Nat Geo’s “Genius” has gone 2-for-2 featuring European male geniuses — when will the fairer sex get their fair shot? That is a question that came up Saturday at the show’s Television Critics Association press tour panel.
“While we certainly intend to and hope to tell stories about women, we didn’t restrict ourselves in that way,” showrunner Ken Biller said in response. “We decided, you know, ‘How do we follow Einstein? What is the next big story we can tell?'”
Albert Einstein was the subject “Genius” Season 1, earning an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for actor Geoffrey Rush. This coming run is about Pablo Picasso, played by Antonio Banderas (pictured above).
“Because of what history has written, there are a few iconic geniuses in the world that are really undeniable,” Biller continued, citing his first two “geniuses” — and also Leonardo da Vinci, who sounds like a shoe-in for another year. “While at the center of our show we have these iconic figures, we have taken great pains and taken great pleasure, in fact, in exploring the equally brilliant women that surround [them].'”
Still, we can do better here.
“Hopefully for the next season we’ll find a woman to explore,” Biller concluded.
Ten-part event series “Genius: Picasso” premieres in April on National Geographic Channel.
All 18 EGOT Winners, From Audrey Hepburn to Jennifer Hudson (Photos)
Only a select few entertainers have earned a competitive Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony to claim coveted EGOT honor. (There are five others who have snagged all five prizes when you include honorary or special awards, including Harry Belafonte, James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones, Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand.)
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Richard Rodgers, composer (1902-1979)
Emmy: Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composed, "Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years" (1962)
Grammy: Best Show Album, "The Sound of Music" (1960); Best Original Cast Show Album, "No Strings" (1962)
Oscar: Best Song, "It Might As Well Be Spring" from "State Fair" (1945)
Tony: three for "South Pacific" (1950); one each for "The King and I" (1952), "The Sound of Music" (1960) and "No Strings" (1962)
Helen Hayes, actress (1900 - 1993)
Emmy: Best Actress, "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars: Not a Chance" (1953)
Grammy: Best Spoken Word Recording, "Great American Documents" (1977)
Oscar: Best Actress, "The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932); Best Supporting Actress, "Airport" (1970)
Tony: Best Actress in a Drama, "Happy Birthday" (1947); Best Actress in a Drama, "Time Remembered" (1958)
Rita Moreno, actress (1931 -)
Emmy: Supporting Actress, Variety or Music, "The Muppet Show" (1977); Lead Actress for Single Appearance in a Comedy or Drama, "The Rockford Files" (1978)
Grammy: Best Recording for Children, "The Electric Compan" (1972)
Oscar: Best Supporting Actress, "West Side Story" (1961)
Tony: Best Supporting Actress in a Play, "The Ritz" (1975)
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John Gielgud, actor (1904 - 2000)
Emmy: Best Actor in a Miniseries or Special, "Summer's Lease (1991)
Grammy: Best Spoken World Album, "Ages of Man" (1979)
Oscar: Best Supporting Actor, "Arthur" (1981)
Tony: Outstanding Foreign Company, "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1948); Best Director of a Drama, "Big Fish, Little Fish" (1961)
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Audrey Hepburn, actress (1929 - 1993)
Emmy: Best Individual Achievement, Informational Programming, "Gardens of the World With Audrey Hepburn" (1993)
Grammy: Best Spoken Word Album for Children, "Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales" (1994)
Oscar: Best Actress, "Roman Holiday" (1953)
Tony: Best Actress in a Drama, "Ondine" (1954)
Marvin Hamlisch, composer (1944–2012)
Emmy: Four awards, two for work on "Barbra: The Concert" (1995) and one each for "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies" (1999) and "Timeless: Live in Concert" (2001)
Grammy: Four awards in 1974, including Best New Artist, Song of the Year ("The Way We Were"), Best Album of the Original Score ("The Way We Were") and Best Pop Instrumental Performance ("The Entertainer")
Oscar: Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Song, "The Way We Were" (1973) and Best Adapted Score, "The Sting" (1973)
Tony: Best Musical Score, "A Chorus Line" (1976)
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Jonathan Tunick, music director and composer (1938 - )
Emmy: Music Direction, "Night of 100 Stars" (1982)
Grammy: Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals, Cleo Laine's "No One Is Alone" (1988)
Oscar: Best Adapted Score, "A Little Night Music" (1977)
Tony: Best Orchestrations, "Titanic" (1977)
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Mel Brooks, performer, writer and director (1926 - )
Emmy: Best Writing in Variety, "The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special" (1967); three awards for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy, "Mad About You" (1997-99)
Grammy: Best Spoken Comedy Album, "The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000" (1998); Best Long-Form Music Video, "Recording 'The Producers'" (2002); Best Musical Show Album, "The Producers" (2002)
Oscar: Best Original Screenplay, "The Producers" (1968)
Tony: Best Musical, Original Score and Book of a Musical, "The Producers" (2001)
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Mike Nichols, performer, director and producer (1931 - 2014)
Emmy: Best Director of Miniseries, Movie or Special, "Wit" (2001); Best Made for Television Movie, "Wit" (2001); Best Directing of Miniseries, Movie or Special, "Angels in America" (2004); Best Miniseries, "Angels in America" (2004)
Grammy: Best Comedy Performance, "An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May" (1961)
Oscar: Best Director, "The Graduate" (1967)
