For a second year in a row, it came down to the final Emmy category of the night, and in both cases, HBO Max walked away with a surprising big win. Last year it was Outstanding Comedy series for Hacks, and this year it was Outstanding Drama Series for The Pitt, which went head-to-head with the most nominated program of 2025, Apple TV+’s Severance.
“It was obviously a huge night for The Pitt,” Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO and HBO Max Content, told Deadline at the streamer’s post-Emmy party Sunday night at San Vicente Bungalows.
HBO Max tied Netflix for most Emmy wins this year with 30, including five for medical dram The Pitt, from ER alums John Wells, R. Scott Gemmill and Noah Wyle: Drama Series, Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Wyle, Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Katherine LaNasa, Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Shawn Hatosy, and Casting for a Drama Series.
“For John and Scott, to do a show starting out with 15 episodes — and remember, we’re coming back in January, that’s not what a lot of Emmy winners are doing right now,” Bloys said of The Pitt, which is being produced under a broadcast-type model — a modest budget, larger seasons (15 episodes each, double the average for a streaming drama) and a quick turnaround that delivers a new season every 12 months.
Season 2 of The Pitt is slated to premiere in January 2026, exactly a year after Season 1 debuted in January 2025.
“To come out first season, not only to get nominated and to have Katherine and Noah win, but for the show to win, that’s a huge deal, so I’m proud of them,” Bloys continued. “It was a very exciting night, we didn’t know which way it was going to go.”
He confirmed that there are “a couple shows that we are developing” under the same model as The Pitt, with announcements expected soon.
Jeff Hiller & Hannah Einbinder’s wins, Colin Farrell & ‘The White Lotus’ snubs
One of the most unexpected Emmy winners Sunday was Somebody Somewhere‘s Jeff Hiller for his role on the underrated HBO comedy. And Hannah Einbinder earned her first Emmy after four seasons of Hacks alongside lead Jean Start who nabbed her fourth.
“I was very pleasantly surprised to see Jeff recognized and the show. It is a beautiful show about friendship, and I was just so thrilled for it to be recognized tonight,” Bloys said. “I was also very pleased that Hannah was recognized.”
On the flip side, Colin Farrell didn’t win for The Penguin as some predicted, and The White Lotus was shut out in the Supporting Actor/Actress categories despite six nominations across the two fields. (Farrell’s co-lead, Cristin Milioti, did win her category.)
RELATED: Emmys Snubs & Surprises: ‘The Pitt’, Britt Lower, Jeff Hiller Win, ‘White Lotus’ Shut Out
“I was surprised that Colin — he’s a great guy, I was a little surprised. But that’s awards shows, it’s unpredictable,” Bloys said. “I do think that The White Lotus may have been a victim of his own success with so many nominations in the categories. But again, that’s the way it goes.”
David Zaslav cameo
Deadline’s impromptu interview with Bloys was crashed by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who jumped in to praise the veteran HBO executive.
“Casey Bloys, the man, he’s killing it. HBO has never been this strong,” he said.
Since Bloys took over HBO in 2016, the network has managed to win at least one of the top scripted categories, Drama, Comedy and Limited Series, every year except 2021, which was impacted by the pandemic.
“I just celebrated my 21st year at HBO. So I’ve been here 21 years, and I will say every year I have been at HBO, there have been stories about, is it the end of HBO? So can we please, after 21 years, put that to rest?,” Bloys asked. “I just want to celebrate what the team has done across the board, specials, documentaries, drama, comedy, everything. I’m really proud of what everybody has done tonight.”
In addition to the Drama Series Emmy award for The Pitt and another Scripted Variety Series Emmy for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO this year also won Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series for 100 Foot Wave and Documentary or Nonfiction Special for Pee-wee As Himself.
“That’s the thing that HBO has consistently done, it’s usually not one show that wins everything,” Bloys said, taking a subtle dig at Apple TV+ and Netflix, which swept the comedy and limited series Sunday night with The Studio and Adolescence, respectively, as their main Emmy tally drivers. “We are consistent across the board; all the different teams are usually putting up shows that are high quality, and they do it consistently.”
‘The White Lotus’ S4 Location confirmed
Deadline reported earlier this month that The White Lotus will be going to France for its upcoming fourth season. Is France the destination for sure?
“France for sure but details and location TBD,” Bloys said.
