The 78th Emmy Awards Nominations: HBO Max Dominates, Records Fall, and Major Snubs Shake Up the Race

LOS ANGELES — Television’s highest honors are officially within sight as the race for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards enters its high-stakes second phase. This morning, Emmy winners Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear) and Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere, picking up another guest actor nomination for Pluribus) took the stage to announce the nominees. The unveiling set off a wave of industry celebration, fierce debates, and familiar discussions regarding high-profile snubs across an increasingly fractured and crowded prestige television landscape.

The upcoming ceremony, scheduled to hand out trophies across three separate events—one dedicated to the flagship primetime categories and two for the Creative Arts—will take place this September. While the sheer volume of content available across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms makes standing out harder than ever, a few clear powerhouses managed to cut through the noise, shattering records and establishing early frontrunner status.

Main Facts: HBO Max Heavyweights and Netflix Anchors Lead the Pack

In a television landscape dominated by platform fragmentation, HBO Max emerged as the undisputed titan of the 78th Emmy nominations. Two of its flagship series utterly commandeered the major categories, setting a high bar that competitors struggled to clear.

Leading the charge in the drama categories was The Pitt, which pulled off a staggering 25 nominations. Not far behind, the critically adored comedy Hacks rewrote the Emmy history books, setting a new all-time record for the most comedy nominations secured by a single series in a single year with 24.

Meanwhile, the limited and anthology series category saw a formidable return from Netflix’s Beef. The acclaimed anthology hauled in 16 nominations, proving that its momentum from previous seasons has not slowed down despite a fresh cast and narrative direction.

Apple TV+ also enjoyed a banner morning. The streaming service capitalized on breakout hits from the past year, securing 18 nominations for the cerebral drama Pluribus and 19 comedy nods for Widow’s Bay, the latter of which captured the cultural zeitgeist as the definitive word-of-mouth hit of the summer.

Chronology and Key Milestones of the 2026 Television Season

To understand how the 78th Emmy nominations shook out, one must look back at the rollout of the eligible television calendar, which spanned from mid-2025 through mid-2026:

Fall 2025: Apple TV+ launches the mind-bending drama Pluribus, instantly establishing itself as a critical darling and laying the groundwork for its eventual 18 Emmy nominations.
Winter 2025/2026: Netflix rolls out the latest installment of its anthology juggernaut Beef, capturing immediate audience engagement and positioning itself as the limited series to beat.
Spring 2026: The Pitt premieres on HBO Max, gripping audiences with its intensive narrative style and eventually sweeping the drama categories with 25 nominations. At the same time, Hacks continues its historic run, culminating in its record-shattering 24 nominations.
Summer 2026: Apple TV+’s Widow’s Bay captures the cultural conversation, riding a massive wave of word-of-mouth buzz to become the summer’s biggest comedy hit and securing 19 nominations. Concurrently, the final season of FX’s The Bear drops on Hulu in June, making it ineligible for this year’s cycle but setting up a future showdown.
July Morning Announcement: Liza Colón-Zayas and Jeff Hiller officially announce the nominees, confirming the dominance of The Pitt and Hacks while shocking fans with notable omissions.
August 17, 2026: Final voting opens for the 78th Emmy Awards, kicking off a frantic six-week campaign window where studios will spend millions lobbying Academy voters.
September 14, 2026: The Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony takes place, where winners across the major categories will be crowned.

Supporting Data: Breaking Down the Nominees and Category Dominance

The depth of support for this year’s frontrunners is best illustrated by examining the sheer volume of recognition individual shows and talent pools received across the board.

The Pitt’s Ensemble Sweep

The Pitt did not just win nominations for its top-line talent; it effectively colonized the supporting actor and actress fields. Noah Wyle, who took home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama last year, finds himself nominated once again, alongside nods for his work as a producer and director on the series.

More impressively, the show’s sprawling ensemble cast claimed fully half of the nominations available in the supporting actor and actress categories. This included recognition for Patrick Ball, Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif, Shawn Hatosy, Gerran Howell, Katherine LaNasa, and Sepideh Moafi, complemented by an additional five nominations for guest performers.

Hacks and the Comedy Hegemony

Hacks continues to be an unstoppable force. Jean Smart is widely projected to capture her fifth consecutive Emmy for her tour-de-force lead performance. Hannah Einbinder, who won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series last year, is back in the running.

Paul W. Downs—cocreator, co-showrunner, and supporting actor—earned nods for writing, producing, and acting. Megan Stalter secured her first-ever nomination for her deadpan work as the assistant to Downs’s character. Furthermore, Hacks achieved a near-monopoly in the guest actress in a comedy category, taking five of the seven available slots for Leslie Bibb, Cherry Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Kaitlin Olson, and Lauren Weedman.

Limited Series and Genre Players

Netflix’s Beef showcased the strength of its star-studded ensemble, earning acting nods for Oscar Isaac, Charles Melton, Carey Mulligan, and veteran actress Youn Yuh-jung. Meanwhile, HBO’s limited series DTF St. Louis quieted any doubts about its appeal, pulling in 13 nominations, including supporting recognition for an impressive roster of heavy hitters: Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini, David Harbour, Richard Jenkins, and Joy Sunday.

Official Responses and Industry Reactions: Snubs, Surprises, and Exclusions

As is custom with any major awards announcement, the morning joy for nominees was met with equal parts dismay from fans and industry insiders regarding high-profile exclusions.

The most seismic talking point centered on FX’s The Bear. While the series managed a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, its acting presence was drastically scaled back. Previous Emmy winners Ayo Edebiri and Jamie Lee Curtis were recognized for their guest work, alongside a poignant posthumous nomination for the late Rob Reiner. However, two-time Emmy winners Jeremy Allen White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach were entirely shut out of the lead and supporting actor races. Industry analysts suggest this signals that the voting body is actively looking to spread the wealth, especially as the series approaches its fifth and final season (which dropped on Hulu in June and will compete in next year’s cycle).

Other notable omissions included:

Beef: Despite its overall success, breakout stars Cailee Spaeny and Song Kang-ho were left off the ballot.
Abbott Elementary: Sheryl Lee Ralph was passed over by voters, though costars Quinta Brunson, Janelle James, and Tyler James Williams successfully broke through.
Industry: HBO’s critically adored financial drama once again failed to register with Emmy voters, remaining entirely empty-handed.
Taylor Sheridan Productions: Despite controlling some of television’s highest-rated franchises—including Yellowstone, Dutton Ranch, Landman, The Madison, Mayor of Kingstown, and Tulsa King—creator Taylor Sheridan remains entirely shut out of the Emmy nomination circle.
International Technicalities: The massive hit gay romance Heated Rivalry generated considerable pre-season buzz, but was ultimately ruled ineligible due to its technical classification as a Canadian production. Its breakout star, Connor Storrie, managed to cross over by securing a Guest Actor in a Comedy nod for hosting Saturday Night Live.

Implications: The Road to Phase Two and the September Ceremony

With the nominations locked in, the television industry pivots immediately to Phase Two of the Emmy season. Final voting is slated to open in less than six weeks, on August 17, giving studios, streamers, and PR strategists a critical window to influence the massive, diverse voting body of the Television Academy.

While categories like Outstanding Comedy Series and Comedy Lead Actress (Hacks) and Drama Series (The Pitt) look like secure bets for their respective frontrunners, other races remain wide open. The limited and anthology series category is shaping up to be a bloodbath, with Beef, DTF St. Louis, and Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette locked in a fierce three-way battle for supremacy.

Furthermore, while seasoned veterans like Jean Smart, Matthew Rhys, Rhea Seehorn, and Noah Wyle enter the race as heavy favorites, their respective categories are packed with formidable dark horses. Unlike the predictability that sometimes plagues the Oscar race, the sheer volume of eligible television and the decentralized nature of Academy voting leave ample room for dramatic upsets.

As campaigns ramp up over the dog days of summer, the ultimate question remains: Will the record-breaking juggernauts convert their nomination tallies into golden statuettes, or will Academy voters spring a few more surprises when the envelopes are opened on September 14? The countdown to television’s biggest night has officially begun.