Tony: Best Director of a Play, "Barefoot in the Park" (1964), "Luv" and "The Odd Couple" (1965), "Plaza Suite" (1968), "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (1972), "The Real Thing" (1984), "Death of a Salesman" (2012); Best Musical, "Annie" (1977); Best Play, "The Real Thing" (1984); Best Director of a Musical, "Monty Python's Spamalot" (2005)
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Whoopi Goldberg, performer and producer (1955 - )
Emmy: Best Special Class Special, "Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel" (2002); Best Talk Show Host, "The View" (2009)
Grammy: Best Comedy Recording, "Whoopi Goldberg: Original Broadway Show Recording" (1985)
Oscar: Best Supporting Actress, "Ghost" (1990)
Tony: Best Musical (producing), "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (2002)
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Scott Rudin, producer (1958 - )
Emmy: Best Children's Program, "He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'" (1984)
Grammy: Best Musical Theater Album, "The Book of Mormon" (2012)
Oscar: Best Picture, "No Country for Old Men" (2007)
Tony: 12 awards, for producing musicals "Passion" (1994) and "The Book of Mormon" (2012) and the plays "Copenhagen" (2000), "Doubt" (2005), "The History Boys" (2006), "God of Carnage" (2009), "Fences" (2010), "Death of a Salesman" (2012), "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (2015), "Skylight" (2015), "The Humans" (2016) and "A View From the Bridge" (2016)
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Robert Lopez, composer (1975 - )
Emmy: Best Music Direction and Composition, "Wonder Pets" (2008, 2010)
Grammy: Best Musical Theater Album, "The Book of Mormon" (2012); Best Compilation Soundtrack, "Frozen" (2015), Best Song for Visual Media, "Let It Go" from "Frozen" (2015)
Oscar: Best Original Song, "Let It Go" from "Frozen" (2014)
Tony: Best Score, "Avenue Q" (2004); Best Score and Best Book of a Musical, "The Book of Mormon" (2011)
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John Legend, songwriter and producer (1978-)
Emmy: Outstanding Live Variety Special, "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert"
Grammy: Best New Artist (2005); Best R&B Album, "Get Lifted" (2005); Best R&B Vocal, "Ordinary People" (2005); Best Male R&B Vocal, "Heaven" (2006); Best R&B Duo or Group, "Family Affair" (2006); Best R&B Vocal or Group, "Stay With Me by the Sea" (2008); Best R&B Album, "Wake Up!" (2010); Best R&B Song, "Shine" (2010); Best R&B Vocal, "Hang On in There" (2010); Best Song Written for Visual Medium, "Glory" (2015)
Oscar: Best Original Song, "Glory" from "Selma (2014)
Tony: Producer of Best Play Revival, "August Wilson's Jitney" (2017)
Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer and producer (1948-)
Emmy: Outstanding Live Variety Special, "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert"
Grammy: Best Cast Album, "Evita" (1980); Best Cast Album, "Cats" (1983); Best Contemporary Composition, "Lloyd Webber: Requiem" (1985)
Oscar: Best Original Song, "You Must Love Me" from "Evita" (1996)
Tony: Best Score, "Evita" (1980); Best Score, "Cats" (1983); Best Score, "Sunset Boulevard" (1995)
Tim Rice, lyricist and producer (1944-)
Emmy: Outstanding Live Variety Special, "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert"
Grammy: Best Cast Album, "Evita" (1980); Song of the Year and Song for Film or TV, "A Whole New World" (1993); Best Album for Children, "Aladdin" (1993); Best Cast Album, "Aida" (2000)
Oscar: Best Original Song, "A Whole New World" from "Aladdin" (1992); "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from "The Lion King" (1994); "You Must Love Me" from "Evita" (1996)
Tony: Best Book and Best Score, "Evita" (1980); Best Score, "Aida" (2000)
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Alan Menken, composer (1949-)
Emmy: Original Song in a Children’s, Young Adult or Animated Program, “Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures” (2020)
Grammys (10): Best Recording for Children and Song for TV or Film, "The Little Mermaid" (1990); Best Recording for Children, Song for TV or Film, Instrumental for TV or Film, "Beauty and the Beast" (1992); Song of the Year, "A Whole New World," Best Recording for Children, Song for TV or Film, Instrumental for TV or Film, "Aladdin" (1993); Best Song for TV or Film, "Colors of the Wind" (1995); Best Song for Visual Medium, "I See the Light" (2011)
Oscars (8): Best Score and Song, "The Little Mermaid" (1989); Best Score and Song, "Beauty and the Beast" (1991); Best Score and Song, "Aladdin" (1992); Best Score and Song, "Pocahontas" (1995)
Tony: Best Score, "Newsies" (2012)
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Jennifer Hudson, performer and producer (1981 -)
Emmy: Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program, "Baba Yaga" (2021)
Grammys (2): Best R&B Album, "Jennifer Hudson" (2009); Best Musical Theater Album, "The Color Purple" (2017)
Oscar: Best Supporting Actress, "Dreamgirls" (2007)
Tony: Best Musical, "A Strange Loop" (2022), producer
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Viola Davis, actress and producer (1965 -)
Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, "How to Get Away With Murder" (2015)
Grammy: Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording, "Finding Me" (2023)
Oscar: Best Supporting Actress, "Fences" (2017)
Tonys (2): Best Featured Actress in a Play, "King Hedley II" (2001); Best Leading Actress in a Play, "Fences" (2010)
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Only a few entertainers have earned competitive Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards
Only a select few entertainers have earned a competitive Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony to claim coveted EGOT honor. (There are five others who have snagged all five prizes when you include honorary or special awards, including Harry Belafonte, James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones, Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand.)
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