15 Primetime Emmy Awards Records That Could Fall In 2013

The 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be held Sunday night, and we encourage you both before and after the ceremony to stop by our live thread to catch up on what you might miss during Breaking Bad. I strongly urge you, even if you’re not a fan of Awards ceremonies, to at least check out the opening, because Neil Patrick Harris may be the greatest awards show host since Carson. The man was born for it.

This year’s nominations are lead by HBO, with 108, with Game of Thrones (16) leading among all dramas and 30 Rock (13) leading all comedies. All eyes, however, will be on the race for Best Drama, where Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and Breaking Bad will look to take down last year’s winner, Homeland, while upstart Netflix’s House of Cards and Downton Abbey run as very dark horses (in fact, if either win, we riot).

As we get ready for the ceremony, I thought we’d take a quick look at 15 various Primetime Emmy records that could fall, if the announcements go the right way.

1. Mad Men is tied with West Wing, L.A. Law and Hill Street Blues for the most outstanding drama wins. It would take the lead if it wins in the category this year. However, Mad Men also owns the record for the most number of losses (17) in a single ceremony (2012). With American Horror Story — also with 17 nominations this year — having already won one Creative Arts Emmy, Mad Men’s record is not in jeopardy.

2. If Jon Hamm loses in the Best Actor Drama category again this year, he will be the most nominated person in that category to have never won.

3. Up until Aaron Paul won for Best Supporting Male Actor in 2012, the award had been given to 16 different people in 16 years, which is to say, Aaron Paul was the first to win in that category twice since Ray Walston in Picket Fences. If he wins this year, he’ll be the first actor ever with three Best Supporting Actor Emmy awards for a Drama. Related: 19 million is the number of people who will use the word “bitch,” in their tweets if Aaron Paul wins for a third time this year.

4. The Daily Show holds the record for the most consecutive wins in the Outstanding Variety Program category, with ten. It will be going for 11 this year.

5. Saturday Night Live holds the record for the most Emmy nominations, and is tied with Frasier with the most number of Emmy wins. It will take the lead with any wins on Sunday night.

6. Bill Maher, with 32 nominations, has the most noms for any individual without a win. He has a chance to add to that this year.

7. Despite winning Outstanding Drama four times, Mad Men has been nominated 25 times in actor categories, and has never won. That’s a record. That’s right: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks have never won an Emmy. All three have another crack at it this year.

8. Up until this year, Peter Dinklage had been the only Game of Thrones actor to be nominated for an Emmy. This year, Emilia Clarke was also nominated, along with Diana Rigg in the Outstanding Guest Actress category (she already lost to The Good Wife’s Carrie Preston).

9. Believe it or not, Mad Men is still the only basic cable show to ever win in either the Outstanding Drama or Outstanding Comedy series. Breaking Bad and Louie have a chance to end that streak this year. Louie also has a chance to be the first basic cable series to win in the directing category.

10. If Modern Family wins for Outstanding Comedy for the fourth year in a row, it will tie All in the Family and Cheers with the most Outstanding Comedy wins, one behind Fraiser.

11. Bryan Cranston has three Best Actor wins; if he wins this year, he would tie NYPD Blue’s Dennis Franz with the most Best Actor in a Drama wins.

12. Netflix, with 14 nominations for House of Cards and Arrested Development, was the first digital media service to get a Primetime Emmy nomination, and with any wins, would become the first Emmy winner for a digital media service.

13. If Julia Louis Dreyfus wins this year for Best Actress in Veep, she will tie Lucille Ball for most actress Emmy awards in a comedic series, with four.

14. With eight wins already in the Creative Arts Emmy, if Behind the Candelabra takes home wins in four of its five other categories, it will become the TV Movie with the most Emmy wins in a single year, ever.

15. If Kerry Washington wins for Best Actress for her role in Scandal, she’d be the first African American woman to ever win in the Best Actress Drama category.

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