The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards are underway at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater, with HBO Max’s The Pitt and Hacks entering the night as the dominant contenders after leading the 2026 nominations. The Pitt enters with 25 nominations, the highest total of the year, after winning Outstanding Drama Series at the 2025 ceremony, while Noah Wyle is seeking a second consecutive Lead Actor Emmy and has three nominations this year across performance, directing and producing categories. Hacks follows with 24 nominations for its fifth and final season, setting a new record for a comedy in a single year after The Studio and The Bear had shared the previous record of 23. Jean Smart is the central figure in that campaign, with a fifth consecutive Lead Actress victory potentially making her the first performer to win an acting Emmy for every season of a series’ entire run.
The platform battle has tightened since last year. HBO Max leads the 2026 field with 122 nominations, followed by Netflix with 111 and Apple TV with a record 89. HBO Max led the 2025 nominations with 142 and finished that ceremony with 30 wins, while Netflix collected 120 nominations and six wins and Apple TV posted 81 nominations and 22 wins. Apple’s 2026 surge is driven by Widow’s Bay, which earned 19 nominations, and Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus, which collected 18, while the service also placed three comedies and three dramas in the top programme races. Last year, Apple’s The Studio won Outstanding Comedy Series and became the most-awarded comedy in Emmy history with 13 victories, while Severance led Apple’s nominations with 27.
The drama race is headed by The Pitt, although Apple’s Pluribus has emerged as its principal challenger. Rhea Seehorn is seeking her first Emmy for her lead performance in Pluribus, while Gary Oldman, Sterling K. Brown and Rufus Sewell bring established Emmy pedigree into the Lead Actor field. The comedy race has become considerably less predictable around Hacks, with Widow’s Bay gathering momentum after an unusually strong showing at the Creative Arts Emmys. Matthew Rhys has a particularly unusual night ahead, earning Lead Actor nominations in both comedy and limited series, while Harrison Ford could become the oldest winner ever in the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category at 84 if he prevails for Shrinking.
The Limited or Anthology Series field is led by DTF St. Louis and Beef, with Netflix’s Beef carrying the advantage of having won eight Emmys for its first season. DTF St. Louis entered the final stretch with 13 nominations and had already built substantial momentum at the Creative Arts Emmys, where David Harbour and Linda Cardellini won supporting acting prizes and Steven Conrad took directing and writing honours. Beef remains a major acting contender, with Carey Mulligan widely regarded as the Lead Actress frontrunner and Oscar Isaac among the leading names in the corresponding actor race. The field also includes The Beast in Me, All Her Fault and Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, giving Netflix four of the five limited-series contenders.
The Creative Arts Emmys, held on September 5 and 6 at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater, have already reshaped several races. Widow’s Bay led all programmes with eight wins, while DTF St. Louis followed with six, including acting prizes for David Harbour and Linda Cardellini. Spider-Noir won five, while The Pitt and Pluribus collected four each. The results give Widow’s Bay the strongest early momentum in the comedy race, with DTF St. Louis emerging as the limited-series frontrunner.
The ceremony also faces criticism over the Academy’s decision to move seven categories out of the Primetime broadcast, reducing the televised awards from 26 to 19. The DGA, SAG-AFTRA and WGA have opposed the change, arguing that it diminishes the visibility of writers, directors and performers whose categories have been shifted off the main broadcast.
For viewers in India, the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards are streaming live on JioHotstar from 5:30 AM IST on September 15, with the red carpet and pre-show beginning at 4:30 AM.
