The Emmys are back!
Adrian Horton
Yes, it’s that time of year again, where you realize how much TV you haven’t seen – the Emmys are back! And with a healthy mix of award show veterans and newbies.
With the absence of Shōgun, which basically swept the drama awards last year, the race this year is shaping up to be one of the more interesting competitions this year. Apple TV’s Severance leads the night with 27 nominations for its second season. But the epitome of prestige TV – long-gestating, high-budget, starry cast – is up against HBO Max’s answer to the network medical drama. The Pitt, with 13 nominations and plenty of audience goodwill, could come out ahead. Both face-off against Andor, Slow Horses, Paradise, The Last of Us, the Diplomat and Emmys stalwart, The White Lotus.
On the comedy side, another Apple TV success, Hollywood business satire The Studio, has the momentum, with 23 nominations – breaking the record for most nominations for a show’s first season. It competes with two former winners – Hacks and still-not-a-comedy The Bear – as well as Abbott Elementary, Only Murders in the Building, Shrinking, What We Do in the Shadows and the first season of the Netflix hit Nobody Wants This. And like Baby Reindeer last year, another small British production released through Netflix, Adolescence, enters as the heavy favorite for limited series, along with several deserved acting nominations.
The night promises at least a few surprises and memorable speeches, as well as cast reunions for Gilmore Girls and Law & Order – stick with us for all the highlights!
Key events
Benjamin Lee
Brutally honest Emmy ballots are less of a tradition than the Oscar ones (sadly) but the Hollywood Reporter did manage to snag one from a long-time producer and Emmy voter that offers up some insight/arch criticism.
Here are some choice quotes:
“I’m not a Severance fan. I find it curiously cool, in the Marshall McLuhan sense – I don’t care about the people, and I’m kind of old-school in my William Goldman-like belief that I should.”
“The Bear is brilliant, but it’s not a comedy. Only Murders in the Building is the same show every year.”
“I’m voting for The Late Show because of what Paramount did to Colbert, just so he can get up and give a speech, and because it would be an absolute ‘fuck-you’ to Trump. You saw that he Truth Social-ed the next day and took credit for Colbert getting fired? Fuck him.”
Adrian Horton
An update for Beyoncé watchers – Entertainment Tonight is reporting that she and Jay Z have seat markers, and Gayle King says she spotted her “person” scoping out the theater yesterday (though she didn’t pick up Gayle’s call)… it’s looking promising.
Benjamin Lee
Without some surer things in the race like Succession or Game of Thrones and with the comedy race now less Bear heavy (Hacks was the surprise winner last year), there’s potential for some real surprises tonight. Could new shows like The Studio and The Pitt triumph? Or will Severance and The White Lotus come out on top? And will Adolesence pull a Baby Reindeer? Here’s what Adrian Horton is predicting:
Adrian Horton
From Hacks (I will be shocked if Jean Smart doesn’t win for a fourth time) to Abbott Elementary to The Bear, the red carpet is filling up with comedy nominees:
Adrian Horton
I present to you: the inimitable Cate Blanchett, nominated tonight for best actress in a limited series for Apple TV’s Disclaimer.
Benjamin Lee
Will The Studio sweep the comedy awards? It’s a safe best given Hollywood’s history of supporting art about … Hollywood. The cast is out in force tonight prepping for their moment on the stage:
Adrian Horton
Selena Gomez is here, along with fiancé Benny Blanco. The Only Murders in the Building star isn’t nominated for an acting award this year, but is representing the Hulu show, nominated for best comedy, as a cast member and executive producer; last year, she became the most-nominated Latina producer for a comedy in Emmy history.
Benjamin Lee
As per usual, tonight will not just be a celebration of new shows but it will also remember the older ones. Last year saw surviving cast members from Happy Days, The West Wing and Saturday Night Live on stage.
This year, fans can expect cast reunions for Gilmore Girls and Grey’s Anatomy and a special tribute to Golden Girls.
Benjamin Lee
Jenna Ortega paying homage to Isabella Rossellini in Death Becomes Her?
Adrian Horton
Red carpets have been relatively apolitical of late, but we’re seeing more explicit support for Palestine so far tonight. Wearing a keffiyeh, Javier Bardem has been using his time on the red carpet to call attention the genocide in Gaza and encourage fellow film and television workers to boycott Israeli institutions complicit in the war that has killed more than 200,000 Palestinians so far.
Speaking to Variety, Bardem said he would not work with any film or TV company “who justifies or supports the genocide” in Gaza.
Javier Bardem says “I will not work” with any film or TV company “who justifies or supports the genocide” in Gaza: “It’s as simple as that. We should not be able to that, in this industry or any industry.” #Emmys pic.twitter.com/q1rMBi8H3m
— Variety (@Variety) September 14, 2025
And in an interview with E!, Bardem name-checked a pledge, published by the group Film Workers for Palestine and signed by thousands of actors, directors and other film workers, to not work with Israeli film institutions that are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.
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