With Oscar season predictions just around the corner (if you’re a maniac like me), lest we forget the little sister of cinema, (in Kenneth Parcell voice) “TELEVISION!” Yes, the 78th Emmy Awards are upon us yet again this September, with nominations being announced on Wednesday July 8, it’s time to make my last minute guesses as to who and what this year’s honorees will be.

In the Drama Category, of course we have newcomers Task and Pluribus feeling like shoe-ins. The Mark Ruffalo cop drama that was initially positioned as a limited series, makes the sudden jump to Drama after a second season renewal announcement and Vince Gilligan’s sci-fi Apple series Pluribus blew the doors down on the competition last fall with an unforgettable pilot and a towering Rhea Seehorn performance. Seehorn seems very much in line to win her category after years of being ignored for her brilliant Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul (a performance she wouldn’t even be nominated for until the series’ last gasp). Her competition remains the formidable Keri Russell, this year’s SAG winner, with The Diplomat growing stronger each season.

Stranger Things and Euphoria, once Emmy darlings, bow out with their extremely divisive but widely-seen finales. Euphoria faced harsher criticism, but those performances may be strong enough to rope the show back in one last time. Stranger Things, though, was the end of a global phenomenon and regardless of whether or not it can achieve any performance/writing/directing nominations, it may be too big to ignore in a Drama series category of 8.

One series that continues to get better is The Gilded Age, a show with a fanbase that grows larger every year. I’ve seen a lot of doubt that The Gilded Age can crack the 8 this year despite it being the show’s best season, due to its competition, but I still have faith. The final scene of the season even had me saying under my breath “well, that’s Carrie Coon’s Emmy nomination sealed up.” But of course, as was the deal last year, The Pitt is going to steamroll the whole category. Expect many nominations for its supporting cast, many of which were overlooked last year, including Patrick Ball, Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif, and Shawn Hatosy, moving up from Guest Actor into Supporting.

In the Comedy Category, it goes without saying that Hacks‘ final season was everything it should have been, cementing itself as one of the great comedy series of the decade. Jean Smart will receive a win for every season of the show and Hannah Einbinder’s performance in the final episode should guarantee her a second win. Fingers crossed for an overdue Meg Stalter nomination. New Apple series Margo’s Got Money Troubles and Widow’s Bay came late in the voting season, but wowed everybody watching. Margo featuring the excellent trio of Elle Fanning, Nick Offerman, and Michelle Pfeiffer and sharp, empathetic writing, and Widow’s Bay being a brilliant horror/comedy mashup that excels in both departments, with a weirdness you could only expect with a show that mixes the creative teams of Parks and Recreation and Atlanta.

This seemed like Martin Short’s year to finally win for Only Murders in the Building, with his prior competition out of the way, but Shrinking (a show I only thought was fine in its first season, but has blossomed into full comforted appreciation) is in for its best Emmys year yet with its best season, so Jason Segel may take this. Don’t count out Steve Carrell for Rooster, though, as the beloved comic star still has never won this category despite his career-making role as Michael Scott in The Office. Carell pairs his usually loud-comic abilities down while also steering away from the “asshole mode” he’s been stuck in the last few years (The Morning Show, The Four Seasons, etc.), to deliver a surprisingly gentle and nuanced portrait of an author-turned- college professor. The Bear, a former juggernaut, may struggle to maintain its popularity, but the fourth season really had a lot of special moments and career-best performances by its main actors. I can’t imagine we’re done with The Bear just year, especially as its final season just aired this week, and closed strong on a perfect return-to-form.

My last note on Comedy Series is an obvious one: welcome to the Emmys, Ashley Padilla! Joining a select handful of SNL performers that become the default representative of their ensemble (Bowen Yang likely to get in as well with his last season), Padilla had the strongest debut last year for an SNL performer since Kate McKinnon (maybe even Kristen Wiig) and took charge in her second season to be the most featured player and the comic MVP of the series. We expect her to remain in this category for many years to come.

And finally, in Limited Series, we are facing what I can only observe as a bit of a quality drought. Maybe we were spoiled in years such as 2021 when we had a category packed with Mare of Easttown, WandaVision, The Queen’s Gambit, The Underground Railroad, and I May Destroy You. This year is filled with “underwatched” and “underwhelming” contenders, with the likeliest winner in my eyes being the strangest one of the pack, DTF St. Louis. Perhaps if Task stayed here, the winner wouldn’t even be a conversation. But when your biggest threats are a season of Beef that many were unsatisfied with, the ultra soapy Peacock thriller All Her Fault, yet another Ryan Murphy historical retelling (two, in fact), perhaps a Netflix thriller people have already forgotten about but was a big hit for the platform, The Beast in Me, can shock. Richard Gadd’s Half Man was dramatically-investing but much softer-recieved in comparison to his prior phenomenon Baby Reindeer. DTF St. Louis, while perplexing, is still a pretty stunning acting showcase, all of which are competing Supporting despite Bateman and Harbour clearly co-leads. Harbour delivers the best television performance of the year and deserves his first Emmy win for his category.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
THE DIPLOMAT (Netflix)
THE GILDED AGE (HBO)
PARADISE (Hulu)
THE PITT (Max)
PLURIBUS (Apple)
SLOW HORSES (Apple)
STRANGER THINGS (Netflix)
TASK (HBO)

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY (ABC)
THE BEAR (FX)
HACKS (Max)
MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES (Apple)
NOBODY WANTS THIS (Netflix)
ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (Hulu)
SHRINKING (Apple)
WIDOW’S BAY (Apple)

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
ALL HER FAULT (Peacock)
THE BEAST IN ME (Netflix)
BEEF (Netflix)
DTF ST. LOUIS (HBO)
HALF MAN (HBO)

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
THE AMAZING RACE (CBS)
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE (VH1)
SURVIVOR (CBS)
TOP CHEF (Bravo)
THE TRAITORS (Peacock)

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SERIES
THE DAILY SHOW (Comedy Central)
JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE (ABC)
LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER (HBO)
THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT (CBS)
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (NBC)

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION HOST
RuPaul Charles ~ RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE
Alan Cumming ~ THE TRAITORS
Kristen Kish ~ TOP CHEF
Jeff Probst ~ SURVIVOR
Shark Tank Hosts ~ SHARK TANK

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jennifer Aniston ~ THE MORNING SHOW
Carrie Coon ~ THE GILDED AGE
Keri Russell ~ THE DIPLOMAT
Rhea Seehorn ~ PLURIBUS
Zendaya ~ EUPHORIA

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sterling K. Brown ~ PARADISE
Jon Hamm ~ YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
Gary Oldman ~ SLOW HORSES
Mark Ruffalo ~ TASK
Noah Wyle ~ THE PITT

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Kristen Bell ~ NOBODY WANTS THIS
Quinta Brunson ~ ABBOTT ELEMENTARY
Elle Fanning ~ MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES
Lisa Kudrow ~ THE COMEBACK
Jean Smart ~ HACKS

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Steve Carell ~ ROOSTER
Matthew Rhys ~ WIDOW’S BAY
Jason Segel ~ SHRINKING
Martin Short ~ ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING
Jeremy Allen White ~ THE BEAR

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES
Claire Danes ~ THE BEAST IN ME
Carey Mulligan ~ BEEF
Sarah Pidgeon ~ LOVE STORY: JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. AND CAROLINE BESSETTE
Sarah Snook ~ ALL HER FAULT
Tessa Thompson ~ HIS & HERS

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES
Jamie Bell ~ HALF MAN
Charlie Hunnam ~ MONSTER: THE ED GEIN STORY
Oscar Isaac ~ BEEF
Paul Anthony Kelly ~ LOVE STORY: JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. AND CAROLINE BESSETTE
Matthew Rhys ~ THE BEAST IN ME

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Taylor Dearden ~ THE PITT
Fiona Dourif ~ THE PITT
Allison Janney ~ THE DIPLOMAT
Katherine LaNasa ~ THE PITT
Sepideh Moafi ~ THE PITT
Sydney Sweeney ~ EUPHORIA
Karolina Wydra ~ PLURIBUS

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje ~ EUPHORIA
Patrick Ball ~ THE PITT
Billy Crudup ~ THE MORNING SHOW
Shawn Hatosy ~ THE PITT
Jack Lowden ~ SLOW HORSES
Tom Pelphrey ~ TASK
Carlos-Manuel Vesga ~ PLURIBUS

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Hannah Einbinder ~ HACKS
Janelle James ~ ABBOTT ELEMENTARY
Ashley Padilla ~ SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
Michelle Pfeiffer ~ MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES
Sheryl Lee Ralph ~ ABBOTT ELEMENTARY
Megan Stalter ~ HACKS
Jessica Williams ~ SHRINKING

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Colman Domingo ~ THE FOUR SEASONS
Paul W. Downs ~ HACKS
Harrison Ford ~ SHRINKING
Ebon Moss-Bachrach ~ THE BEAR
Nick Offerman ~ MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES
Michael Urie ~ SHRINKING
Bowen Yang ~ SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES
Linda Cardellini ~ DTF ST. LOUIS
Dakota Fanning ~ ALL HER FAULT
Grace Gummer ~ LOVE STORY: JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. AND CAROLINE BESSETTE
Laurie Metcalf ~ MONSTER: THE ED GEIN STORY
Cailee Spaeny ~ BEEF
Naomi Watts ~ LOVE STORY: JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. AND CAROLINE BESSETTE
Yuh-Jung Youn ~ BEEF

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES
Jason Bateman ~ DTF ST. LOUIS
David Harbour ~ DTF ST. LOUIS
Richard Gadd ~ HALF MAN
Richard Jenkins ~ DTF ST. LOUIS
Charles Melton ~ BEEF
Alessandro Nivola ~ LOVE STORY: JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. AND CAROLINE BESSETTE
Troy Kotsur ~ BLACK RABBIT

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Brittany Allen ~ THE PITT
Tal Anderson ~ THE PITT
Elisabeth Moss ~ THE TESTAMENTS
Miriam Shor ~ PLURIBUS
Merrit Wever ~ THE GILDED AGE
Shailene Woodley ~ PARADISE

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Eric Dane ~ EUPHORIA
Colman Domingo ~ EUPHORIA
Jeff Hiller ~ PLURIBUS
Jeremy Irons ~ THE MORNING SHOW
Jeff Kober ~ THE PITT
Jonathan Pryce ~ SLOW HORSES

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Candice Bergen ~ SHRINKING
Leslie Bibb ~ HACKS
Jamie Lee Curtis ~ THE BEAR
Cherry Jones ~ HACKS
Laurie Metcalf ~ HACKS
Kaitlin Olson ~ HACKS

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jeff Daniels ~ SHRINKING
Michael J. Fox ~ SHRINKING
Brett Goldstein ~ SHRINKING
Ryan Gosling ~ SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
Christopher McDonald ~ HACKS
Rob Reiner ~ THE BEAR

OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE
DEEP COVER (Prime Video)
MISS YOU, LOVE YOU (HBO)
PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION (Netflix)
REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES (Netflix)
SWIPED (Hulu)

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PROGRAM
BOB’S BURGERS (FOX)
KING OF THE HILL (Hulu)
THE SIMPSONS (FOX)
SOUTH PARK (Comedy Central)
STAR WARS: MAUL- SHADOW LORD (Disney+)

The Primetime Emmy Awards nominations will be announced on Wednesday July 8, 2026, read by Emmy Winner Jeff Hiller and Emmy Winner Liza Colon-Zayas, with the official ceremony being held on September 14, 2026, with a host still to be announced.