LOS ANGELES
The Television Academy handed down its verdict on the year in television Wednesday, and the numbers tell a story of two shows operating on a different plane from everyone else. "The Pitt," HBO Max's breakout medical drama, led all nominees with a staggering 25 nominations, while "Hacks" pulled in 24 — a new record for the most nominations ever earned by a comedy series in a single year.
The rest of the field wasn't far behind in ambition, if not in raw numbers. "Widow's Bay" led all new shows with 19 nominations, "Pluribus" collected 18, "Beef" picked up 16, "DTF St. Louis" earned 13, and both "Saturday Night Live" and "Spider-Noir" tied with 11 apiece. Together, the nominations announcement confirmed what television critics have argued for much of the year: 2026 has been an unusually deep season for prestige TV, spanning frantic hospital corridors, absurdist comedy, and true-crime-adjacent limited series alike.
A Medical Drama's Meteoric Rise
"The Pitt" has become one of television's most improbable success stories, transforming a single-location, real-time hospital drama into an awards-season juggernaut. Noah Wyle, the show's star, earned a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series — a category he won at last year's ceremony — and added a second nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, for helming the episode "12:00 p.m."
Speaking after the nominations were announced, Wyle struck a notably humble tone about a show that has become appointment viewing for millions.
"I feel very humbled by this and validated many times over," Wyle said. "Today, I feel extremely gratified that the nominations were spread so far and wide across our casting. It really feels like it's a testament to the collective achievement and contribution that everybody makes."
Wyle went further, using his own recognition to spotlight the parts of the show's success that awards ballots often overlook. "It is such a collective effort that it's really hard to parse it out into individual contributions," he said. "It feels a little disingenuous to be one of the only people standing up there on a stage accepting a trophy on behalf of Stage 22 and Stage 21, and all the people that work there. The fact that Jojo Coelho, our DP, was not nominated, I think, was significant because she's such a huge part of our show."
That sentiment — gratitude shadowed by an acknowledgment of who got left out — captured the mood of a morning that, as always, mixed celebration with debate over surprising omissions.
The Categories to Watch
The Outstanding Drama Series race is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in recent memory, pitting "The Pitt" against "The Gilded Age," "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," "Paradise," "Pluribus," "Slow Horses," and "Your Friends and Neighbors." Any of the seven could plausibly make a case as a favorite, though "The Pitt's" nomination haul suggests it enters the fall as the team to beat.
In comedy, "Hacks" faces stiff competition from "Abbott Elementary," "The Bear," "Margo's Got Money Troubles," "Nobody Wants This," "Only Murders in the Building," "Shrinking," and fellow breakout newcomer "Widow's Bay." The category's depth this year underscores just how competitive half-hour television has become, with genre-bending entries jostling alongside more traditional sitcoms.
The Limited or Anthology Series category, meanwhile, brought some of the year's buzziest titles into direct competition: "All Her Fault," "The Beast in Me," "Beef," "DTF St. Louis," and "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette" will all vie for the category's top honor.
A Historic Ceremony Ahead
The nominations set the stage for a 78th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony that already had history attached to it before a single nominee was read. Mariska Hargitay was announced last week as this year's host, marking the first time in 15 years that a woman has solo-hosted the ceremony — a milestone tied to NBC's centennial celebrations. The show will air live on NBC and stream on Peacock on Monday, September 14, at 8 p.m. ET.
With roughly two months between nominations and the ceremony, campaign season is now officially underway. Studios and streamers will spend the summer courting Television Academy voters with screenings, panels, and glossy For Your Consideration pushes, while entertainment press dissects every nomination — and every snub — for signs of where the industry's momentum is heading.
What This Means for Viewers
For audiences, the nominations serve as a useful (if imperfect) guide to the season's must-watch television, offering a shortcut through an increasingly crowded streaming landscape. Shows like "The Pitt," "Hacks," and "Widow's Bay," now armed with awards-season momentum, are likely to see fresh spikes in viewership as casual audiences catch up ahead of September's ceremony.
The nominations also reflect a broader shift in what kind of storytelling is resonating with both critics and voters: real-time tension in "The Pitt," genre-blending absurdism in "Pluribus," and ensemble-driven comedy in "Hacks" all point to an industry rewarding ambition and specificity over safe, formulaic programming.
The Bottom Line
This year's Emmy nominations confirm that television's so-called golden age shows no sign of dimming. With "The Pitt" and "Hacks" setting new benchmarks and a stacked field of contenders behind them, the race to September's ceremony promises to be one of the most closely watched — and hotly debated — in recent memory.
