‘The Bear’ Breaks ‘30 Rock’ Emmy Record for Most Nominations in a Comedy Series

“The Bear” is cementing itself as Emmy royalty. The FX on Hulu series set a new Emmy record on Wednesday for the most nominations received by a comedy series in a single year with 23, breaking the record previously held by “30 Rock” since 2009 when it scored 22 nominations.

Part of “The Bear’s” record-breaking comedy nomination haul includes 10 for acting, which ties the number of nods received by “30 Rock” 15 years ago. It falls short of the 11 received by “Saturday Night Live” in 2021 and overall record holder “Succession,” which scored 14 acting nominations in 2022 and 2023. (“SNL,” it must be acknowledged, competes in the outstanding variety series category, though its main cast and guest hosts submit in the comedy acting categories.)

Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, all of whom won Emmys at the 2023 ceremony for their Season 1 performances on “The Bear,” scored repeat nominations Wednesday. White ups his chances to win back-to-back Emmys for lead actor in a comedy series, while Moss-Bachrach is considered a frontrunner for supporting actor.

Edebiri’s move to lead actress for Season 2 proved fruitful after competing in supporting. She’ll go head-to-head with “Hacks” star and back-to-back incumbent winner Jean Smart, first-time acting nominee Selena Gomez (“Only Murders in the Building”), Maya Rudolph (“Loot”) and Kristen Wiig (“Palm Royale”). Edebiri vacating the supporting actress race opened the door for “The Bear” co-stars Liza Colón-Zayas to get her first nomination.

Riding the wave of “The Bear” adulation is Lionel Boyce with his first supporting comedy actor Emmy nomination.

It’s no surprise that the well-received “Fishes” episode, written by Joanna Calo and showrunner Christopher Storer, produced a slew of acting nominations for “The Bear” in the guest actor categories. Arguably the standout episode of Season 2, the cameo-heavy installment featured high-profile guest stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Jon Bernthal and Bob Odenkirk, all of whom dominate the guest comedy actor and guest comedy actress shortlists this year. Will Poulter, who appeared in the “Honeydew” episode, and Olivia Colman, who guested on the “Forks” episode, also earned guest comedy nominations.

“The Bear’s” record-breaking Emmy haul is a strong indicator of the show’s current cultural pull — and the deep cast of characters and guest stars who have funneled through, the latter vital to its impressive showing on nomination day. Its take this year, which is for the sophomore season that premiered on FX on Hulu last June, is a dramatic increase from the five acting nominations the series received in 2023 for White, Edebiri (then for supporting comedy actress), Moss-Bachrach and Bernthal.

Overall, “The Bear” landed 23 Emmy nominations on Wednesday, including comedy series, directing (Storer’s “Fishes,” Ramy Youssef’s “Honeydew”) and writing (Calo and Storer’s “Fishes”), production design, casting, cinematography, costumes, hairstyling, makeup, editing, sound editing and sound mixing.

The 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air live Sunday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on ABC and will stream next day on Hulu.

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