It's 'Pitt' vs 'Pluribus' in drama and 'Hacks' vs 'Widow's Bay' in comedy at the upcoming Emmys

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It's 'Pitt' vs 'Pluribus' in drama and 'Hacks' vs 'Widow's Bay' in comedy at the upcoming Emmys

2026-09-10 04:38 Last Updated At：04:40

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s “The Pitt” versus “Pluribus” and “Hacks” against “Widow’s Bay” at the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday night.

The stars of all four shows — Noah Wyle in “The Pitt,” Rhea Seehorn in “Pluribus,” Jean Smart in “Hacks” and Matthew Rhys in “Widow’s Bay” — look to be runaway favorites for the top acting awards. And prognosticators are nearly all picking “The Pitt” to win its second straight best drama prize.

But the television competition should otherwise be tight at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The ceremony will air live on NBC starting at 8 p.m. Eastern with one of the network’s signature stars, three-time Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay, hosting. Peacock will stream the show live. The network is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and will have a “peacock blue” carpet in place of the usual red.

Presenters announced Wednesday include Zendaya, Sally Field, Jon Hamm, Alan Cumming, Keke Palmer, Florence Pugh, Odessa A'zion and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz.

HBO Max’s day-in-the-life-of-an-emergency-room drama “The Pitt” has already become a cultural institution in two seasons, and after big wins as an upstart rookie, it was this year’s top overall nominee with 25. “Hacks,” which follows the travails of a standup comic fighting back against age prejudice, sexism and obscurity in the entertainment industry, led all comedies with a record-breaking 24 nominations for its fifth and final season.

Here’s a closer look at where things stand and how they might play out.

While the biggest stars are still awaiting the opening of the envelopes, the majority of this year’s Emmys were already handed out at early ceremonies Saturday and Sunday.

“Widow’s Bay,” the first-year Apple TV horror comedy with Rhys as the mayor of a small New England town dealing with a centuries-old curse, won a whopping eight Emmys including best guest actress for Betty Gilpin.

The show had been widely acclaimed for its sly shifting between humor and dread, and it got 19 nominations, but few expected such a trophy haul. It can win up to six more on Monday.

“Hacks” managed just one win.

“The Pitt” won four early Emmys including an emotional first career victory for 73-year-old Ernest Harden Jr. as best guest actor in a drama.

“Pluribus,” another Apple TV Emmy rookie, from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan, also won four.

The soon-to-be-host Hargitay won two Emmys for the documentary she directed about her mother, Jayne Mansfield, to go with one she already had for her long-running role on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

The early Emmys weekend will be edited down to a single recorded show that airs on FXX on Saturday at 8 p.m. in all time zones.

The doctors, nurses and patients of “The Pitt” were flooded with Emmy nominations for Season 2. Many will be competing against one another. There’s so much category overlap that despite having 12 nominations for Monday night’s awards, it can win only six.

Wyle alone can win four Emmys including directing, writing, best drama as a producer and best actor — an award he won last year in his role as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.

The other best drama nominees are “Paradise,” “Slow Horses,” “The Diplomat,” “The Gilded Age,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” “Your Friends & Neighbors,” and “Pluribus.”

Rarely has a single actor carried a show as much as Rhea Seehorn does “Pluribus,” where she plays one misanthropic woman taking on an alien hivemind that has enveloped almost everyone else alive. Voters are likely to reward the former “Better Call Saul” star with her first Emmy after four nominations.

Seehorn’s fellow nominees include Zendaya, who has won the category twice before for “Euphoria.”

Katherine LaNasa won best supporting actress last year for her “Pitt” portrayal of Nurse Dana, and the character had an even bigger second season, guiding patients through harrowing dramatic moments and becoming a viral phenomenon for the way she says “Baby Jane Doe” — an abandoned child in the ER who plays a key role in the season.

This year she’ll have three castmates — Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif and Sepideh Moafi — as competition.

“It feels really exciting to have more of my colleagues up on the board,” LaNasa told The Associated Press after the nominations were announced.

Two “Pitt” men — Patrick Ball and Shawn Hatosy — are up for supporting actor.

The Emmys loves to give golden send-offs to outgoing shows, and it will be stunning if Jean Smart doesn’t win best actress in a comedy for playing stand-up comic Deborah Vance, as she did for all four previous seasons.

But Emmy voters’ clear affection for “Widow’s Bay” could keep “Hacks” from winning much more. The two shows will be competing for best comedy along with “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Shrinking.”

Hannah Einbinder, who had a breakthrough win last year as best supporting actress in a comedy after four nominations for “Hacks,” will be up against Kate O’Flynn, who wowed with a breakout performance in the debut season of “Widow’s Bay.”

Both shows also have nominees for best supporting actor in a comedy, but they could easily be upstaged by Harrison Ford, who many think will finally win his first major Hollywood award for his performance on Apple TV’s “Shrinking.”

Apple TV has become the dominant force in Emmy comedy. This year’s nominees will benefit from the temporary absence of Apple’s “The Studio,” which had an all-time dominant Emmy performance last year, and of the streamer’s “Ted Lasso,” which put it on the Emmy map.

The limited series categories will have a diminished role at the main Emmys show after four of them were demoted to the early Emmys weekend.

HBO Max’s “DTF St. Louis” was the big winner of those awards, taking best supporting actor and actress for David Harbour and Linda Cardellini.

“Beef” brings star power to the lead acting categories, with Carey Mulligan the consensus favorite for best actress in a limited series and Oscar Isaac favored for best actor.

And after another year of antagonizing President Donald Trump, the late night shows of Jimmy Kimmel and the now-canceled Stephen Colbert are both up for outstanding variety series.

