Female Emmy Winners/Nominees for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
In order of nomination by year.
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- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Joan Darling began her career with the New York improvisational theater troupe "Premise Players", and soon graduated to off-Broadwy and Broadway productions. She made her film debut in 1964 and, in the early '70s, landed a regular role on the Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1971) TV series. In addition to acting in TV series, she began to write for them. Her first directorial job was for the pilot of the hit '70s TV series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976) and she directed several of the series' episodes. She became one of the first female TV directors to be steadily employed on various series, and directed many episodes of M*A*S*H (1972), the The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) show and The Bob Newhart Show (1972). She made her film debut in 1977 with the critically acclaimed but financially unsuccessful First Love (1977), and has made several theatrical and made-for-TV movies since then.Nominee for The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1976)
Nominee for M*A*S*H (1977)- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Script and Continuity Department
Linda Day was born on 12 August 1938 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was a director and assistant director, known for WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), Archie Bunker's Place (1979) and CBS Summer Playhouse (1987). She was married to L. Steve Varnum. She died on 23 October 2009 in Georgetown, Texas, USA.Nominee for Archie Bunker's Place (1981)- Director
- Production Manager
- Editorial Department
Ellen Gittelsohn was born on 12 April 1945 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a director and production manager, known for Buffalo Bill (1983), Roseanne (1988) and It Takes Two (1982). She is married to Gary Gittelsohn.Nominee for Buffalo Bill (1984)- Director
- Producer
B.A. magna cum laude Lawrence University - English Lit M.A. Theatre History - U. of Wisconsin East Asian Languages Fellow - U. of Michigan M.A. Education - U. of Wisconsin M.F.A. Acting - University of Washington Professional Actor Training Program Actor: Seattle Rep, ACT Seattle, Empty Space Theatre, South Coast Rep. Resident Director and Conservatory Director South Cast Repertory 1975-1984 Director: Mark Taper Forum, ACT Seattle, Empty Space, Seattle, Trinity Rep (Providence), Alley Theatre (Houston) Grove Shakespeare Festival, Matrix Theatre (Actors for Themselves) TV director 1983-present
Los Angeles native Married to David Chemel since 1987 Daughter Lizzy Chemel b. 1995 Bard College Son Tucker Chemel b. 1995 Bucknell CollegeNominee for Murphy Brown (1992)
Nominee for Mad About You (1994)
Nominee for The Nanny (1995)- Director
- Script and Continuity Department
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Discouraged from watching television as a child, Arlene Sanford first explored her interest in television production at the University of Rochester, where she created short films while majoring in psychology. After graduating, she secured a job as a game show writer for Goodson-Todman Productions. She worked her way from writer to production assistant and eventually to associate director while based in New York. Persuaded to move to Los Angeles by veteran television director James Burrows, she made the move and began as an associate director in daytime television, ultimately directing Days of Our Lives. Seeking to direct episodic television, she produced, wrote and directed Welcome Home, a short starring Jamie Lee Curtis, which was picked up by HBO. This project led to her first episodic television assignment on The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.
Since her first assignment in 1987, Sanford has amassed more than a hundred episodic directing credits in all genres, including Designing Women, The Ellen Burstyn Show, The Wonder Years, The Torkelsons, Dream On, Friends, Caroline in the City, Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Arrested Development, Boston Legal, Medium, My Boys, Desperate Housewives, Nashville, Bones, Pretty Little Liars, and Grace and Frankie among many others. Along the way, she has also directed feature films including A Very Brady Sequel (1996) and I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998), as well as movies for television Camp Bicknell (1992), More, Patience (2006), and 12 Men of Christmas (2009).
