2026 Emmys: Taylor Swift cameo, Sally Field's Canada shout-out gild an unpredictable ceremony

The Pitt, Pluribus, Hacks and Widow's Bay are set to compete for the top awards at this year's Emmy Awards, which launched Monday night.

Mariska Hargitay hosts the 78th Emmy Awards

Jackson Weaver · CBC News

· Posted: Sep 14, 2026 8:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

Listen to this article

Estimated 4 minutes

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.

The 2026 Emmy Awards kicked off Monday night with a host of old favourites — and some up-and-comers — vying for top awards.

Medical drama The Pitt leads the pack with 25 nominations, including for lead actor in a drama series (Noah Wyle), supporting actor (Patrick Ball, Gerran Howell), supporting actress (Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif, Katherine LaNasa and Sepideh Moafi) and best drama series.

It already took home a number of those awards last year, leading to a surprise shut-out of competing drama Severance. This year, its already snagged four at the earlier ceremonies — nabbing prosthetic makeup and best guest actor awards — and is gunning for another strong performance tonight.

Slightly behind is Hacks, another strong performer at the seminal TV awards show. Its 24 nominations for its fifth and final season put it ahead of all comedies with a record-breaking 24 nominations.

Lead Jean Smart was, in many bettors' cards, perhaps the biggest lock of the night for best actress in a comedy — an award she won early on. Hannah Einbinder, who had a breakthrough win last year as best supporting actress in a comedy after four nominations, was be up against Kate O'Flynn, who wowed with a breakout performance in the debut season of Widow’s Bay — and who ended up taking home the prize.

WATCH | The Pitt, Hacks lead Emmy nominations:

The Pitt, Hacks lead 2026 Emmy nominations

July 8|

Duration 4:19

The nominees for the 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards have been unveiled, with HBO's The Pitt leading all programs with 25 nominations, followed by Hacks with 24. Apple TV's freshman dark comedy Widow's Bay secured 19 nods and its post-apocalyptic Pluribus pulled in 16.

And it is that series that represents what may be a shift for this year's awards: that show's first season, about a series of mysteries plaguing a struggling resort town, was a smash success in a way that hasn't been seen in years. The Emmys' track record suggests they would shower Hacks in awards for its final, send-off season. But with 19 nominations — and eight wins already — for a show with a real campaign and argument for best comedy series, its trajectory is one to watch tonight.

Fellow newcomer Pluribus, from Breaking Bad phenom Vince Gilligan, is just behind with 18 off the back of its first season. A stunningly bizarre dramedy about an alien invasion and mind control, it is similarly positioned in opposition to The Pitt. With four early wins already, the narrative has begun to circle around star Rhea Seehorn.

Given the entire show's focus on her singular performance, voters are likely to reward the former Better Call Saul star with her first Emmy after four nominations. Whether or not it earns best drama series is another story.

Seehorn's fellow nominees include Zendaya, who has won the category twice before for Euphoria.

• Commotion

  How Pluribus turns the zombie genre into a philosophical masterpiece

• Kimmel says interview with Democratic candidate won't air on his network show, cites FCC threats

Elsewhere, the limited series categories will have a diminished role at the main Emmys show after four of them were demoted to the early Emmys weekend.

HBO Max's DTF St. Louis was the big winner of those awards, taking best supporting actor and actress for David Harbour and Linda Cardellini.

Beef brings star power to the lead acting categories, with Carey Mulligan the consensus favourite for best actress in a limited series and Oscar Isaac favored for best actor.

And after another year of antagonizing U.S. President Donald Trump, the late night shows of Jimmy Kimmel and the now-cancelled Stephen Colbert are both up for outstanding variety series. The latter has nine nominations, following the news that CBS announced its end earlier this year.

Law & Order; Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay is hosting this year's Emmys, off of two wins herself for documentary My Mom Jayne. She follows previous year's host Nate Bargatze, whose controversial hosting gig last year received mixed reviews.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jackson Weaver is a reporter and film critic for CBC's entertainment news team in Toronto. You can reach him at jackson.weaver@cbc.ca.