The Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles opened Emmys week on Saturday night with the first of two Creative Arts ceremonies, the below-the-line marathon that clears the runway before the Primetime Emmys land on September 14.

HBO's medical drama The Pitt arrived with the loudest number on the board. Twenty-five nominations, including outstanding drama and thirteen acting nods, nearly double what the show pulled last year. Star Noah Wyle is up for lead actor.

Hacks wasn't far behind, and in some ways it did something bigger. The Max comedy picked up 24 nominations for its fifth season, the most any comedy series has ever landed, edging past The Bear and The Studio, which had tied the old record at 23. Variety reported that Jean Smart is now positioned to win her fifth Emmy for the show and her eighth a tally that would put her level with the most Emmy acting wins by any actress in history. That's the kind of number that doesn't come around often, and if it lands on the main night, it'll be the story of the week.

Other shows with real weight going in, per The Hollywood Reporter's count: Widow's Bay with 19 nominations, Pluribus with 18, and Beef with 16.

The juried categories and the smaller wins that count

Before the competitive categories got underway, the ceremony also cleared its juried honors, the ones decided by expert panels rather than open voting. Adult Swim's Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal took home two Emmys for outstanding individual achievement in animation, and the costume juries went to Peacock's The Traitors and Fox's The Masked Singer in the variety and reality programming categories.

None of this is televised as it happens. The full sweep of Saturday's below-the-line winners, more than a hundred awards across two nights, will surface for viewers as an edited broadcast on FXX on September 12 at 8 PM ET/PT, a week ahead of the main Primetime ceremony.

It's an odd rhythm if you're not used to it. Sound mixers, casting directors, cinematographers and choreographers pick up the hardware first, quietly, and the marquee actors show up later to a room that's already half-decided who's had a big year. The Pitt going into Creative Arts weekend with 25 nods and Hacks setting a comedy record tells you plenty about where the industry's attention sits right now, medical procedurals doing serious business again, and a fifth-season comedy still finding new ways to get nominated.

Saturday's ceremony continues to hand out reality, variety and documentary honors through the night, with the second Creative Arts ceremony still to come before the Primetime Emmys close out the season on September 14.