For her directorial efforts, Sanford has been nominated for a DGA Award in 2004 in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series category for Desperate Housewives and again in 2006 for Boston Legal. She has also received two Emmy nominations for her work on Ally McBeal and Boston Legal. She has been a Guild member since 1976, has served on the 1999 Negotiating Committee and served as a Directors Guild Foundation trustee from 2002 to 2017.Nominee for Ally McBeal (1999)- Director
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Beth McCarthy-Miller was born on 3 September 1963 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA. She is a director and producer, known for 30 Rock (2006), Modern Family (2009) and Saturday Night Live (1975).Nominee for 30 Rock (2009, 2011)- Director
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Millicent Shelton was born on 29 January 1966 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She is a director and writer, known for 30 Rock (2006), The Night Agent (2023) and Titans (2018). She has been married to Donald Samuel since 10 June 1995. They have two children.Nominee for 30 Rock (2009)- Director
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pamela Fryman was born on 19 August 1959 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Santa Barbara (1984), How I Met Your Mother (2005) and Frasier (1993).Nominee for How I Met Your Mother (2011)- Director
- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
Noted TV series director Gail Mancuso grew up in suburban Cook County, Illinois. Mancuso began her career as an usher of the set of several television talk shows. Later, became a script supervisor for the Showtime Cable Network comedy "Brothers". In 1989, she began serving as associate director for the ABC-TV sitcom series "Roseanne". After one of the show's directors left in 1991, she had the chance to become one of the main directors and continued until the show's eighth season. She went on to direct episodes of many television series like the long-running NBC-TV sitcom "Friends", and the ABC sitcoms "Dharma and Greg" and "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place". In 2007, Gail began working on the CBS-TV sitcom series "Rules of Engagement". She has also directed episodes of ABC-TV's "30 Rock" and NBC-TV's "Scrubs". In 2008, she won a Gracie Award for her work on "30 Rock". In 2011, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her "Modern Family" episode "Slow Down Your Neighbors". In 2012, she reunited with "Roseanne" co-stars Roseanne Barr and John Goodman, both of whom she directed on "Roseanne", in the pilot episode of "Downwardly Mobile", which was commissioned by NBC-TV, but ultimately did not get picked up by the network. In 2013, she won the Emmy Award for directing episode "Arrested" on "Modern Family". Gail is happily married to Brian Downs, a doctor; they have three children. The family divides its' time between their homes in Valencia, California and River Forest, Illinois.Nominee for Modern Family (2011, 2020)
Winner for Modern Family (2013, 2014)- Producer
- Writer
- Actress
New Yorker Lena Dunham is the daughter of a painter, Carroll Dunham and Laurie Simmons, a designer and photographer. Dunham was educated at Oberlin College, Ohio, graduating with a creative writing degree. It was while at Oberlin that she began writing shorts and feature films. In 2009, Dunham created the web series Delusional Downtown Divas (2009), which gained a cult following.
Also in 2009, Dunham released Creative Nonfiction (2009), her first feature film. She went on to write, direct and star in Tiny Furniture (2010), which scored two Independent Spirit Award nominations. In 2012, Dunham came to the attention of a wider audience with the HBO series Girls (2012) created by and starring Dunham and executive produced by Judd Apatow.Nominee for Girls (2012, 2013)- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Jodie Foster started her career at the age of two. For four years she made commercials and finally gave her debut as an actress in the TV series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968). In 1975 Jodie was offered the role of prostitute Iris Steensma in the movie Taxi Driver (1976). This role, for which she received an Academy Award nomination in the "Best Supporting Actress" category, marked a breakthrough in her career. In 1980 she graduated as the best of her class from the College Lycée Français and began to study English Literature at Yale University, from where she graduated magna cum laude in 1985. One tragic moment in her life was March 30th, 1981 when John Warnock Hinkley Jr. attempted to assassinate the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Hinkley was obsessed with Jodie and the movie Taxi Driver (1976), in which Travis Bickle, played by Robert De Niro, tried to shoot presidential candidate Palantine. Despite the fact that Jodie never took acting lessons, she received two Oscars before she was thirty years of age. She received her first award for her part as Sarah Tobias in The Accused (1988) and the second one for her performance as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).Nominee for Orange Is the New Black (2014)- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Jamie Babbit was born on 16 November 1970 in Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA. She is a director and producer, known for But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Only Murders in the Building (2021) and My Lady Jane (2024). She was previously married to Karey Dornetto.Nominee for Silicon Valley (2017)
Nominee for Only Murders in the Building (2022)- Producer
- Writer
- Director
An only child, Amy Sherman-Palladino is daughter to comedian Don Sherman & dancer Maybin Hewes.
