 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025 — and is nominated a fifth and final time as the comedy ends after its fifth season.
- A fifth Smart win would make her the first woman to sweep every season of her series in acting categories and her eighth career Emmy, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman for the second-most acting Emmys by a female performer.
- Zendaya won lead drama actress for "Euphoria" seasons one and two (2020, 2022) as the youngest two-time Emmy winner, and returns seeking a third straight win against Rhea Seehorn ("Pluribus") and Keri Russell ("The Diplomat").
- Lisa Kudrow earned nominations for every season of "The Comeback" across 2006, 2015, and 2026 — a 20-year streak — and could emerge as a Smart spoiler in lead comedy actress.
- Allison Janney could also extend her consecutive-season streak with a supporting drama actress win for "The Diplomat"; she's currently tied with Smart and Mary Tyler Moore.
- Only Bill Cosby has achieved the milestone for a scripted series lasting at least three seasons, sweeping "I Spy" from 1966–1968; Blythe Danner did it on "Huff," which lasted only two seasons.
- The Bear saw two-time winners Jeremy Allen White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach shut out, ending their perfect nomination streaks and leaving Ayo Edebiri as the show's lone acting nominee.
Why it matters: Smart's pursuit would end a drought lasting nearly six decades, since only Bill Cosby has swept every season of a scripted series lasting at least three seasons (I Spy, 1966-68). A win would tie her with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman for the second-most acting Emmys by a female performer, lifting her from decorated to historically unmatched in the female acting categories.
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