What to Expect at the 2026 Emmy Awards

The Emmy Awards, being held Monday night at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, could propel the medical drama “The Pitt” closer to the Emmy record book.

“The Pitt,” HBO Max’s hit hospital show, is the favorite to repeat in the best drama race, and if it wins, it would be the first series to win television’s most prestigious award for its first two seasons since “Mad Men” did it in 2009. The best comedy race, one of the most anticipated categories of the night, will feature a tight showdown between the freshman horror-comedy series “Widow’s Bay” and an Emmy stalwart, “Hacks.”

Prizes will be handed out in 19 categories — including dramas, comedies, reality and late-night shows — for series that aired between June 2025 and May 2026.

Here’s what to know about the ceremony:

How to watch: The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC and can be streamed live with Peacock’s “premium” plan.
Red carpet: The cable network E! will air red carpet coverage beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern. CNN and Variety will jointly host an online red carpet show for cable or CNN digital subscribers.
The host: The broadcast is being hosted by Mariska Hargitay, the longtime star of “Law & Order: SVU.” Hargitay is having a big year: she even won a pair of Emmys last weekend for “My Mom Jayne,” the documentary she made about her mother, Jayne Mansfield; she made her Broadway debut in a one-woman show, “Every Brilliant Thing”; and she was front-and-center during the Knicks’ spirited championship run. Jesse Collins, a producer of the telecast, said viewers should be prepared to see her sing and dance when she takes the Emmys stage.
The favorites: Forecasters are split over whether Emmy voters will anoint “Widow’s Bay” or give the former best comedy winner, “Hacks,” one last big victory for its swan-song season. In the limited series category, the HBO Max show “DTF St. Louis” is the slight favorite over the second season of “Beef,” the Netflix anthology series.
History on the line: If Jean Smart wins for best actress in a comedy, she will tie Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for the most acting Emmys won by a single performer (8). Matthew Rhys is up for two acting awards: best actor in a comedy (“Widow’s Bay”) and best actor in a limited series (“The Beast in Me”). If he wins both, he will be the first actor to hit the trifecta in winning lead acting Emmys in drama, comedy and limited series. (He won the drama statuette in 2018 for “The Americans.”)
Apple goes for gold: Since 2003, only two outlets have claimed bragging rights for the most Emmys in a single year: HBO and Netflix. Apple TV currently leads HBO by three Emmys after mostly off-camera and technical awards were handed out over Labor Day weekend — Apple has 19 and HBO stands at 16 — giving the tech giant a solid lead going into Monday’s ceremony.
Shrinking slate: The TV industry remains locked in a contraction. There were 212 series considered for best drama, comedy and limited series during this Emmy cycle, a 7 percent decline compared to last year and a 39 percent drop from 2022, when the Peak TV era was thriving.