The Emmys hand out their trophies on September 14, and the nominee list this year makes an argument television hasn't run dry on ideas. It's mostly built on things nobody's seen before.

In the drama race, HBO Max's medical hit "The Pitt" carries the genetic markers of every hospital show that came before it. But R. Scott Gemmill created it fresh, with its own beats and its own take on a broken healthcare system. Apple TV's "Pluribus" comes from Vince Gilligan, the mind behind "Breaking Bad," and there's nothing quite like it on air. Hulu's "Paradise," from Dan Fogelman, is a post-apocalyptic concept built from scratch. Jonathan Tropper wrote "Your Friends and Neighbors" for Apple, Debora Cahn dreamed up Netflix's "The Diplomat," and Julian Fellowes returned to prestige-period territory with HBO Max's "The Gilded Age."

Only two drama nominees are adaptations. Apple's "Slow Horses" comes from Mick Herron's "Slough House" novels, adapted for TV by Will Smith (the screenwriter, not the actor). HBO Max's "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" pulls from George R.R. Martin's "Tales of Dunk and Egg," sitting inside the wider "Game of Thrones" universe.

Comedy tells the same story. Apple's horror-comedy "Widow's Bay," from Katie Dippold, has been this season's proof of concept that original swings can pay off big at nomination time. Its main rival for the top prize, HBO Max's "Hacks," wraps its five-season run as an original built by Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello. Apple's "Shrinking" came from Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein. Netflix's "Nobody Wants This" was created by Erin Foster and drawn from her own life, not a book she optioned. Quinta Brunson built "Abbott Elementary" around memories of her mother, a schoolteacher. Christopher Storer's "The Bear" is entirely his own.

The lone comedy adaptation is Apple's "Margo's Got Money Troubles," which David E. Kelley based on Rufi Thorpe's 2024 novel.

Limited and anthology series, usually the category where book-to-screen adaptations pile up, went the same way this year. Both frontrunners are originals: Netflix's "Beef," from Lee Sung Jin, and HBO Max's "DTF St. Louis," from Steven Conrad. Netflix's "The Beast in Me," created by Gabe Rotter, is also new material. Peacock's "All Her Fault," adapted from Andrea Mara's 2021 novel, is the exception. FX's "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette" sits somewhere in between, drawn from real life and a biography rather than a screenplay someone pitched cold.

Trade analysis, including a column from Variety, has pointed to this pattern as a rebuttal to the idea that the industry has stopped taking chances on new material and just recycles franchises. Whether that holds up beyond one nomination cycle is a separate question. For now, the arguments over who actually wins on September 14 are still running hot, and depending on the day, even the people covering the race can't agree on their own picks.