Emmy Nominations
The Television Academy unveiled nominations for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards Wednesday morning, and the headlines were split between record-breakers and a troubling step backward.
HBO Max's medical drama "The Pitt" led all programs with 25 nominations, followed by the final season of "Hacks" with 24 — a single-year record for a comedy series. Apple TV's freshman "Widow's Bay" topped all new shows with 19 nods, with "Pluribus" (18), Netflix's "Beef" (16) and HBO's "DTF St. Louis" (13) rounding out the double-digit club. HBO Max claimed the network crown with 122 total nominations, ahead of Netflix's 111 and Apple TV's 87, while ABC led broadcast with 40.
But for viewers tracking who gets to tell television's biggest stories, the numbers told a different tale. Nominees of color in the acting, reality and host categories fell to 22 — an 11-year low, and a 21 percent drop from last year's 28. It marks the second consecutive year the count has declined, and several acting categories — including Lead Actress in a Limited Series, Guest Actor in a Comedy and Guest Actress in a Comedy — feature entirely white lineups.
There were still bright spots worth celebrating. Quinta Brunson earned three nominations for "Abbott Elementary" — comedy series, lead actress and writing — bringing her career total to 15. Colman Domingo landed two acting nods, for "The Four Seasons" and "Euphoria," making him the only performer of color recognized in two acting slots this year. Zendaya collected her sixth career nomination for the final season of "Euphoria", and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was a welcome surprise in lead comedy actor for Marvel's "Wonder Man". Chase Infiniti, passed over by the Oscars for "One Battle After Another," earned her first Emmy nod for leading "The Testaments," Hulu's "Handmaid's Tale" sequel.
Behind the camera, history was made: Salli Richardson-Whitfield became the first Black woman to score two drama directing nominations in a single year, for "The Gilded Age" and "Task".
The snubs stung, though. Sheryl Lee Ralph missed out for "Abbott Elementary" for the first time since the show premiered — she had been nominated every year since 2021. And on "The Pitt," despite four supporting actress nominations, Sepideh Moafi was the only woman of color from the show's notably diverse cast to land an acting nod — Isa Briones, Supriya Ganesh and Shabana Azeez were all left out. Elsewhere, Jeremy Allen White ("The Bear"), Sydney Sweeney ("Euphoria") and last year's "Nobody Wants This" nominees Kristen Bell and Adam Brody all fell off the list.
On the music side, Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime Show and Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour: The Final Show" both landed nominations.
The ceremony airs live Monday, September 14 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, hosted by "Law & Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay — the first woman to host in 15 years. Her own HBO documentary about her mother, Jayne Mansfield, "My Mom Jayne," picked up three nominations.