Originally a dancer herself, Palladino had initially received a callback to the musical Cats, while also having a possible writing position on the staff of Roseanne in rotation. When she and writing partner Jennifer Heath were asked to join Roseanne, she put behind her dancing career -- much to her mother's chagrin, -- and began writing for television.Winner for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2018)
Nominee for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2019, 2020, 2023)- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Lucia Aniello was born on 10 January 1983 in Italy. She is a producer and writer, known for Hacks (2021), Rough Night (2017) and Broad City (2014). She is married to Paul W. Downs. They have one child.Winner for Hacks (2021)
Nominee for Hacks (2022)- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Susanna Fogel was born on 8 October 1980 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Booksmart (2019), The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) and The Flight Attendant (2020).Nominee for The Flight Attendant (2021)- Director
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Two time Emmy award-winning Mary Lou Belli has been directing television for over 30 years including NCIS New Orleans, Black Lightning, Bull, Legacies, Station 19, Sweet Magnolias, Pitch, Monk, Famous In Love, Devious Maids, The Quad, American Woman, and Hart of Dixie as well as Disney's The Secret of Sulphur Springs, Ms. Pat, Wizards of Waverly Place, Sister, Sister, Girlfriends, and The Game. Her short film, Straight Eye for the Gay Guy won "Best Mini-short" at the California Independent Film Fest where she also premiered I Heard Something, a thriller that went on to play fests internationally. She has done ground-breaking work on web-series. Her award-winning short, America, played its 14th fest on its 4 continent at The Hague and won best short. Mary Lou served two terms as the Co-chair of the Women's Steering Committee at the DGA where she also has served on the Western Director's Council, presently she is on Leadership Council PAC and as an alternate to the National Board. She is an Honorary Board member of the Alliance of Women Directors and Advisory Board member of Women in Media and a long time member of Women In Film as well as the Peer Group Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She has served as judge and/or guest speaker for the CSU Media Arts Fest, a judge for the Miss America Outstanding Teen Pageant, a jury member at the Sapporo Short Festival, Newport Beach Film Fest, Regina International Film Festival, and The Voice awards, a lecturer at the Chautauqua Institute, and a panelist for Women In Film, the DGA, SAG, and AFTRA and the LA Times Festival of Books. She has been a guest artist at the International Thespian Festival for secondary school theatre where she gave workshops to thousands of teens and high school theatre teachers. Through her teaching, she supports many of the vibrant diversity programs including ABC/Disney, CBS, Sony, HBO Access, AFI's Directing Workshop for Women, and Warner Bros. Directing Workshop mentoring the next generation of directors. She is the co-author of four books: "The NEW Sitcom Career Book," "Acting for Young Actors," and "Directors Tell the Story" which she co-wrote with fellow DGA member Bethany Rooney. Her 4th book, "Acting for the Screen" was published by Focal Press summer 2019.Nominee for The Ms. Pat Show (2022, 2023)- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Cherien Dabis is a critically acclaimed and award winning Palestinian American film and television director, writer, and actress. Born in the U.S. and raised in Ohio and Jordan, Dabis studied film at Columbia University's School of the Arts.
Most recently, Dabis was Emmy nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for the critically acclaimed and groundbreaking episode "The Boy From 6B" on Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building", starring comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short alongside Selena Gomez. Told from the perspective of a deaf character and with only one line of spoken dialogue, Dabis relied on ASL, compelling visuals, and the soundtrack to tell the story. In addition to her directing work on season 1, Dabis directed two episodes of season 2.
Dabis got her start with her debut feature Amreeka, which she wrote and directed. The film premiered at Sundance in 2009 and went on to win the coveted FIPRESCI International Critics Prize in the Director's Fortnight at Cannes. It won a dozen more international awards and was nominated for a Best Picture Gotham Award, 3 Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Picture, and named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of the Year by the National Board of Review. It landed Dabis on Variety's "Ten Directors to Watch" list that same year. Dabis made history when the film broke records in its theatrical release by becoming the most-screened Arab-directed film in US-cinema history.
Dabis forged new ground with her second feature May in the Summer, in which she also stars opposite Bill Pullman, Hiam Abbass and Alia Shawkat. The film opened the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and had its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival before being released worldwide. It's available to stream on Amazon.
A true multi-hyphenate, Dabis is known for standout episodic directing work on Emmy award-winning television shows such as Hulu's "Ramy" and Netflix's "Ozark," as well as her writing and acting for television. Past writing credits include "Empire," "Quantico," and "The L Word" and in the world of acting, she just wrapped on Scott Z. Burns' upcoming Apple TV+ anthology series "Extrapolations.'' Next, she will appear as a recurring guest star on "Mo," comedian Mo Amer's new half hour comedy for Netflix.Nominee for Only Murders in the Building (2022)