Last night, television’s brightest stars gathered for the Emmy Awards—a tradition that celebrates the artistry and technical brilliance of the TV industry. While the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Daytime Emmy Awards tend to dominate headlines, the Emmys actually extend across a wide range of categories. From the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards to the Sports, News & Documentary, Technology & Engineering, and even the Primetime Engineering Emmys, the ceremony has grown into one of the most expansive honors in entertainment.
The Emmy Award itself was born in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, originally as a way for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to promote the still-young medium of television. The statuette—depicting a winged woman holding an atom—was designed by television engineer Louis McManus, who used his wife as the model. It wasn’t easy getting there: the Academy rejected 47 other designs before settling on this now-iconic look in 1948. The name “Emmy” also has some history. Early members of the Academy first considered “Ike,” after the television iconoscope tube, but the nickname was too closely tied to Dwight D. Eisenhower. “Immy,” a reference to the image orthicon camera tube, was chosen instead—and later feminized to “Emmy” to better match the statuette.
Each statuette is a work of art in its own right. Standing 15.5 inches tall and weighing nearly seven pounds, every Emmy takes more than five hours to make. Crafted from copper, nickel, silver, and gold, the statues are manufactured by R.S. Owens & Company in Chicago—the same company that once produced the Oscars.
The very first Emmy ceremony was held on January 25, 1949, at the Hollywood Athletic Club. Tickets cost just $5, and only six awards were given out that night. Ventriloquist Shirley Dinsdale had the honor of taking home the very first Emmy for Most Outstanding Television Personality. Back then, the awards only recognized shows produced and aired locally in Los Angeles. But by 1952, the Emmys had grown into a national event. In 1988, cable programs became eligible, and in 2013, online streaming series joined the mix—forever changing the television landscape.
Today, the Emmy voting process is handled by more than 26,000 members of the Television Academy, divided into 31 peer groups ranging from directors and writers to editors and designers. Members nominate and vote within their profession, while everyone can weigh in on the 14 best program categories.
The Emmys have produced some fascinating records along the way. Jackie Kennedy remains the only U.S. First Lady to ever receive an Emmy, honored with a special Trustees Award for her 1962 televised White House tour. Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels holds the record as the most-nominated individual with 107 nods. Unsurprisingly, SNL itself leads as the most awarded series, with 95 wins. On the streaming side, Netflix continues to make history, having broken records in 2021 with 44 wins in a single year.
From its humble beginnings with a $5 ticket to last night’s star-studded celebration, the Emmy Awards have grown into a global stage where television history is made. And if last night proved anything, it’s that the power of storytelling—whether on broadcast, cable, or streaming—remains stronger than ever.
And because Cheers is the most Emmy-nominated comedy series of all time, with 117 nominations: