Emmys 2026: The Pitt, Pluribus Lead A Wide-Open Race

Mariska Hargitay hosts for the first time as Jean Smart chases a record fifth straight win and NBC quietly trims seven categories off the live broadcast.

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards got underway at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night, and for once the pre-show math didn't line up with the mood in the room. HBO Max's The Pitt walked in with 25 nominations, the most of any show this year, and a reigning Outstanding Drama trophy from last season. But Apple TV's Pluribus, Vince Gilligan's follow-up to Breaking Bad, arrived with 18 nods and real momentum after picking up four wins at the Creative Arts Emmys the weekend before. Rhea Seehorn is up for her first Emmy off that show, going against Gary Oldman, Sterling K. Brown and Rufus Sewell in a Lead Actor field stacked with pedigree.

Comedy is messier still. Hacks set a record with 24 nominations for its fifth and final season, and Jean Smart is chasing something no performer has done before: a win in every single season of a show's run, which would be five straight for her. Except Apple's Widow's Bay, the Matthew Rhys horror-comedy about a cursed New England town, turned up eight early wins at the Creative Arts ceremony on September 5 and 6, more than any other title, and has clearly rattled the race. Betty Gilpin took Guest Actress in a comedy for the show and used her acceptance speech to read a rapid-fire poem that name-checked Sam Altman, telling the room to "lean more toward Sam Shepard and less toward Sam Altman."

A platform fight underneath it all

The Hindu's tally puts HBO Max ahead with 122 nominations this year, Netflix second with 111, and Apple TV a distant but record-setting third at 89, its biggest haul ever. Apple's surge is basically two shows doing the heavy lifting, Widow's Bay and Pluribus. In limited series, Netflix has four of the five contenders, led by Beef, but HBO's DTF St. Louis came out of the Creative Arts weekend with six wins including acting prizes for David Harbour and Linda Cardellini, and looks like the frontrunner heading into the main night.

Not everyone is happy with how that main night is structured. The Television Academy moved seven categories off the live broadcast this year, cutting the televised total from 26 to 19, and the DGA, SAG-AFTRA and WGA have all pushed back publicly, arguing it shrinks the spotlight on writers, directors and performers who already get less attention than the marquee acting races.

Mariska Hargitay is running the show itself for the first time, stepping into hosting after nearly 30 seasons on Law & Order: SVU and a fresh pair of wins last weekend for her documentary My Mom Jayne. The night also carries a Reba McEntire tribute to Dolly Parton, who died recently at 80, a Catherine O'Hara segment with Macaulay Culkin, Dan Levy and Annie Murphy, and reunions built around Charlie's Angels and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Noah Kahan performs Bridge Over Troubled Water for the In Memoriam segment, which this year also includes a posthumous acting win for Rob Reiner. In India, the ceremony streamed live on JioHotstar from 5:30 am IST, red carpet included. The full winners list is still filling in as the night runs long.