Republicans begin two-day midterm convention billed as a 'Trump-a-Palooza'

DALLAS (AP) — Republicans opened their highly unusual midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday afternoon, a “Trump-a-Palooza” that is putting the president at the center of this fall’s midterm elections — whether the candidates running like it or not.

Many party members, including those facing tight races, are skipping the two-day affair, citing conflicting obligations or balking at demands that they pony up for access. Others are hoping an appearance alongside President Donald Trump will put them in the national spotlight as they work to turn out his voters without him on the ballot.

The convention, which is part rally and part fundraiser, comes as Republicans try to boost enthusiasm heading into the midterms’ final stretch despite Trump’s low approval ratings. Much of the programming will focus on Democrats, trying to cast them as extremists by highlighting the party’s insurgent left wing, while portraying Republicans as the party of “common sense.”

Coinciding with the gathering, Trump’s political operation, which has been sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars, began spending heavily through a new group, the No Going Back PAC Inc., The New York Times first reported Wednesday. The group has reserved $47 million in six competitive Senate races and one competitive House race.

That’s in addition to the $10 million that MAGA Inc., Trump's super PAC, has spent on the Texas Senate race.

Normal political conventions are held every four years and serve a purpose beyond pomp and circumstance, with parties formally nominating their presidential picks. In 2024, Trump used the opportunity to announce JD Vance as his running mate.

The schedule this week released by organizers makes clear that the convention will be The Trump Show, through and through.

“It’s gonna be a Trump-a-Palooza,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters told Spectrum News.

Boarding Air Force One to fly to Dallas, Trump said: “We’re going to have a tremendous crowd tonight.”

“Looks very big. Looks very exciting, and we’re going to explain what we’ve done,” Trump said.

But he also told reporters that oil prices — which have surged because of the Iran war — likely won’t come down until after the midterms, a bit of economic forecasting that could darken his party's fortunes.

“Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” he promised.

Trump's comments came as oil prices jumped more than 3% Wednesday, pushing international Brent crude past the $100 threshold.

Trump speaks both nights, delivering a keynote address on Wednesday night and speaking again on Thursday, after Vance gives his own address.

“Look, he’s an entertainer, right? He obviously loves big, big events and his career has been built around that,” said Ray Washburne, co-chair of the Dallas host committee, at an event hosted by Bloomberg News. “He’s always front and center.”

Also addressing the convention will be members of the Republican congressional leadership and Cabinet members, including Attorney General Todd Blanche and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The president’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is on the roster, too.

Candidates who will speak include Michigan Senate nominee Mike Rogers, who is running a high-profile race against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, and North Carolina Senate nominee Michael Whatley, who is up against former Gov. Roy Cooper.

Organizers have outlined 12 hours of programming over the two nights, featuring more than 100 speakers and segments focused on subjects such as tax cuts, fraud allegations, border security and a proposed ban on members of Congress trading stocks.

Missing from the public lineup: any mention of the unpopular Iran war.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said some members of his caucus plan to skip Dallas, preferring to stay home and campaign for reelection, but many of them will make an appearance.

“We’ll parade our stars across the stage,” he said.

An Associated Press survey of more than four dozen Republican candidates found a majority either planned not to attend, said their plans were to be determined, or ignored requests for comment.

“I had stuff already planned in my congressional district or I would be there,” Kentucky Rep. James Comer told NewsNation.

“Well, unfortunately, I have a family obligation, so I won’t be able to be there,” Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter said on Fox Business.

Some members balked at high attendance fees. Republican House members were being asked to pay $25,000 for convention tickets and lodging, according to people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to speak frankly about the private arrangement.

An additional 2,000 tickets were distributed by the House GOP’s campaign arm, largely to donors and others to attend the convention. Other tickets were allocated to state parties to distribute as they saw fit.

“Per the RNC, this is a ticketed fundraiser and rally, not a traditional national convention,” the Denton County Republican Party in Texas wrote in a Facebook post, which advertised packages from $5,000 to $20,000.

Washburne said the event is nonetheless expected to draw roughly 30,000 people across both nights.

“One thing, we just have so many speaking slots. We can’t get them all in. The other is: If you’re not in a contested race, it really doesn’t make much sense to come. And the ones in contested races, they need to be in their home states to campaign,” he said.

Still, more than 100 Republican House members and candidates are expected to attend, including almost all of the MAGA Majority class of candidates in the most targeted congressional districts, according to a person familiar with the event who requested anonymity before it begins.

It remains unclear what kind of air time the convention will receive. The NFL season kicks off Wednesday with a game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. And on Thursday, the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will be playing in Australia.

“The fact that these Republicans are planning a celebration in the middle of an economic crisis — where everyday Americans are drowning because of this high cost of living — is extraordinary,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said at the U.S. Capitol last week.

Democrats have held such midterm conventions in the past but are not doing so this year. Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said she wasn’t worried that her party was missing an opportunity to make its case on a national stage like Republicans.

“They are not focused on the issues that people are struggling with right now, that they’ve created,” DelBene said. “Cost, housing, food, healthcare, childcare, energy costs, gas prices all going up. That’s what we’re talking about on the ground all across the country.”

Associated Press writers Steven Sloan, Aamer Madhani and Lisa Mascaro in Washington, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia contributed to this report.

It's 'Pitt' vs 'Pluribus' in drama and 'Hacks' vs 'Widow's Bay' in comedy at the upcoming Emmys

ENT

It's 'Pitt' vs 'Pluribus' in drama and 'Hacks' vs 'Widow's Bay' in comedy at the upcoming Emmys

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