ENTERTAINMENT'The Pitt' and 'Hacks' Lead Emmy Nominations as TV Gets More Personal
‘The Pitt’ led this year's Emmy nominations with 25 nods.
July 11 2026, Published 5:33 a.m. ET
The Pitt led all of this year’s Emmy nominees with 25 nominations for its second season, while Hacks earned 24 in its final season, setting a new record for the most nominations for a comedy series.
The totals gave HBO Max the top spot in both drama and comedy, with the streamer earning 122 nominations overall.
The nominations also point to a larger shift: shows that feel less like spectacle and more like recognition.
Prestige TV Gets Smaller and Sharper
HBO Max topped all networks with 122 Emmy nominations.
“When I look at this year’s Emmy nominations, I don’t just see what voters liked. I see a reflection of what people are looking for right now,” said brand and communications consultant Sam Gauchier.
Gauchier said prestige television has moved away from trying to be “the biggest show in the room” and toward something more emotionally specific.
“People are no longer asking television to help them escape reality,” she noted. “They’re asking it to help them process it.”
That may point to why The Pitt and Hacks landed so strongly. One is a day-in-the-life emergency room drama. The other is a comedy about shifting power, aging, reinvention and creative survival.
“On paper, neither concept is revolutionary,” Gauchier explained. “We’ve seen medical dramas. We’ve seen workplace comedies. Yet both feel remarkably current because they’re built around emotional truths people recognize in their own lives.”
'The Pitt' Takes Over Drama
Noah Wyle returned to the Emmy race for ‘The Pitt.’
The Pitt was already an Emmy force last year, winning best drama series, best actor for Noah Wyle and best supporting actress for Katherine LaNasa. It quickly returned with another dominant season, while other major contenders took longer breaks between seasons.
Wyle was nominated for best actor, along with nods for directing and producing. LaNasa also returned to the race, while Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif and Sepideh Moafi helped the show claim four of the seven supporting actress slots. The Pitt also landed three supporting actor nominations.
“The industry has spent years chasing what was next,” Gauchier said. “These nominations suggest viewers are rewarding what feels honest.”
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'Hacks' Breaks a Comedy Record
‘Hacks’ broke a comedy record with 24 nominations in its final season.
Hacks enters its final Emmy run as a record-breaker. Jean Smart, who has won best actress in a comedy for all four previous seasons, is nominated again. Hannah Einbinder also received another supporting actress nomination, while co-creator and star Paul W. Downs earned nominations for acting, writing and producing.
The broader field also includes Apple TV’s Pluribus and Widow’s Bay, both scoring heavily in their first seasons, along with Shrinking and Margo’s Got Money Troubles.
An industry expert said top Emmy contenders had resonated through emotional storytelling.
“The most valuable marketing strategy today isn’t a celebrity. It’s someone texting a friend after an episode and saying, ‘You have to watch this,’” Gauchier said.
“The shows leading the Emmys aren’t simply well made. They’re emotionally fluent,” she added. “In a culture that’s increasingly fragmented, those are the stories people carry with them long after the credits roll.”
