Casey Bloys Celebrates HBO’s 21 Emmy Wins, Congratulates Apple, Gives Updates On ‘Last Of Us,’ ‘True Detective,’ ‘Gilded Age,’ ‘BLL’, ‘Heated Rivalry’

The year HBO was first allowed into the Emmys, 1988, and landed its first six nominations, Apple released the iMac G3, Jeff Bezos started expanding his online book store Amazon into music and video sales and Netflix was still almost a decade away from launching as a DVD-by-mail rental company.

HBO has been a dominant force at the Emmys ever since, initially competing with the broadcast networks, then basic and premium cable networks and, most recently, streamers like Netflix, Apple TV and Amazon’s Prime Video.

Now, almost four decades later, HBO, in tandem with HBO Max, is the only legacy brand to remain a consistent Emmy juggernaut year in and year out, battling it out with the tech-based upstarts. Last year, HBO finished tied for No. 1 with Netflix for most Emmy wins, this year, it finished second to Apple TV with 21 wins vs. 28, taking Outstanding Drama Series for The Pitt and Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series with DTF St. Louis, while Apple TV’s hot newcomer Widow’s Bay nabbed Comedy Series over HBO Max’s Hacks, denying HBO a sweep of the top 3 scripted categories.

Hacks lost to Widow’s Bay in every other category Monday night except Lead Comedy Actress, which went to Jean Smart to tie an Emmy performer record. Other notable HBO/HBO Max Emmy winners included The Pitt star Noah Wyle and Task‘s Tom Pelphrey.

In an interview with Deadline conducted during HBO Max’s afterparty at the San Vicente Bungalows, Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, spoke about the company’s Emmy haul and Hacks‘ bittersweet farewell, teasing new projects with creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky who had previously set up the Kaley Cuoco comedy Kansas City Star at HBO.

Bloys gave props to his Apple TV counterparts, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, outlined HBO’s Emmys 2027 roster and provided updates on the upcoming Season 4 of The White Lotus and the stalled next installments of three other Emmy mainstays, True Detective, Big Little Lies and The Rehearsal.

He indicated that The Last of Us is indeed ending and that The Gilded Age may be renewed for a fifth season, confirmed that HBO Max’s family drama pilot How To Survive Without Me is nearing a pickup and revealed that, in light of Heated Rivalry‘s blockbuster success, the Crave drama is getting a royal treatment for an acquisition in the form of a red carpet premiere for its upcoming second season.

The interview also addresses the Harry Potter series, HBO’s Game of Thrones and DC universes, with a promising sign for Lanterns‘ future, and, yes, HBO parent Warner Bros. Discovery’s pending acquisition by Paramount.

DEADLINE: Big wins in two of the 3 top scripted categories for HBO with The Pitt and DTF, you still finished No.2, and it was a little sad about Hacks. What are your thoughts?

BLOYS: Well, I’m thrilled about Jean making history, that’s great, and two out of three. DTF was a really special one because I would say that was the definition of a dark horse candidate but I could tell that it was connecting because I would hear unsolicited from writers texting me saying they loved the show as far back as April-May. So I had a good feeling about it. So I was happy to see that it got not only limited series but all the actors, writing, directing. That was really great.

DEADLINE: And The Pitt, we expected a couple of more wins in the supporting acting categories. Are you happy with what it got?

BLOYS: Are you going to complain about the number of wins we got for The Pitt? Come on!

DEADLINE: Hacks’ creators didn’t get something for its well received finale, particularly writing, but there always seems to be a momentum for a new show, with Widow’s Bay the beneficiary this year.

BLOYS: It certainly happens. Hacks won when everybody thought The Bear was going to win. The Pitt came out of nowhere and won drama [last year]. Now Widow’s Bay comes. It doesn’t mean that Hacks is any less special experience for everybody, but you live by the sword, died by the sword.

DEADLINE: With Lucia, Paul and Jen, I think you’d closed the door to doing a spinoff. Have you had second thoughts on that by any chance?

BLOYS: No, they’re working on other ideas for us, so I’m thrilled to be in business for them.

