TV Legend Norman Lear Broke An Emmy Record That He Previously Held Himself

Norman Lear has been working in television for decades. He's the creator of classic sitcoms such as All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Sanford and Son, and Maude. More recently, he's been having a blast by recreating episodes of those sitcoms with Live in Front of a Studio Audience specials on ABC, bringing in star-studded casts to play the beloved characters of classic TV. And one of those specials just helped him break an Emmy record that he actually set himself last year.

The Creative Arts Emmys are being handed out this week leading up to the primary Emmys broadcast this weekend on ABC. The virtual ceremony is being spread out across five nights, and on the second evening, The Hollywood Reporter pointed out that Norman Lear walked away with the award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: 'All In The Family' And 'Good Times'. At 98 years old, that made him the oldest Emmy winner in the history of the awards, breaking the same record he set last year.

Back in 2019, Norman Lear also won the same category for Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's 'All In the Family' And 'The Jeffersons', the first iteration of these live reenactments. As long as he sticks around and keeps doing these TV remakes, and the Emmy voters keep acknowledging him, Norman Lear could conceivably break this record every year for the rest of his life.

But winning an Emmy is nothing new for Norman Lear. He's won six Emmys before, and has been nominated for a total of 16 Emmys throughout his career. If you'd like to learn more about Norman Lear's storied career in television, you should watch the 2016 documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, which is available on Netflix right now.

Coming up behind Norman Lear as the second oldest Emmy winner is Sir David Attenborough, who also took home an Emmy this week for Outstanding Narrator. He's 94 years old, and this is the third year in a row that he's won the award for narration in television. His soothing voice is often heard over nature documentaries.

As for the primary Emmys, those will be handed out during a live virtual ceremony hosted by Jimmy Kimmel starting at 8:00 P.M. ET / 5:00 P.M. PT on ABC. It should certainly be an interesting ceremony.