President Obama’s Funny or Die interview is nominated for an Emmy

Could the President of the United States be going for an EGOT? President Obama already has two Grammys, albeit from when he was still a senator, for narrating the audio versions of his books Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope, in 2006 and 2008 respectively. Now he has the chance to add a little Emmy pride to his trophy shelf.

His appearance on Between Two Ferns, the Funny or Die-produced spoof talk show presented by Zack Galifianakis, has been nominated for the award. (Although if we’re being strictly accurate, he won’t actually take home an award, only the producers will.)

The Prez was a surprise guest on the online comedy show back in March, where, in a six and a half minute sketch, he both showed off his charm and comedy timing (including throwing some well-deserved shade on that Hangover threequel) and tried to persuade young, web savvy Americans to sign up for insurance via the Affordable Healthcare Act’s official website.

Not only was it a viral hit, with over 22 million views to date, it became the top referrer to healthcare.gov and won an award for originality from AdWeek.  Now it’s nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program category, alongside the Super Bowl halftime show and NBC’s mini web episodes of Parks and Recreation. That’s stiff competition, but considering his record of winning things (including a little gong known as the Nobel Peace Price), it’s hard to bet against the President.

Maybe it will even become a trend. Who knows, in the run up to the election, we might even see Ed Miliband drowning his sorrows on My Drunk Kitchen or David Cameron chatting up Jerry Seinfeld on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. That’d be… something.

Diane Shipley