DEADLINE: I think their Kaley Cuoco project, Kansas City Star, is on the back burner…

BLOYS: I think you’ve heard that Kaley Cuoco’s series is getting picked up.

DEADLINE: Yes, heard her HBO Max drama pilot How To Survive Without Me is about to go to series.

BLOYS: So she’s going to be busy. But they’re working on a bunch on things.

DEADLINE: In terms of comedy, do you see a Hacks successor that can break through with a broad appeal while being an awards contender?

BLOYS: Actually, Rooster was a pretty highly rated show, and [star] Steve Carell was [Emmy-] nominated, so we’ll see.

DEADLINE: What did you think about Apple TV’s performance and their first time finishing as the No.1 platform at the Emmys?

BLOYS: Well, I’m very happy because I think that they’re very handsome competitors, Zack and Jamie. Look, we’ve had very formidable competitors in going back to Showtime, FX, AMC, Netflix, Amazon, so Apple, everybody keeps us on our toes, I think we do our best work. It’s a little scary that they’re a trillion-dollar company, but we’ll continue to do what we do, which is put out the best shows that we can.

HBO’s Emmys 2027 Contenders

DEADLINE: Task was able to get on the board for you with a win for Tom Pelphrey.

BLOYS: I was really happy to see Tom win because he deserved it. It was an amazing performance thought his acceptance speech was the best of the night, so it was very special to see him win and [fiancee] Kaley in the audience.

DEADLINE: And Season 2 is coming with Mark Ruffalo joined by Mahershala Ali. Where is it currently at?

BLOYS: They’re shooting, they’re about halfway through.

DEADLINE: Would they make the eligibility release window of June 1, 2026 – May 31, 2027?

BLOYS: Probably will be out [of the window]. For next year, we’ve got a new season of The Pitt, new season of The Gilded Age, White Lotus, new season of The Knight of Seven Kingdoms, new season of I Love L.A., new season of Rooster. We’ve got a lot of pretty big both comedy and drama. And actually, I like to point out with The Pitt, one of the great things they do is it comes back in January, so we go into next season with the drama frontrunner in The Pitt. Limited series, we’ve got The Trial of Louise Woodward.

DEADLINE: The White Lotus. When exactly can we expect the Season 4?

BLOYS: First half of 27.

DEADLINE: What does creator Mike While have in store for us? And how did the recasting of Helena Bonham Carter work?

BLOYS: Mike is the best, I love working with him, and I can’t wait for you to see what he’s been working on with this cast. There are always breakout characters, breakout stories. We are lucky to have Mike doing White Lotus for us.

DEADLINE: Are there any surprises, like people from previous seasons that may be coming back?

BLOYS: There were a few nice surprises.

The Last ‘Last Of Us’ & More ‘Gilded Age’

DEADLINE: The Last of Us Season 3 will be happening when?

BLOYS: It’ll be happening in 27. I don’t have a date.

DEADLINE: And you still won’t confirm it’s the final season?

BLOYS: I think [showrunner] Craig [Mazin] has planned it as the final season.

DEADLINE: And The Gilded Age…

BLOYS: Gilded Age, the season [four] is excellent. We are talking to them about what a fifth season would look like, stay tuned on that.

DEADLINE: And that will be with Morgan Spector? Because he has a new show on Netflix.

BLOYS: I think that we will try to work around. It’s a big cast, and they’re a very busy cast. Hopefully, we can work around everybody’s schedule because I think everybody loves making it.

‘True Detective’, ‘Big Little Lies’ & ‘Rehearsal’ Status Update

DEADLINE: True Detective, another longtime Emmy contender for you. What happened to Season 5? It got stuck in neutral it seems.

BLOYS: Stayed turned on that as well.

DEADLINE: Is Nicolas Cage still attached?

BLOYS: Stay tuned.

DEADLINE: Any movement on Big Little Lies Season 3?

BLOYS: There are a lot of schedules to line up there, so I think they’re all doing their best. The good news is we’ve got a lot of very popular movie stars. The bad news is they’ve got very busy schedules, so we’re doing our best to line them up.