Here’s the full list of winners, which will be updated live throughout the ceremony:
Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Hacks
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders in the Building
Shrinking
Widow’s Bay
Lead Actor – Comedy
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man)
Steve Carell (Rooster)
Matthew Rhys (Widow’s Bay) WINNER
Jason Segel (Shrinking)
Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building)
Lead Actress – Comedy
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary)
Ayo Edebiri (The Bear)
Elle Fanning (Margo’s Got Money Troubles)
Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback)
Jean Smart (Hacks) WINNER
Directing – Comedy
Abbott Elementary: “Ballgame” – Randall Einhorn
The Bear: “Bears” – Christopher Storer
The Chair Company: “Life Goes By Too F**king Fast, It Really Does.” – Andrew DeYoung
Hacks: “Hacks (Finale)” – Lucia Aniello
The Ms. Pat Show: “Give It Arrest” – Mary Lou Belli
Widow’s Bay: “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!” – Hiro Murai
Writing – Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary: “Team Building” – Quinta Brunson
The Chair Company: “Life Goes By Too F**king Fast, It Really Does.” – Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin
The Comeback: “Valerie Does It All” – Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow
Hacks: “Hacks (Finale)” – Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky
Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat: “Mergers and Acquisitions” – Anthony King
Widow’s Bay: “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!” – Katie Dippold WINNER
Supporting Actor – Comedy
Colman Domingo (The Four Seasons)
Paul W. Downs (Hacks)
Harrison Ford (Shrinking)
Nick Offerman (Margo’s Got Money Troubles)
Stephen Root (Widow’s Bay) WINNER
Michael Urie (Shrinking)
Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary)
Supporting Actress – Comedy
Dale Dickey (Widow’s Bay)
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks)
Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)
Kate O’Flynn (Widow’s Bay) WINNER
Michelle Pfeiffer (Margo’s Got Money Troubles)
Megan Stalter (Hacks)
Jessica Williams (Shrinking)
Drama Series
The Diplomat
The Gilded Age
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Paradise
The Pitt
Pluribus
Slow Horses
Your Friends & Neighbors
Lead Actor – Drama
Sterling K. Brown (Paradise)
Gary Oldman (Slow Horses)
Mark Ruffalo (Task)
Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat)
Noah Wyle (The Pitt) WINNER
Lead Actress – Drama
Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age)
Chase Infiniti (The Testaments)
Keri Russell (The Diplomat)
Rhea Seehorn (Pluribus) WINNER
Zendaya (Euphoria)
Directing – Drama
The Gilded Age: “My Mind Is Made Up” – Salli Richardson Whitfield
Paradise: “Exodus” – Hanelle M. Culpepper
The Pitt: “12:00 P.M.” – Noah Wyle
Pluribus: “We Is Us” – Vince Gilligan
Slow Horses: “Scars” – Saul Metzstein WINNER
Task: “Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, There Is a River” – Salli Richardson Whitfield
Writing – Drama
The Diplomat: “Amagansett” – Peter Ackerman and Debora Cahn
The Pitt: “1:00 P.M.” – Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman and R. Scott Gemmill
The Pitt: “12:00 P.M.” – Valerie Chu
Pluribus: “We Is Us” – Vince Gilligan
Slow Horses: “Scars” – Will Smith
Task: “A Still Small Voice” – Brad Ingelsby
Supporting Actor – Drama
Patrick Ball (The Pitt)
Billy Crudup (The Morning Show)
Shawn Hatosy (The Pitt)
Gerran Howell (The Pitt)
Jack Lowden (Slow Horses)
Tom Pelphrey (Task) WINNER
Carlos-Manuel Vesga (Pluribus)
Supporting Actress – Drama
Taylor Dearden (The Pitt)
Fiona Dourif (The Pitt)
Allison Janney (The Diplomat) WINNER
Katherine LaNasa (The Pitt)
Sepideh Moafi (The Pitt)
Julianne Nicholson (Paradise)
Karolina Wydra (Pluribus)
Limited Series
All Her Fault
The Beast in Me
Beef
DTF St. Louis
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette
Lead Actor – Limited/Movie
Riz Ahmed (Bait)
Jason Bateman (Black Rabbit)
Charlie Hunnam (Monster: The Ed Gein Story)
Oscar Isaac (Beef)
Matthew Rhys (The Beast in Me) WINNER
Lead Actress – Limited/Movie
Claire Danes (The Beast in Me)
Sally Field (Remarkably Bright Creatures) WINNER
Carey Mulligan (Beef)
Sarah Pidgeon (Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette)
Sarah Snook (All Her Fault)
Variety Series
The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert WINNER
Saturday Night Live
