Bernie Mac almost won an Emmy

Bernie Mac had rotten luck at Hollywood awards. He had one major victory: the Television Critics Assn. hailed him for best individual achievement in comedy in 2002 right after "The Bernie Mac Show" debuted. But otherwise he suffered lots of losses: Emmys (two), Golden Globes (two), SAG (one), MTV Movie Awards (one), Teen Choice (nine), Kids Choice (four).

Right after "The Bernie Mac Show" hit TV like a tornado, its star had lots of momentum going into his first Emmys. Television critics adored Bernie Mac. His buzz in the TV industry was deafening. He had a sky-high Cool Factor.

Bernie Mac also picked a superb episode to submit to Emmy judges ("Now You Got It") that showed the full range of emotions (joy, terror, desperation) as this bug-eyed, high-strung character tried desperately to cope with caring for the three kids dumped on him when his sister went to rehab.

Back in 2002, this website was still GoldDerby.com, featuring the input of top journos such as Matt Roush of TV Guide. Here's how Matt sized up the race for best comedy actor for us: "It's a bear to predict. From where I sit, this is a contest between Bernie Mac and Matt LeBlanc. Bernie Mac has revitalized the family comedy with his unique tough-love point of view and is marvelously funny in his addresses to the camera."

Matt ended up betting on "Friends" star LeBlanc, like most of our other pundits, but we gave Bermie Mac the second-best odds to prevail. The Gold Derby's racetrack odds for that year: Matt LeBlanc (even), Bernie Mac (6/5), Ray Romano of "Everybody Loves Raymond" (4/1), Matthew Perry of "Friends" (40/1) and Kelsey Grammer of "Frasier" (40/1).

Romano, in a huge upset, ended up winning for "The Breakup Tape" episode.

The next year, when Bernie Mac returned as a nominee, his odds dropped drastically (40/1) and we pundits (hooray!) predicted the category correctly. "Monk" star Tony Shalhoub won. Afterward, Bernie Mac was not nominated again despite the fact that his show returned for three more seasons on the tube.

Visit the L.A. Times photo gallery salute recalling highlights of Bernie Mac's career and read more about Bernie Mac's life and death here.

(Photo: Fox)