Will Ferrell could well win both a Tony Award and an Emmy Award for playing former president George W. Bush in his new Broadway show "You're Welcome America." While reviews for this satire were somewhat mixed, Will Ferrell will benefit from competing in the Tony Awards category for special theatrical events. This catch-all category has been dominated by star turns from the likes of Elaine Stritch and Billy Crystal since it was created in 2001. That was also the year Will Ferrell competed in the individual performance category at the Emmy Awards for his work on "Saturday Night Live." And with HBO set to air this new show live on March 14, Will Ferrell will be eligible to contend in that same category at this fall's Emmy Awards.

Back in 2001, Will Ferrell's repertoire already included this impression of George W. Bush. He lost that Emmy race to Barbra Streisand for the second of her series of comeback concerts. In her most recent return to the stage, Streisand was memorably heckled at Madison Square Garden in 2006 for including a George W. Bush impersonator in her act. And Ferrell has come in for his share of criticism from the New York critics too. Among those who were less than enthused was Ben Brantley of the New York Times: "This production is less about the legacy of George W. Bush than it is about the comic persona that has been perfected by Will Ferrell. 'You’re Welcome America' is a lot like Mr. Ferrell’s more middling movies, not quite on a level with 'Blades of Glory' or 'Talladega Nights.' Sometimes it’s really funny, and sometimes it sort of sags. I laughed, I yawned."

However, Michael Kuchwara of the AP called the show, "a merciless and often blisteringly funny raunch roast" and Scott Brown of New York thought "it’s tacky, cocky, defensive, a little half-assed here and there, utterly full of itself and bunker-bustingly funny." And Joe Dziemianowicz of the New York Daily News said, "Ferrell is lightning fast on his feet and turns each ad lib into a burst of hilarity, a mission accomplished, if you will."

Next month's live broadcast will allow viewers across the country to decide for themselves. HBO has had great success at the Emmy Awards with their comedy, music and variety specials over the years. Last September, Don Rickles's retrospective of his 50-plus years as a comedian won both individual achievement and the program award. Among the shows he beat were those from a trio of other stand-ups: two HBO specials featuring perennial Emmy loser Bill Maher and the late great George Carlin as well as one by Bravo's Emmy bad girl Kathy Griffin.

In 2007, HBO had two stand-up specials contending but both Lewis Black and Wanda Sykes lost to "Tony Bennett: An American Classic" with the singer also taking the individual prize. In 2006, HBO's Maher and Carlin specials lost to the opening ceremonies of the winter Olympics. HBO did not compete in 2005 though Showtime's Dave Chappelle lost to the Tony Awards (kudos now compete in a separate special class). In 2004, Elaine Stritch took both show and individual achievement for recreating her 2002 Tony winning show on HBO, edging out among others Chris Rock and Ellen DeGeneres for their HBO stand-up specials. In 2003, Robin Williams' HBO comeback comedy concert lost to Cher and her never-ending farewell tour.