Courteney Cox Finally Received A Friends Emmy Nomination: Here's Why That's Important

The 2021 Emmy Award nominations were released July 13, and "Scream" and "Friends" actress Courteney Cox finally received some much-deserved recognition for her work on the popular sitcom — almost 17 years after "Friends" aired its last episode on NBC. 

Thanks to "Friends: The Reunion," which debuted on HBO Max earlier this year, Cox and her co-stars — who also acted as executive producers on the special — were all nominated for outstanding variety special. Meanwhile, "Friends: The Reunion" earned four nominations total, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The nomination means the original show's creators, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, as well as Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer all get to take home an Emmy if it wins the category.

Throughout its 10 seasons on NBC, "Friends" earned 62 nominations, including six acting nominations for Kudrow, five for Aniston, three for LeBlanc, and one each for Perry and Schwimmer. Cox was the only cast member to be snubbed by The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences during the show's run from 1994-2004.

According to her IMDb profile, Courteney Cox has been nominated for 36 awards with nine wins, but many of those nominations came as part of the "Friends" ensemble or from fan-chosen awards, such as Teen Choice Awards and People's Choice Awards — proving she's popular with her fans. In 2010, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Comedy or Musical for her role in the TV series "Cougar Town." She's also been nominated for a Daytime Emmy, but hasn't won.

It has been almost 30 years since she originated the role of Monica on "Friends," so Cox is long overdue for a Primetime Emmy nomination. On Howard Stern's Sirius XM show in June, Cox admitted she was upset by the past snubs, according to Variety. "It was finally like, 'Oh, I'm the only one?' It hurt," she said. That must make this nomination all the more meaningful.

With the "Friends" reunion behind her, Cox will soon reunite on screen with cast members from a popular horror franchise for the 2022 film "Scream," co-starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Jack Quaid.