Ayo Edebiri can join an exclusive Emmy group after her category upgrade for ‘The Bear’ Season 2

Ayo Edebiri‘s upgrade to lead for Season 2 of “The Bear” has been an unqualified success. She won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Actress in January, along with the Screen Actors Guild Awards’ single comedy actress prize. In the midst of all that, she took home the Best Comedy Supporting Actress statuette for Season 1 at the delayed Emmy ceremony. And now Edebiri is the odds-on favorite to win the Best Comedy Actress Emmy for Season 2 in September, which would put her on a short list of women who’ve won both comedy lead and supporting trophies.

Since the categories were standardized in 1966, five ladies have completed the sweep. The first to achieve it was Valerie Harper, who three-peated in supporting from 1971-73 for her turn as Rhoda Morgenstern on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” before she headlined her own spin-off, “Rhoda,” for which she won the lead prize in 1975. Her “Mary Tyler Moore” co-star Betty White also won the supporting category for the seminal sitcom, in 1975 and ’76, and then triumphed in lead for “The Golden Girls” in 1986.

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In between them, Carol Kane pulled off the twofer in a very unique way. She is the only one to win in lead first, in 1982, and then supporting, in ’83, both for “Taxi.” And she was technically a guest star for her lead victory as she only appeared in two episodes of the sitcom during the 1981-82 season before becoming a series regular for the subsequent fifth and final season. (The guest categories were introduced in 1986 and weren’t gender-specific until ’89.)

The least surprising member of this club is Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The Emmy queen, who shares the record of most wins by a performer with Cloris Leachman at eight, nabbed her first Emmy in supporting for “Seinfeld” in 1996. Ten years later, she prevailed in lead for “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” And then how could anyone forget her comedy actress six-peat for “Veep” from 2012-17?

SEE ‘The Bear’ is poised to be the next comedy to serve up 4 supporting actor Emmy nominees

Jean Smart is the most recent member and an Emmy queen in her own right. A supporting champ for “Samantha Who?” in 2008, she collected back-to-back lead trophies for “Hacks” in 2021 and ’22. Smart’s first “Hacks” victory made her the second person after White to win Emmys in the comedy lead, supporting and guest categories as she collected guest statuettes for “Frasier” in 2000 and ’01. In fact, Smart has never lost an Emmy category in comedy.

And that will make for a tasty face-off this year. After skipping the last cycle, “Hacks” will return with its third season on May 2 and Smart, who is currently second in the odds, will aim to maintain her perfect comedy and “Hacks” record. In her absence last season, Quinta Brunson won comedy actress for “Abbott Elementary.” Smart took down Brunson, third in the odds, in 2022, but can she hold off Edebiri, who’s on the reigning Best Comedy Series?

Edebiri is not the first actress to attempt the supporting-to-lead comedy double for the same show. Allison Janney was thrice nominated in supporting for “Mom” with wins in 2014 and ’15 before she opted to go lead in 2017. While she was successful doing this promotion in drama for “The West Wing,” earning double bookends in supporting (2000-01) and lead (2002, ’04), she did not win in lead for “Mom” despite three nominations. Edebiri is in better position to avoid this fate as it helps to be on a strong show — and she’s on the strongest one of all. “Mom” was never a major Emmy player — it was never nominated for series and its only wins were Janney’s — unlike “The Bear,” whose 10 awards for Season 1 broke the record for the most wins for a first-year show. Not only that, but “The Bear” will drop its third season in June, so there will be a whole new round of buzz and momentum for Edebiri heading into final voting.

So just like how Sydney went from sous chef to chef de cuisine, Edebiri can go from supporting to lead champ.

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