If Schmigadoon!, the Broadway adaptation of the Emmy-winning TV series of the same name, wins any of the field-leading 12 Tonys for which it is nominated at Sunday night’s Tony Awards ceremony — and it is the favorite to win several, including the most coveted of all Tonys, best musical — it would represent an historic achievement for Apple TV.
Indeed, the company, which produced the TV show and co-produced the Broadway production, will have completed an EGOT — wins of at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award — and in a shorter timespan than any other streaming service.
Apple TV launched in Nov. 2019, just six-and-a-half years ago. An Apple TV product was first recognized at the Emmys in 2020, when Billy Crudup won best supporting actor in a drama series for The Morning Show; at the Oscars in 2022, when CODA was awarded three statuettes, including best picture; and at the Grammys in February of this year, when Chris Stapleton’s song “Bad As I Used to Be,” from the film F1, won best country solo performance.
If Schmigadoon! wins a Tony, then Apple TV will beat by almost six years the current streaming service record of 12 years from launch to EGOT, which is held by Netflix. Netflix completed an EGOT when Stranger Things: The First Shadow won a Tony last year.
All of the other major streamers are missing at least one part of the EGOT. Hulu, founded in 2007, is missing just a Tony. Prime Video, founded in 2006 (and an outgrowth of Amazon, which was founded in 1994), and HBO Max, founded in 2020 (and an outgrowth of HBO, which was founded in 1972), are short a Grammy and a Tony. Meanwhile, YouTube, founded in 2005; Paramount+, founded in 2014 as CBS All Access (and an outgrowth of Paramount Pictures, which was founded in 1912); Disney+, founded in 2019 (and an outgrowth of the Walt Disney Company, which was founded in 1923); and Peacock, founded in 2020 (and an outgrowth of NBC, which was founded in 1926), have won only Emmys.
Hollywood’s current major studios — or their antecedents — were founded decades before the first Tony Awards ceremony was held in 1947, and besides, Hollywood rarely backed theatrical productions until recent decades.
NBCUniversal is an outgrowth of Universal Pictures, founded in 1912, and NBC, founded in 1926; a stage adaptation of the Universal film Destry Rides Again won a Tony in 1960, 48 years after the film studio’s founding. Sony Pictures Entertainment is an outgrowth of Columbia Pictures, founded in 1924, and Sony Corporation, founded in 1958; Sony Pictures Entertainment backed Fela!, which won a Tony in 2009, 51 years after the founding of Sony Corporation and 85 years after the founding of Columbia Pictures. And Warner Bros. Discovery is an outgrowth of Warner Bros. Pictures, founded in 1923, and Discovery Channel, founded in 1985; a stage adaptation of the Warners film 42nd Street won a Tony in 1981, 58 years after the film studio’s founding.
Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures was founded in 1912, and a production of Agnes of God that was backed by Paramount Theatre Productions won a Tony in 1982, 70 years later. And the Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923, 71 years before a stage adaptation of the Disney film Beauty and the Beast won a Tony in 1994.