DEADLINE: I hear that you’re already working with Nathan Fielder on Season 3 of The Rehearsal. How is it going? And did you know about his secret Elizabeth Holmes documentary?

BLOYS: [HBO Head of Comedy] Amy Gravitt and Nathan have a very, very good working relationship. He’s got an idea that he’s working on for The Rehearsal. And yes, I was lucky enough to see the Elizabeth Holmes documentary, and I recommend that everybody go see it because it is kind of insane, but really wild and interesting.

Pre-Merger Emmys

DEADLINE: This is likely the last Emmys for HBO as an independent company since parent WBD is in the process of being acquired by Paramount. What do you think will happen after the merger, overall and to your team?

BLOYS: I’ve been asked this about AT&T and Discovery and now Paramount, so I’m only worried about doing what we’ve been doing, which is consistently delivering quality, Emmy-winning programming.

DEALINE: If you have a choice, will you continue to lead HBO post-merger?

BLOYS: (Laughs).

DEADLINE: Perennial Emmy favorite John Oliver lost tonight, but it was a sentimental win for Stephen Colbert.

BLOYS: I think everybody in the room, including John, felt that Stephen Colbert, that was a great moment for him, and I was happy to be there.

DEADLINE: Did the Paramount merger factor into the decision to renew his HBO show only for one year this time?

BLOYS: No, not at all.

‘Harry Potter’ Cadence & J.K. Rowling Influence

DEADLINE: You have Harry Potter on a very tight production schedule with just a couple of months break between filming starts again. Can you keep it on a yearly cadence?

BLOYS: No. We’re trying as hard to bring it back as quickly as possible. It’s not going to be 2 years [between seasons] but we’re trying hard to keep it as compressed as possible.

DEADLINE: The Harry Potter series was originally announced as running for a decade. Is that still the plan?

BLOYS: Who knows? Each book is a huge event. I’m right now thinking about season by season as far as what it all adds up to. But I can tell you, Christmas Day is going to be a great launch day for Harry Potter.

DEADLINE: Are you happy with the results, and have there been any difficulty casting the series because of J.K. Rowling’s views?

BLOYS: Not even a little bit.

DEADLINE: Is she involved in the show creatively?

BLOYS: Yes absolutely.

‘Heated Rivalry’ Heating Up

DEADLINE: Heated Rivalry. What do you know about Season 2?

BLOYS: They’re shooting. As you know, we’re a licensee, and I can’t wait to see what [creator] Jacob [Tierney] and the guys are doing. We’re gonna have a great premiere in New York in the spring, and can’t wait to celebrate it.

DEADLINE: Have you seen any scripts?

BLOYS: I have, yes.

DEADLINE: And do you like what you see?

BLOYS: Oh, I’m thrilled. It’s the greatest acquisition in the history of television.

DEADLINE: Do you think the second season will live up to the hype of the first one?

BLOYS: I have no doubt in Jacob’s abilities, so I’m eagerly awaiting the episodes.

‘Game Of Thrones’ & DC Universes

DEADLINE: Any movement on expanding the Game of Thrones franchise? Any new spin-offs?

BLOYS: You mean in addition to the Emmy-nominated Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is coming out in the first half of 27? And House of the Dragon? Besides that, no, nothing else.

DEADLINE: Is there some sort of reset for the DC universe? Because you just ordered a series for HBO Max, The People v. Gorilla Grodd, but some of the previous development was killed.

BLOYS: You know what I would say about that? It’s the same thing with Game of Thrones. People read about development and they assume that those are greenlit shows, and they’re development. And everybody knows that development is just that — you’re trying things, you take big swings, not everything comes through. I would say our track record in DC, from Watchmen to Peacemaker to Penguin and now Lanterns is pretty good. We’re very selective. We’re careful about what we do, nothing has changed. You’ll read about development, but focus on what we’re greenlighting.

DEADLINE: Is there anything else active in development?

BLOYS: No, not right now, obviously you’ve got Gorilla Grodd, which I’m very happy about, doing something different, and I think it’s a really fun idea. They just started shooting.