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Primetime Emmy Awards 2026: See the full list of nominees

‘He’s very three dimensional’: Noah Wyle and Sally Field share their love for ‘The Pitt’s’ Dr. Robby

(CNN) — The nominees for the 78th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were unveiled Wednesday, with Hollywood honoring a slew of new shows and setting up what’s expected to be a battle among two legends in the race for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series.

Apple TV was one of Wednesday’s big winners, with its new series “Pluribus,” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” and “Widow’s Bay” all making strong showings. But Emmys voters also continued to honor returning favorites like “The Pitt,” which again dominated the drama categories. The HBO Max medical drama notched 25 nominations, the most of any show.

Elsewhere in the drama categories, “Euphoria” was snubbed in the top category after a divisive final season, but still earned acting nods for Zendaya and Colman Domingo. Meanwhile, “Heated Rivalry” fans angry at the show’s lack of nominations should put their pitchforks down. The gay hockey drama wasn’t eligible for Emmys because it’s an entirely Canadian production. But co-lead Connor Storrie got an Emmy nod anyway for his guest appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”

In the comedy categories, fans in the lead actress category seem set for a full civil war, with the likely frontrunners being Lisa Kudrow for “The Comeback” and Jean Smart for “Hacks,” both of whom gave stellar turns in the final seasons of their respective series. Smart has already won four Emmys for her role as Deborah Vance in the HBO comedy, while Kudrow has won just once in 1998 in the supporting category for her iconic role as Phoebe Buffay in “Friends.”

The other big headline in the outstanding comedy category? The strong showing from “Widow’s Bay,” which earned 19 nominations. The horror-comedy, which stars Matthew Rhys as mayor of an island experiencing supernatural phenomena, has been a huge word-of-mouth hit for Apple TV.

Despite growing increasingly stale among viewers and critics with each passing season, “The Bear” still managed to earn a nomination for outstanding comedy series. But while Ayo Edebiri and late Hollywood legend Rob Reiner received nominations for their work on the show, star Jeremy Allen White was snubbed despite previously winning his category twice.

Wednesday was a particularly good day for Rhys, who also scored a nomination in the limited series category for his turn as a menacing billionaire in “The Beast in Me,” opposite costar Claire Danes, who similarly picked up a nod. Rhys’ partner, Keri Russell of “The Diplomat,” was also honored for her role as a steely US ambassador on that Netflix drama.

The Emmy Awards will be hosted by “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay and will air live on Monday, September 14 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC, streaming on Peacock.

The list of major categories is below. The full list of nominees can be found on the Television Academy website.

Outstanding drama series

  • “The Diplomat”
  • “The Gilded Age”
  • “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”
  • “Paradise”
  • “The Pitt”
  • “Slow Horses”
  • “Your Friends & Neighbors”

Outstanding comedy series

  • “Abbott Elementary”
  • “The Bear”
  • “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”
  • “Nobody Wants This”
  • “Only Murders in the Building”
  • “Shrinking”
  • “Widow’s Bay”
  • “Hacks”

Outstanding limited series

  • “All Her Fault”
  • “The Beast In Me”
  • “Beef”
  • “DTF St. Louis”
  • “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette”

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series

  • Sterling K. Brown – “Paradise”
  • Gary Oldman – “Slow Horses”
  • Mark Ruffalo – “Task”
  • Rufus Sewell – “The Diplomat”
  • Noah Wyle – “The Pitt”

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series

  • Carrie Coon – “The Gilded Age”
  • Chase Infiniti – “The Testaments”
  • Keri Russell – “The Diplomat”
  • Rhea Seehorn – “Pluribus”
  • Zendaya – “Euphoria”

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series

  • Patrick Ball – “The Pitt”
  • Billy Crudup – “The Morning Show”
  • Shawn Hatosy – “The Pitt”
  • Gerran Howell – “The Pitt”
  • Jack Lowden – “Slow Horses”
  • Tom Pelphrey – “Task”
  • Carlos-Manuel Vesga – “Pluribus”

Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series

  • Taylor Dearden – “The Pitt”
  • Fiona Dourif – “The Pitt”
  • Allison Janney – “The Diplomat”
  • Katherine LaNasa – “The Pitt”
  • Sepideh Moafi – “The Pitt”
  • Julianne Nicholson – “Paradise”
  • Karolina Wydra – “Pluribus”

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series

  • Quinta Brunson – “Abbott Elementary”
  • Ayo Edebiri – “The Bear”
  • Elle Fanning – “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”
  • Lisa Kudrow – “The Comeback”
  • Jean Smart – “Hacks”

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series

  • Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – “Wonder Man”
  • Steve Carell – “Rooster”
  • Matthew Rhys – “Widow’s Bay”
  • Jason Segel – “Shrinking”
  • Martin Short – “Only Murders in the Building”

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series

  • Dale Dickey – “Widow’s Bay”
  • Hannah Einbinder – “Hacks”
  • Janelle James – “Abbott Elementary”
  • Kate O’Flynn – “Widow’s Bay”
  • Michelle Pfeiffer – “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”
  • Megan Stalter – “Hacks”
  • Jessica Williams – “Shrinking”

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series

  • Colman Domingo – “The Four Seasons”
  • Paul W. Downs – “Hacks”
  • Harrison Ford – “Shrinking”
  • Nick Offerman – “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”
  • Stephen Root – “Widow’s Bay”
  • Michael Urie – “Shrinking”
  • Tyler James Williams – “Abbott Elementary”

Outstanding lead actor in a limited series or TV movie

  • Riz Ahmed – “Bait”
  • Jason Bateman – “Black Rabbit”
  • Charlie Hunnam – “Monster: The Ed Gein Story”
  • Oscar Isaac – “Beef”
  • Matthew Rhys – “The Beast In Me”

Outstanding lead actress in a limited series or TV movie

  • Claire Danes – “The Beast In Me”
  • Sally Field – “Remarkably Bright Creatures”
  • Carey Mulligan – “Beef”
  • Sarah Pidgeon – “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette”
  • Sarah Snook – “All Her Fault”

Outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or TV movie

  • Jason Bateman – “DTF St. Louis”
  • Richard Gadd – “Half Man”
  • David Harbour – “DTF St. Louis”
  • Richard Jenkins – “DTF St. Louis”
  • Charles Melton – “Beef”
  • Nick Offerman – “Death By Lightning”

Outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or TV movie

  • Linda Cardellini – “DTF St. Louis”
  • Dakota Fanning – “All Her Fault”
  • Laurie Metcalf – “Monster: The Ed Gein Story”
  • Joy Sunday – “DTF St. Louis”
  • Youn Yuh-jung – “Beef”
  • Constance Zimmer – “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette”

Outstanding reality/competition series

  • “Dancing with the Stars”
  • “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
  • “Survivor”
  • “Top Chef”
  • “The Traitors”

Outstanding variety series

  • “The Daily Show”
  • “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
  • “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
  • “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”
  • “Saturday Night Live”

Outstanding variety special (live)

  • The Super Bowl LX Halftime Show starring Bad Bunny
  • The Golden Globes
  • The Grammys
  • The Oscars
  • The Tonys

Outstanding guest actor in a comedy series

  • Michael J. Fox – “Shrinking”
  • Brett Goldstein – “Shrinking”
  • Hamish Linklater – “Widow’s Bay”
  • Christopher McDonald – “Hacks”
  • Rob Reiner – “The Bear”
  • Connor Storrie – “Saturday Night Live”

Outstanding guest actress in a comedy series

  • Leslie Bibb – “Hacks”
  • Jamie Lee Curtis – “The Bear”
  • Betty Gilpin – “Widow’s Bay”
  • Cherry Jones – “Hacks”
  • Laurie Metcalf – “Hacks”
  • Kaitlin Olson – “Hacks”
  • Lauren Weedman – “Hacks”

