The nominations for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards were announced on
July 8. Typically, HBO and Netflix are the networks that get the most
nominations. This is certainly the case with HBO, buoyed by HBO Max, with a total 123 nominations. Netflix is in second with 109 nominations. Both of them have come down from the numbers from last year. However, Apple TV has only risen its numbers year after year since 2019 to a year's best at 85 total. To be clear, HBO and HBO Max are expected to take all the top prizes with shows like
The Pitt (2025) that has the most nominations with 25 total.
Hacks (2021) has 24 nominations.
DTF St. Louis (2026) has 13, and
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026)
has 9. However, Apple TV pulled off a hat trick. In the Outstanding
Drama Series category, Apple TV has three titles in contention, that of
Pluribus (2025),
Slow Horses (2022), and
Your Friends & Neighbors (2025).
Apple TV also has three titles in the Outstanding Comedy Series
category, which no other network has done this year. Apple TV has
Margo's Got Money Troubles (2026),
Shrinking (2023), and
Widow's Bay (2026). A lot of buzz surrounds
Widow's Bay and could pull an upset in the comedy category. Unfortunately, I am not a subscriber to Apple TV, so I have not seen
any of their programming. I shall try to check out these Apple TV shows
and catch up with them by the end of the year, but my list reflects what
I've seen.
There are some notable nominations in the various acting categories. The Pitt is
the show that is at the top with 25 nominations. 13 of those
nominations are for actors in its large ensemble. Sepideh Moafi is one
of the members of that ensemble. She was nominated for Outstanding
Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She played one of the new doctors,
introduced in the second season of The Pitt. Moafi is an
immigrant who was born in a refugee camp after her parents fled Iran.
They eventually came to the United States and Moafi is an American
citizen, but it's interesting to have an Iranian-American getting some
shine, given the recent war or conflict between the United States and
Iran that at the time of this reporting is still waging.
A few Oscar-winning actors had their names mentioned at this
year's Emmys. Youn Yuh-jung is nominated for Outstanding Supporting
Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her role in
Beef (2023). Yuh-jung won the Academy Award for
Minari (2020). Riz Ahmed is nominated for Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his role in
Bait (2026). Ahmed won the Emmy in this same category before at the 69th Emmys for
The Night Of (2016). Ahmed has been nominated twice for the Academy Award. He won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film for
The Long Goodbye (2020). Finally, Colman Domingo is a double-nominee. He's up for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for
The Four Seasons (2025) and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for
Euphoria (2019), which he won in this same category for
Euphoria back at the 74th Emmys. Domingo didn't win the Oscar but he was nominated twice.
Speaking of Euphoria, Zendaya is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress. She won twice in this category at the 72nd and 74th Emmys. Zendaya has since gone on from then to become a huge movie star. She's in fact starring in three major motion pictures this year. The first was The Drama (2026). The second is Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026). The third is Dune: Part 3 (2026). Chase Infiniti is an actress who made her debut as a future movie star in One Battle After Another (2025), which won the Oscar for Best Picture. Infiniti picked up a nomination opposite Zendaya in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress. Infiniti is featured in The Testaments (2026), a spin-off of The Handmaid's Tale (2017).
The same year that Zendaya won her first Emmy was also the same year that Yahya Abdul Mateen II won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his role in
Watchmen (2019). This year, Mateen is up for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for
Wonder Man (2026) on Disney Plus. Other notable actors of color who have been recognized include Carlos Manuel Vesga, the Colombian actor, nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for
Pluribus, Joy Sunday who is of Nigerian descent is up for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her role in
DTF St. Louis. Both Oscar Isaac and Charles Melton were nominated for their respective roles in the second season of
Beef. Isaac is up for Outstanding Lead Actor and Melton is up for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. I'm rooting for all of them.
However, here's my list of the shows that were my favorites,
Best New Series
7. FREE BERT (Netflix)
6. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: UK (Peacock)
5. BIG MISTAKES (Netflix)
4. THE 'BURBS (Peacock)
3. THE BOROUGHS (Netflix)
2. NEMESIS (Netflix)
1. BAIT (Prime Video)
Best Returning Series
10. SURVIVOR: Season 50 (CBS)
9. ABBOTT ELEMENTARY: SEASON 5 (ABC)
8. RUNNING POINT: SEASON 2 (Netflix)
7. BEEF: SEASON 2 (Netflix)
6. JURY DUTY PRESENTS: COMPANY RETREAT (Prime Video)
5. THE NIGHT AGENT: SEASON 3 (Netflix)
4. THE PITT: SEASON 2 (HBO Max)
3. THE BEAR: SEASON 5 (FX/Hulu)
2. THE LINCOLN LAWYER: SEASON 4 (Netflix)
1. JUICE (Wow Presents Plus)
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