The 10 Most Emmy-Winning Shows in History: ‘SNL,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ and More

If Emmy voters are known for one thing, it’s picking a show they like and sticking to it. Every year, the same shows with past history often clutter the nominations list, and the frontrunner from one year is quite likely to remain the frontrunner for the next. While this year’s Emmy race, with its lack of many old nominees to choose from, is expected to look much, much different than usual, most years you can bet on past favorites staying current favorites.

The result of all this repeating is that shows tend to rack up wins very quickly, or go on prolonged streaks in the same categories that sends their win counts through the roof. There was the year where “The Crown” made history and won all four main acting awards in the Drama categories. Then there are cases like Julia Louis-Dreyfus going on a dumbfounding (but well-deserved) six year streak winning the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series trophy, or “Modern Family” winning Outstanding Comedy Series five years in a row.

It should come as no surprise that the shows with the most Emmys tend to be the series with the most chances at winning Emmys. When you look at the cream of the Emmys crop — the shows that tower over competitors with win counts above 25 trophies, the results are often shows that run for years, even decades. Just look at the No. 1 seed when it comes to Emmys wins, “Saturday Night Live,” which has been running since 1975 and laps its second-closest competitor easily. The variety sketch series has a mind-boggling 84 wins, and that number is bound to only increase as the years go on. Other long-runner that have made Emmys impact include “The Simpsons,” “Last Week Tonight,” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Other shows, like fantasy epic “Game of Thrones,” benefit from a host of Creative Arts Emmy wins on top of the above-the-line headline prizes they pick up at the Primetime Emmys.

With the 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards airing this Sunday, IndieWire is taking a look through the archives to determine what series received the most laurels from the Television Academy. When looking at win counts, both Primetime Emmys and Creative Arts Emmys count towards a show’s final tally. Here are the 10 most Emmy awarded series of all time, ranked in ascending order.