The 2026 Emmy Award nominations featured a few notable surprises as well as a lot of now-familiar names in the major categories. This includes this year’s nominees for Outstanding Drama Series, featuring returning players like The Diplomat, Paradise, The Pitt, and Slow Horses, though freshman contender Pluribus did make the cut — Vince Gilligan’s fascinating sci-fi series picked up 18 nominations overall, including recognition for series stars Rhea Seehorn, Carlos-Manuel Vesga, and Karolina Wydra.
Also joining the party were HBO’s The Gilded Age (a previous nominee in 2024), and Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which received nine nominations total. And Your Friends and Neighbors snuck into this category like a former Mad Men star deciding it was a good idea to rob his friends and neighbors. This was the sole nomination for the Apple TV series, which didn’t even manage to land a nod for Jon Hamm.
In Outstanding Comedy Series, the lineup this year is almost identical to last year, with Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building, and Shrinking all repeating. The only new blood comes from Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay and Margo’s Got Money Troubles, taking the place of last year’s The Studio (which has yet to release a second season) and What We Do in the Shadows (nominated for its final season).
As The Studio won last year, it could be anyone’s game in this category, though Hacks feels like a likely winner considering its past triumphs and the weight of its final season. Watch out for Widow’s Bay, though — a clear industry favorite with 19 nominations, coming in third to The Pitt and Hacks.
In general, it was a great morning for streaming service HBO Max, with its flagship drama series The Pitt the day’s big winner with 25 nominations, followed by beloved comedy series Hacks with 24 nominations. Combined with HBO series, the platform received 122 nominations, followed by Netflix with 111 nominations. However, Apple TV received 87 nominations, and has three shows nominated in both the Outstanding Drama and Comedy categories.
Some notable blips from the rest of the full nominations list: Taylor Swift is already an Emmy winner for the 2015 interactive media program AMEX Unstaged: Taylor Swift Experience, but now she’s nominated again for The Eras Tour | The Final Show, which received a total of five nominations. Bad Bunny’s transcendent Super Bowl Halftime Show also picked up nine nominations, including Outstanding Variety Special (Live).
Elsewhere, Disney+’s Wonder Man received a sole nomination, but it was for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s performance, which is better than nothing. HBO’s Industry was snubbed. The final season of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was the most-nominated talk show of the day, with nine nominations, and Saturday Night Live received 11, including a nod for Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie’s time as host.
Who’s going to win? Well, you’ll have to wait a bit to find out. The 2026 Emmy Awards will take place on Sunday, September 14th live on NBC, hosted by Mariska Hargitay. Check out the full list of nominations below.
Comedy Series
- Abbott Elementary (Review | Stream)
- The Bear (Review | Stream)
- Hacks
- Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Stream)
- Nobody Wants This
- Only Murders in the Building (Stream)
- Shrinking (Stream)
- Widow’s Bay (Stream)
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Wonder Man
- Steve Carell, Rooster
- Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay
- Jason Segel, Shrinking
- Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
- Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
- Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
- Elle Fanning, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
- Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
- Jean Smart, Hacks
Drama Series
- The Diplomat
- The Gilded Age
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Review)
- Paradise (Stream)
- The Pitt (Review)
- Pluribus (Review | Stream)
- Slow Horses (Stream)
- Your Friends and Neighbors (Stream)
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
- Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
- Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
- Mark Ruffalo, Task
- Rufus Sewell, The Diplomat
- Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
- Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age
- Chase Infiniti, The Testaments
- Keri Russell, The Diplomat
- Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
- Zendaya, Euphoria
Limited Series
- All Her Fault
- The Beast in Me
- Beef
- DTF St. Louis
- Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette (Stream)
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
- Riz Ahmed, Bait
- Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit
- Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
- Oscar Isaac, Beef
- Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
- Claire Danes, The Beast in Me
- Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures
- Carey Mulligan, Beef
- Sarah Pidgeon, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette
- Sarah Snook, All Her Fault
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
- Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons
- Paul W. Downs, Hacks
- Harrison Ford, Shrinking
- Nick Offerman, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
- Stephen Root, Widow’s Bay
- Michael Urie, Shrinking
- Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary
Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
- Dale Dickey, Widow’s Bay
- Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
- Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
- Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay
- Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
- Megan Stalter, Hacks
- Jessica Williams, Shrinking
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
- Patrick Ball, The Pitt
- Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
- Shawn Hatosy, The Pitt
- Gerran Howell, The Pitt
- Jack Lowden, Slow Horses
- Tom Pelphrey, Task
- Carlos-Manuel Vesga, Pluribus
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
- Taylor Dearden, The Pitt
- Fiona Dourif, The Pitt
- Allison Janney, The Diplomat
- Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt
- Sepideh Moafi, The Pitt
- Julianne Nicholson, Paradise
- Karolina Wydra, Pluribus
Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
- Jason Bateman, DTF St. Louis
- Richard Gadd, Half Man
- David Harbour, DTF St. Louis
- Richard Jenkins, DTF St. Louis
- Charles Melton, Beef
- Nick Offerman, Death By Lightning
Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
- Linda Cardellini, DTF St. Louis
- Dakota Fanning, All Her Fault
- Laurie Metcalf, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
- Joy Sunday, DTF St. Louis
- Youn Yuh-jung, Beef
- Constance Zimmer, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette
Outstanding Variety Series
- The Daily Show
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
- The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
- Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Reality Competition Program
- Dancing With the Stars
- RuPaul’s Drag Race
- Survivor
- Top Chef
- The Traitors
