As ‘The Comeback’ and ‘Hacks’ End, Valerie Cherish and Deborah Vance Are Emmy Competitors for the First and Last Time
SkimNews Take
Both series ending in the same Emmy cycle forecloses the chance for one to outlive the other, making this race the only verdict on which late-career model — the perpetual striver or the established icon — has lasting resonance.
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- "Hacks" Season 5 opens with Deborah Vance pursuing an EGOT, already holding a Daytime Emmy for hosting the 1992 game show "Begongle" and a Tony as a producer on the 2005 musical "Spamalot."
- Jean Smart has seven Emmys with comedy actress wins for "Hacks" in 2021, 2022, 2024, and 2025 — every year the show aired — and an eighth win is described as "very likely" this year.
- Lisa Kudrow earns her third lead actress nomination for "The Comeback" (after 2006 and 2015) and her first in outstanding comedy writing, shared with Michael Patrick King; her only real Emmy is the 1998 supporting comedy actress win for "Friends."
- Valerie Cherish — Kudrow's character — won a fictional outstanding comedy supporting actress Emmy at the end of "The Comeback" Season 2, for a gritty version of herself in the in-show "Seeing Red."
- With Smart at five wins as Deborah Vance, another victory would tie Don Knotts ("The Andy Griffith Show") and Candice Bergen ("Murphy Brown") for second place; a 2026 win would put her one behind Julia Louis-Dreyfus's six for "Veep."
- Approximately 22 EGOT holders exist currently, climbing to 28 with honorary awards; Steven Spielberg recently completed his EGOT via a previously undisclosed 2022 Tony and a recent Grammy.
- Both "Hacks" and "The Comeback" are ending their runs, making this the final Emmy matchup between Deborah Vance and Valerie Cherish.
Why it matters: Smart's seven Emmys and uninterrupted comedy actress streak make her the heavy favorite in what amounts to a farewell coronation, while Kudrow's single real Emmy makes her a long-shot spoiler. The real stakes are historical: Smart is now within one win of tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus for most wins playing the same character, and this marks the last Emmy cycle for two acclaimed comedies.
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