Emmy nominations 2026 morning belonged to The Pitt, Hacks, and a surprisingly strong Apple TV+ bench. HBO Max’s medical drama The Pitt led all programs with 25 nominations, while Hacks followed with 24 and broke the single-year comedy nomination record.
The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will air Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock. Mariska Hargitay hosts from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. She called it “my great honor” to host during NBC’s 100th birthday year.
That gives voters a clear fall storyline. The Pitt is trying to turn a dominant nomination morning into another drama victory. Hacks is taking its final Emmy lap. Meanwhile, Pluribus, Widow’s Bay, and DTF St. Louis turned new-series heat into real awards muscle.
Emmy Nominations 2026: The Quick Takeaways
- The Pitt led with 25 nominations. The HBO Max drama nearly doubled its first-season total and landed a huge acting haul.
- Hacks earned 24 nominations. That beat the previous comedy record of 23, held by The Bear and The Studio.
- Apple TV+ had a major morning. Widow’s Bay earned 19 nominations, while Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus earned 18.
- Heated Rivalry missed for eligibility reasons. Connor Storrie still earned his first Emmy nomination for guest-hosting Saturday Night Live.
- Reality TV had real surprises. Dancing with the Stars returned to reality competition, and Summer House scored its first nomination.
The Pitt Cast Takes Over the Drama Race
The Pitt did not simply make Outstanding Drama Series. It flooded the acting categories. Noah Wyle returned in lead actor, while Katherine LaNasa, Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif, and Sepideh Moafi all landed in supporting actress drama.
The supporting actor drama category also became a The Pitt showcase. Patrick Ball, Gerran Howell, and Shawn Hatosy all made the lineup. Hatosy won guest actor for The Pitt last year, so his move into supporting actor gives the show another strong repeat storyline.
The guest categories added one of the day’s better inside-baseball twists. Brittany Allen and Jeff Kober each played ER patients in Season 2, self-submitted their work, and still made the Emmy field. Both performers also have Daytime Emmy history, with Allen connected to All My Children and Kober to General Hospital.
Hacks, Widow’s Bay, and Pluribus Give Streamers a Comedy Fight
Hacks already had Emmy credibility. The new part is scale. Its 24 nominations made the final season the most nominated comedy season in Emmy history.
Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, and Paul W. Downs remain central to that run. Downs also picked up multiple nominations across acting, writing, and producing, while Megan Stalter earned her first Emmy nomination in supporting actress comedy.
However, Apple TV+ made the comedy race feel less settled. Widow’s Bay earned 19 nominations for its first season, with Matthew Rhys nominated for lead actor comedy. Dale Dickey, Kate O’Flynn, and Stephen Root also made supporting categories.
The horror comedy moved from oddball Apple TV+ bet to one of the morning’s biggest awards stories. Rhys also earned another nomination for Netflix’s The Beast in Me, making him one of the year’s most visible crossover contenders.
Pluribus gave Apple TV+ a drama-side boost. The new series from Vince Gilligan earned 18 nominations, including lead actress drama for Rhea Seehorn and supporting actor drama for Carlos-Manuel Vesga. Karolina Wydra also landed in supporting actress drama.
Major 2026 Emmy Nominations by Category
The Outstanding Drama Series nominees are The Diplomat, The Gilded Age, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Paradise, The Pitt, Pluribus, Slow Horses, and Your Friends & Neighbors.
The Outstanding Comedy Series nominees are Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building, Shrinking, and Widow’s Bay.
The Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series nominees are All Her Fault, The Beast in Me, Beef, DTF St. Louis, and Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. DTF ST Louis, that HBO Max limited series also put Linda Cardellini, Joy Sunday, Jason Bateman, David Harbour, and Richard Jenkins into supporting categories.
The lead drama races include Carrie Coon, Chase Infiniti, Keri Russell, Rhea Seehorn, Zendaya, Sterling K. Brown, Gary Oldman, Mark Ruffalo, Rufus Sewell, and Noah Wyle. The lead comedy races include Quinta Brunson, Ayo Edebiri, Elle Fanning, Lisa Kudrow, Jean Smart, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Steve Carell, Matthew Rhys, Jason Segel, and Martin Short.
Snubs and Surprises Define Emmys 2026
The biggest acting snub may be Jeremy Allen White. The Bear still made comedy series, and Ayo Edebiri made lead actress comedy. Yet White missed after winning two Emmys for playing Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto.
Kathy Bates also missed lead actress drama for Matlock after winning a Golden Globe. Bates, 78, has 15 career Emmy nominations and two wins, which made her absence more noticeable.
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette split the difference. Sarah Pidgeon made lead actress limited for playing Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Constance Zimmer made supporting actress limited. Paul Anthony Kelly, who played John F. Kennedy Jr., did not make lead actor limited.
Reality TV supplied the happier surprises. Dancing with the Stars returned to Outstanding Reality Competition for the first time since 2016. The franchise has 21 wins and more than 120 nominations since its first Emmy recognition in 2006.
Summer House also earned its first nomination in Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program after Season 10. Ariana Madix added another Bravo-to-mainstream twist by earning a host nomination for Love Island USA.
Why Heated Rivalry Missed, but Connor Storrie Did Not
Heated Rivalry became one of the day’s loudest non-nomination stories. The hockey romance stars Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov, but it was not eligible for the Primetime Emmys.
The reason is technical, not creative. Heated Rivalry is a fully funded Canadian production from Bell Media and Crave, with HBO Max serving as its U.S. distributor. The show can compete at the International Emmy Awards and has already won 16 awards at the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards.
Storrie still found a way into the race. He earned his first Emmy nomination for guest actor comedy after hosting Saturday Night Live. He said the nomination felt “incredibly surreal,” adding that SNL had been “a formative part” of his life.
What the 2026 Emmy Nominations Mean Now
The nominations have now set up three races. The Pitt has the numbers. Hacks has the farewell narrative. Apple TV+ has the breakout story, thanks to Widow’s Bay, Pluribus, Shrinking, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, and Your Friends & Neighbors.
HBO Max still owns the scoreboard, with The Pitt and Hacks at the top. But this year does not feel like a two-show race. The mix of first-time nominees, returning winners, surprise reality nominations, and eligibility weirdness gives the ceremony plenty to work with.
That makes the 2026 Emmy nominations field more readable than it first appears. Start with The Pitt at 25, Hacks at 24, Widow’s Bay at 19, and Pluribus at 18. Then watch whether Emmy voters reward dominance, sentiment, or the new shows that made this ballot feel less predictable.
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