Apple TV just made history with ‘Schmigadoon!’ and most people didn’t even notice
The 79th Tony Awards saw some major wins and shocking snubs as it crowned this year's best Broadway productions on June 7. 'Schmigadoon!' led the nomination race and was tied with 'The Lost Boys' at 12 nominations each. The production by Cinco Paul was based on a musical comedy series that premiered on Apple TV+ for two seasons from 2021 to 2023. Paul, who co-created the series with Ken Daurio, brought the series to Broadway after its cancellation. Apple TV backed the project as a co-producer, and the musical gave the streamer its best chance to claim the coveted EGOT status. For the unversed, EGOT stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards. With three major awards already under its belt, the streamer just needed one Tony Award to reach the milestone. Hence, all eyes were on the award ceremony on Sunday night to see whether the Broadway musical could help Apple TV cinch the rare victory.
On Sunday night, 'Schmigadoon!' won four Tony Awards for 'Best Musical,' 'Best Original Score,' 'Best Book,' and 'Best Orchestrations,' thus completing Apple TV's EGOT race. Apple TV started its EGOT journey in 2020, with Billy Crudup's Emmy win for 'Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series' for 'The Morning Show.' Since then, acclaimed comedies like 'Ted Lasso' and 'The Studio' have helped Apple TV gain more recognition at the Emmys with their 'Best Comedy Series' wins. Two years later, the family drama 'CODA,' released in August 2021, ensured the streamer added an Oscar win to its growing list of accolades. The movie by Sian Heder won 'Best Picture,' 'Best Supporting Actor,' and 'Best Adapted Screenplay.' In February of this year, Chris Stapleton's song, 'Bad As I Used to Be,' from the Brad Pitt-starrer 'F1,' won the award for 'Best Country Solo Performance.' The sports drama film was distributed by Apple Original Films in June 2025 and earned the streamer its first Grammy.
Apple TV, which was launched in November 2019, has achieved this significant feat in less than seven years, in a shorter timespan than any of its competitors. By comparison, Netflix completed its EGOT race just last year after 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' bagged a Tony for 'Best Scenic Design,' 'Best Lighting Design,' and 'Best Sound Design.' It took 12 years for Netflix to achieve this feat. Moreover, other major streamers such as HBO Max, Prime Video, and Hulu are still short of at least one of these four major awards.
'Schmigadoon!' pays homage to musicals of the Golden Age era, and follows two New York City doctors, Melissa Gimble and Josh Skinner, as they are transported into the titular magical town from the 1940s, where residents frequently break into song and dance. It opened on Broadway in April and features songs from the TV series as well as original pieces written by Paul for the stage. During its two-season stint, the Apple TV series received seven Emmy nominations, winning only once for 'Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics' for the song 'Corn Puddin' in 2022. But producer Lorne Michaels said backstage after the historic win that although the show had "gone through many iterations, but I think this is the best version of it ever."