The White Lotus creator/executive producer Mike White was noticeably missing from the Emmy ceremony Sunday despite being nominated. Word is that he is France, writing the new season. Is that the case?
“I believe that is the case,” Casey said.
‘True Detective’ S5 star not confirmed yet but…
Deadline reported last month that Oscar winner Nicolas Cage is in talks to headline the upcoming fifth season of HBO‘s Emmy-winning crime anthology series True Detective, playing a detective in the new installment, which will be set in New York, in Jamaica Bay. Is he now set?
“I can’t comment on that but I’m a fan of Nic Cage,” Bloys said diplomatically.
‘HoD’ S3, ‘Industry’ S4, ‘Knight’, ‘Euphoria’ ‘Big Bang’ Spinoff Premiere Updates
House of the Dragon is looking at an early summer 2026 return, possibly in June. “I think it’ll be just outside of [the 2026 Emmy eligibility window],” Bloys said. The window closes May 31, 2026.
Fellow Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, originally slated to debut in 2025, will premiere in January.
Also targeted for a January 2026 launch is Season 4 of Industry.
“I would love to see that show and those performers break through,” Bloys said of the financial drama, which is yet to get major awards recognition in the U.S. The most recent third season of Industry won a Best Leading Actress BAFTA TV Award for star Marisa Abela.
Euphoria‘s third season is targeting a spring release and will fit into the 2026 Emmy eligibility window.
In July, HBO Max handed the long-awaited series green light to Stuart Fails To Save The Universe. When will The Big Bang Theory spinoff hit the streamer?
“I don’t know that we’ve given you time period, but how about I say in 2026,” Bloys said. “I’m very excited, it’s really funny.
As for Harry Potter, the high-profile fantasy series will not arrive until 2027.
Are ‘Hacks’ & ‘Euphoria’ Headed To Final Seasons?
There was some confusion Sunday over the upcoming fifth season of Hacks. Einbinder said on the red carpet that Season 5 will be the Emmy-winning comedy’s last, but then she tempered those comments after winning her Emmy by saying the decision was ultimately lies with series creators Jen Statsky, Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs.
The trio had spoken about their original five-season plan for the show plan signaled after Season 4 that the remaining story may need a little longer.
“As usual, we leave that up to the creators, so they will tell us,” Bloys said about the endgame decision on Hacks.
He indicated that the HBO Max team has not yet heard on that from Statsky, Aniello and Downs.
“They’re thinking about it, and they’re going to let us know,” he said.
As for Euphoria, whose long-delayed third season has been rumored to be its final chapter, Bloys said, “We always leave it up to producers, you never know.”
That said, he was realistic about the odds of continuing a show that stars Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi, with Colman Domingo also part of the cast.
“I’ve never had a show with that many legitimate movie stars,” Bloys said. “So as you can imagine, the scheduling is hard enough with actors having multiple jobs, but these are probably three or four of the biggest movie stars working of their generation, so we’ll see. But I’m excited to have the third season coming.
‘The Rehearsal’ Season 3
Nathan Fielder’s unique docu-comedy The Rehearsal hit its stride in Season 2 with four Emmy nominations, including for writing and directing.
Five months after the second season ended its run on HBO, there has been no word on a third.
“Nathan, obviously, takes a lot of time to think about,” Bloys said of Fielder. “He’s got an idea, I believe. He’s thinking about something, he’s turning something over his head, so when he’s ready to do it, we’ll do it because I think he is a comic genius.”
For reference, the gap between Seasons 1 and 2 was almost three years.
Look Ahead To Emmys 2026
Three and a half months into the 2026 Emmy eligibility window, HBO Max has already launched two potential contenders: Season 3 of The Gilded Age and limited series Task from Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby and headlined by Mark Ruffalo.
The 2026 race may have just been reshaped by the 2025 Emmys.
“I go into next year with the drama frontrunner, because The Pitt is back in January,” Bloys said. “And we’ll have The Gilded Age, hopefully Task breaks through, because I think the performances are phenomenal, and Hacks will be coming back. We’ve got a new Bill Lawrence and Steve Carell show. We’ve got a really great limited series called DTF with Jason Bateman and David Harbour by Steve Conrad, Euphoria is coming back. Nancy [Abraham] and Lisa [Heller] have always got an amazing docs, so I think we’ll have another good year.”
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