Inside EGOT’s Backstory: From ‘Miami Vice’s Philip Michael Thomas to ’30 Rock’s Trophy Acronym Tribute

EGOT, often referred to as the “grand slam” of entertainment awards, originated from the dream of a Miami Vice star nearly 40 years ago. 

Coined by actor Philip Michael Thomas, best known for playing Ricardo Tubbs on the ‘80s TV phenomenon, the acronym stands for Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar and Tony awards. Whoopi Goldberg, John Legend, Rita Moreno and Mel Brooks are just a handful of talents who’ve picked up all four illustrious honors. In June, Jennifer Hudson became the 17th person to join the EGOT club. 

To kick off awards season, ET is breaking down the timeline from EGOT’s unexpected origin story to its present-day status as entertainment’s most coveted titles.

THE THOUSAND-MILE JOURNEY

One month after Miami Vice hit the airwaves, Thomas was already making plans for his burgeoning career. As he saw it, combining four of entertainment’s biggest awards into one easy to remember acronym was an empirical way to measure success in Hollywood.

“[In January], I put a plan in motion, which I call ‘EGOT,” he explained to ET on the Florida set in October 1984. “And EGOT is ‘E’ for Emmy, ‘G’ for GRAMMY, ‘O’ for Oscar and ‘T’ for Tony. And I’m putting this on a five-year plan. I hope to win all of those in the next five years.”

It was also reported at the time that Thomas even fashioned a gold pendant emblazoned with E-G-O-T (more on that later). 

The following spring, Thomas had moved the EGOT goalpost to include award considerations. “I’d like to be nominated or win all [four] of those in the next five years, which seems like a big thing to do,” Thomas told ET in 1985. “We’ve already been nominated for an Emmy for Miami Vice, the pilot, so that’s the ‘E.’”

In addition to these adjusted parameters, Thomas laid out a clear plan of action for attaining the three remaining trophies. His first studio album, Living the Book of My Life, was getting released in May and he hoped the record would add the “G” to his trophy case. As for the rest…

“The Oscar will come when I buy the rights to No Place To Be Somebody and do it as a film,” Thomas said. “And the Tony will come when I produce the musical I wrote, which is called The Legend of Stagolee.”

Written by Charles Gordone, No Place To Be Somebody won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1970. A movie adaption never came to fruition. Meanwhile, Thomas’ musical about criminal folk icon Lee Shelton, popularly referred to as “Stagger Lee” or — in the case of Thomas’ title — “Stagolee,” met the same fate. His debut record didn’t garner any GRAMMY nominations, either.

While today it’s popularly referred to as “the power of positive thinking,” Thomas, at the time, was taking a literal page of Dale Carnegie’s best-selling book How to Win Friends and Influence People. “You have to set your goals high, because Carnegie said… If you can conceive an idea, believe it, and act upon it, you can achieve it,” he expressed. “I find that step by step that is exactly what I’m doing. Once again, I’m programming myself. I’m at the end result. I already see myself receiving those awards.” 

Thomas noted, “It’s not the award that is important. It’s what happens to me internally as a being on this earth.”

Later, perhaps feeling the stakes had been raised with the public’s fascination with his own fascination with EGOT, Thomas displayed a shift in tone. It was still about nabbing the trophies, but on another plane, he wanted fans to know “EGOT” was also meant to be a two-tier state of mind. “EGOT [is] on the microcosmic level: energy, growth, opportunity, and talent,” Thomas elaborated to ET in August 1985. “And on the macrocosmic level is: Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar, and Tony.”