Kristen Wiig would complete Emmy triple play with nomination for ‘Palm Royale’
Since 2009, Kristen Wiig has racked up nine Emmy nominations in four acting categories, including four supporting and three guest ones for the sketch comedy series “Saturday Night Live.” In addition to currently being eligible for a fourth guest bid for that show, she can soon land her first Best Comedy Actress notice for “Palm Royale” and thus become the eighth woman to have competed in all three possible comedy Emmy categories.
After “Saturday Night Live” and “MacGruber,” “Palm Royale” is the third live action TV series on which Wiig has appeared in a regular capacity. Her character, Maxine Dellacorte-Simmons, is an airline pilot’s wife who schemes her way into Palm Beach high society in the late 1960s. As the first season of the Apple TV+ show progresses, it becomes clear that the faded beauty pageant contestant and all of the glamorous women she admires are constantly burdened with the concealment of countless secrets.
The precedent of collecting Emmy nominations in all three female comedy categories was set in 1976 by Cloris Leachman, who earned a lead notice for playing Phyllis Lindstrom on “Phyllis” after netting supporting (1972-1974) and guest (1975) bids as the same character on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” She was followed two decades later by Betty White, who already had supporting (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” 1975-1976) and lead (“The Golden Girls,” 1986) wins under her belt at the time of her 1996 guest victory for “The John Larroquette Show.”
Next came Katherine Helmond, whose first career bids having been for “Soap” (1978-1981) make her the only one in this group who was nominated as a lead first. Her subsequent supporting and guest mentions were for “Who’s the Boss?” (1988-1989) and “Everybody Loves Raymond” (2002). Jennifer Aniston then emulated Leachman by being recognized in two categories for one show (“Friends”; supporting, 2000-2001 and lead, 2002-2004) before her single “30 Rock” appearance landed her a spot in the 2009 guest lineup.
The last three additions were Laurie Metcalf (supporting: “Roseanne,” 1992-1995; guest: “3rd Rock from the Sun,” 1999; lead: “Getting On,” 2016), Amy Poehler (supporting: “Saturday Night Live,” 2008-2009; lead: “Parks and Recreation,” 2010-2015; guest: “Saturday Night Live,” 2016) and Jean Smart (guest: “Frasier,” 2000-2001; supporting: “Samantha Who?,” 2008; lead: “Hacks,” 2021-2022). Smart, who succeeded on all five of those tries, followed White as the second actress to conquer all three categories.
At 50, Wiig would be the fourth youngest member of this club, after Aniston (40), Poehler (44) and Leachman (50). As of now, she is one of 13 women with comedy guest and supporting nominations but no lead ones. Included among the recent additions to that list are Judith Light, Gaby Hoffmann, Kathryn Joosten, Kristin Chenoweth, and Jane Lynch.
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