Emmys mystery: How often do cast additions to comedy series win?

Given her one-of-a-kind awards resume and irrefutable status as an acting legend, it’s no wonder Meryl Streep is widely expected to be honored at this year’s Emmys for her work on Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” Taking the gold for her first regular comedy series role would be impressive enough, but the noteworthiness of her win would extend far beyond that. Having joined her show in its third season, she would be only the 10th non-original comedy series cast member to ever pull off a lead or supporting Emmy victory.

Not including sketch performers, Streep would be said winners club’s first new entrant in over three decades. The last was Kirstie Alley, who replaced Shelley Long as the female lead of “Cheers” at the start of season six and prevailed on her third Emmy bid in 1991. That same year, supporting “Cheers” actress Bebe Neuwirth achieved her second consecutive win for the show after having first appeared during season four.

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Another fourth year addition to the “Cheers” cast – Woody Harrelson – took the supporting male prize on his third try in 1989. Nine years earlier, Harry Morgan won in the same category on his fifth bid for “M*A*S*H.” He and his costar and direct challenger, Mike Farrell, had both joined the CBS program in its fourth year to compensate for the departures of original cast members McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers.

Earlier cases in Streep’s potential category involved Betty White (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” 1975-1976) and Carol Kane (“Taxi,” 1983), who were initially seen during their respective shows’ fourth and second seasons. Kane also won Best Comedy Actress for the same series in 1982 despite only appearing in two of the corresponding season’s 24 episodes.

This list further includes three supporting sketch series actors who won at times when such performances were deemed eligible for the regular comedy awards (as is currently the case). Making up this subset are Tom Poston (“The Steve Allen Show,” 1959) and “Saturday Night Live” actors Kate McKinnon (2016-2017) and Alec Baldwin (2017), the last of whom was never credited with the main cast but counted as a series regular for two seasons because he impersonated Donald Trump in over 60% of those episodes.

In addition to being the first performer to join this club within one year of creating her non-sketch character, Streep would follow Baldwin as the second general member with previous wins for other programs. Whereas he had already bagged two lead comedy Emmys for “30 Rock” (2008-2009), her existing live action performance wins were for the limited series “Holocaust” (1978) and “Angels in America” (2004).

While several recent “Only Murders in the Building” cast additions (including heavily predicted featured male contender Paul Rudd) could potentially join this special roster of winners, Streep has the best chance of doing so by far. Part of what’s led to this likely triumph is her 2020 drama supporting nomination for “Big Little Lies,” on which she played a character introduced in season two. Although she lost in that case, her resulting experience in this area gives her an advantage as she ventures into a new category.

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