Emmy Awards 2026: The shows, stars and stories to watch

The biggest names in television will gather in Los Angeles for this year's Emmy Awards, with shows such as "Beef", Hacks, Pluribus and The Pitt among the major nominees.

Other series competing for awards include Widow's Bay, DTF St Louis, Slow Horses, The Bear and Abbott Elementary.

The Emmys are among the most important awards in the American television industry. This year's main ceremony will take place today (14 September), at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It will be hosted by Mariska Hargitay and broadcast live on NBC and Peacock in the US.

Several popular shows, however, have either missed out on nominations or received fewer nominations than expected. Viral hit Heated Rivalry is not eligible for the US Emmys, while the final seasons of Stranger Things and Euphoria have had a smaller presence in the major categories.

The dramas and comedies expected to make an impact

The Emmy nominations are broadly divided into drama, comedy and limited or anthology series.

The Outstanding Drama Series award is considered one of the biggest prizes of the night. Last year's winner, The Pitt, returns with its second season and has received eight acting nominations. Its star Noah Wyle is among those nominated.

Other drama contenders include Pluribus, Slow Horses, The Diplomat and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the Game of Thrones prequel.

In comedy, Hacks is one of the strongest contenders. The Hollywood satire has reached its fifth and final season and could add more awards to its already impressive Emmy record.

Its stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder are also competing for acting awards.

Smart has already won four Emmys for Hacks. She has won every time she has been nominated for her performance in the show's previous four seasons. Another victory would take her career total to eight Emmys, putting her level with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman.

Other comedy shows competing for major awards include Widow's Bay, Shrinking, Abbott Elementary and Nobody Wants This.

Strong competition in the limited-series race

Netflix's second season of "Beef" is expected to be a major contender in the limited or anthology series categories. Its stars Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac are also in the running for acting awards.

However, "Beef" faces strong competition from All Her Fault, The Beast in Me and DTF St Louis.

DTF St Louis already had a successful Creative Arts Emmys weekend. David Harbour and Linda Cardellini won acting awards for the series, while the show also collected awards in other technical categories.

There is also a strong British presence among this year's nominees. Alongside Mulligan are Riz Ahmed for Bait, Rufus Sewell for The Diplomat, Kate O'Flynn for Widow's Bay, and Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden for Slow Horses.

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys is another name to watch. He has been nominated in two different lead acting categories — for comedy series Widow's Bay and limited series The Beast in Me.

Why isn't Heated Rivalry in the nominations?

One of the biggest television hits of the past year, Heated Rivalry, is missing from the Emmy nominations.

The ice hockey romance, starring Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, did not qualify for the US Emmys because it is a fully financed Canadian production and did not have the required US involvement.

That has surprised some viewers, particularly because the Canadian series Schitt's Creek dominated the Emmys in 2021.

The difference is that Schitt's Creek had US financial and broadcasting connections. These included partnerships involving creator and star Dan Levy and his US-based production company.

Heated Rivalry can instead compete at the International Emmys, which are scheduled to take place in New York in November.

Stranger Things and Euphoria have a smaller role

Two other shows that became especially popular with younger audiences have also had a quieter Emmy campaign than some viewers expected.

The final season of Stranger Things has not appeared in the main categories. It received seven nominations, all in technical areas.

Euphoria, despite having a high-profile cast, received only one acting nomination for Zendaya, who has previously won an Emmy for her performance in the series.

A different format for this year's ceremony

The Television Academy has made several changes to the Emmy ceremony this year in an effort to make the main broadcast more entertaining and leave more time for performances and other features.

Two previous categories — Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Scripted Variety Series — have been combined into one Outstanding Variety Series category.

This means talk-show hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel will compete alongside programmes including Saturday Night Live and Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.

Several other awards have also been moved to the Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies. These include supporting acting awards for limited series or movies, as well as directing and writing awards in that category.

The Academy has reduced the number of awards presented during the main telecast from 26 to 19. The aim is to create more space for musical performances, comedy sketches and memorable acceptance speeches.

The 2026 Emmy celebrations are being spread across three dates: the Creative Arts ceremonies took place on 5 and 6 September, followed by the main Primetime Emmy ceremony on 14 September.

When and where can you watch?

The main Emmy ceremony begins at 5pm Pacific Time / 8pm Eastern Time on Monday, 14 September.

It will take place at the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

Viewers in the US can watch the ceremony live on NBC or stream it on Peacock.

For viewers in the UK, the ceremony begins at 1am BST on Tuesday morning. There is no scheduled British broadcaster showing the ceremony live, although the BBC News website is providing overnight coverage of the red carpet and ceremony.

Some winners have already been announced

A number of awards were handed out during the Creative Arts Emmys before the main ceremony.

Among the winners were Linda Cardellini and David Harbour from DTF St Louis, who won the supporting acting awards in the limited or anthology series category.

Other guest acting winners included Betty Gilpin for Widow's Bay, Ernest Harden Jr for The Pitt, Shailene Woodley for Paradise and the late Rob Reiner for The Bear.

British actress Julie Andrews won for voice-over performance for Bridgerton. Alan Cumming also won an award for hosting the US version of The Traitors.

Other Creative Arts winners included:

Remarkably Bright Creatures — best movie

South Park — best animated series

Mr. Scorsese — best documentary or nonfiction series

Love on the Spectrum — best unstructured reality programme

Super Bowl Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny — best variety special

The Creative Arts ceremonies also produced several multiple winners. Widow's Bay led the second night with eight awards, while DTF St Louis won six. The Pitt and Pluribus each collected four.

Mariska Hargitay takes the host's seat

This year's main ceremony will be hosted by Mariska Hargitay, best known for playing Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Hargitay's long-running crime drama began in 1999 and has remained popular, particularly after gaining new audiences through streaming services.

She has received eight Emmy nominations for her role as Benson and won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2006.

Law & Order: SVU is also one of the longest-running live-action primetime dramas in television history. The show is expected to reach its 600th episode when its 28th season airs this autumn. The Television Academy describes it as the longest-running primetime live-action drama in television history.

Hargitay has already won two Emmys this year for her documentary My Mom Jayne, about her mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, who died in a car accident when Hargitay was three years old. The awards came in documentary directing and documentary/nonfiction special categories.

Speaking about her role as host, Hargitay said that telling important stories has been central to her career and described it as an honour to celebrate the people who create television.

With major returning shows, new contenders, several British nominees and a number of changes to the format, the 78th Emmy Awards are set to celebrate another year of television.