OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues for (“Night Out”) in “ABBOTT ELEMENTARY”

Rose Byrne as Sylvia for (“Jeopardy”) in "PLATONIC"

Elle Fanning as Margo Millet for (“The Hungry Ghost”) in "MARGO'S GOT MONEY TROUBLES"

Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora for (“Nail in the Coffin”) in “ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING”

Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish for (“Valerie Faces Reality”) in "THE COMEBACK"

Jean Smart as Deborah Vance for (“EGOT”) in "HACKS"

AND THE WINNER IS:

LISA KUDROW AS VALERIE CHERISH FOR ("VALERIE FACES REALITY") IN "THE COMEBACK"

This is the sixth win and seventeenth nomination for Lisa Kudrow. She previously won for The Comeback (2006, 2015), producing The Comeback (2006, 2015) and with the ensemble of Friends (2002). She was previously nominated for Friends (2000-2004), Cougar Town (2010), Scandal (2014), BoJack Horseman (2016) and with the ensemble of Friends (2000-2001, 2003-2004). She wins for her performance again as Valerie Cherish.

The difficult decision this television season deciding which iconic leading comedy actress I would choose to award came down to Valerie or Deborah with again my loyalty to Ms Cherish prevailing through. 10 years later and Kudrow's ability to slip so comfortably back into the shoes of Valerie was a joy to watch each new episode with this more mature Valerie a great conclusion to the characters 20 year arc.

Kudrow managed to out do herself again giving Valerie such pathos yet never losing any of the performances bitting humour which made each new episode brilliant. Even if Kudrow never wins an Emmy for this performance as Jean Smart seems poised to go 5/5 I will certainly be happy that we got a final goodbye to Valerie and consider it one of the great 21st century comedi creations.

Lisa Kudrow has found her second iconic television character that comfortably sits on the same level as Phoebe Buffay in my mind.