Outstanding guest actor in a drama series

  • Colman Domingo – “Euphoria”
  • Ernest Harden Jr. – “The Pitt”
  • Jeff Hiller – “Pluribus”
  • Jeff Kober – “The Pitt”
  • Jonathan Pryce – “Slow Horses”
  • Bradley Whitford – “The Diplomat”

Outstanding guest actress in a drama series

  • Brittany Allen – “The Pitt”
  • Tal Anderson – “The Pitt”
  • Tina Ivlev – “The Pitt”
  • Miriam Shor – “Pluribus”
  • Merritt Wever – “The Gilded Age”
  • Shailene Woodley – “Paradise”

A previous version of this story misstated the show for which Riz Ahmed was nominated. It was “Bait.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

Why Karoline Leavitt might be impossible for Trump to replace

(CNN) — Donald Trump hardly needs anyone else to serve as his mouthpiece.The most clamorous president in modern history always gets his message out — in a daily riot of online posts, interviews and rancor with reporters.The departure of a press secretary therefore might seem like a trifle to the messenger in chief. But the exit of Karoline Leavitt, announced Wednesday, represents a significant personal and political loss. The vacuum she’ll leave will emphasize her role as a vital member of the president’s brain trust.But she is far more than a spokesperson. Leavitt understands the Trump id. She’s been a leader in his second-term assault on Washington institutions of accountability — in this case, the Beltway press. Just like the boss, she broke the mold of her position. And with relentless trolling of reporters, she’s exposed the fractures of traditional journalism in the social media age.Leavitt said on social media on Wednesday that since the birth of her second child, a daughter, on May 1, she’d realized she couldn’t be the mom her kids deserve while devoting the “constant time, energy, and attention,” her job requires. Trump, perhaps softening the blow to himself of the departure of a 28-year-old he praised as one of his “most trusted aides” announced that Leavitt will continue to serve as an outside adviser.A Herculean assignmentBeing Trump’s press secretary is no easy ride. The term “message discipline” is an oxymoron in this administration. No one, including himself, knows what the president will say from one minute to the next. He changes policy on a dime, contradicting his top officials and himself.And Trump is a master media manipulator. He’s demonized, flattered and played reporters for decades. He relished the role of 1980s New York tabloid villain as he built his brand as a real estate tycoon and celebrity. He intuits the media’s craving for constantly evolving headlines and uses it as a tool of distraction.Trump’s zeal for conflict, disdain for etiquette and willingness to say outrageous things forged alchemy when his political ascent coincided with the explosion of social media. He used the new technology to inject his volcanic personality into the nation’s political bloodstream, bypassing the traditional media used as a conduit by his predecessors.So maybe he doesn’t even need another press secretary.He’ll struggle to replace Leavitt’s combination of skills. She speaks MAGA more fluently on camera than anyone but the president. Her briefings are less attempts to explain policy or to deliver coded messages to foreign leaders than demonstrations of Trumpian defiance.The president’s supporters dearly love Leavitt. Her blasts at famous reporters recall the rebel yells of Trump’s first campaign. She rarely answers a question straight — preferring to attack the motives or mindsets of reporters thrust into the role of extras in the Trump show.Last month, Leavitt sat by the president’s side at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner that was rescheduled after a gunman tried to rush into the annual event in April. That evening, which Trump spent insulting journalists in vicious and personal terms, will now serve as a valedictory metaphor for her tenure.It’s also somehow fitting that Leavitt announced her resignation in the middle of a storm over whether the White House used reporters on Air Force One as a decoy during the president’s secret flight from Turkey during a security scare last month.Grave questions about press freedomsLeavitt’s tenure will be remembered as devastating to the quaint notion that the press has a vital role in holding presidents to account.Her operation took over control of the pool system long administered by the independent correspondents’ association. She decided who got into presidential events and flew on Air Force One. She added streaming services, local conservative radio hosts, and podcasters and MAGA personalities to the permanent press corps.Critics saw an attempt to introduce propagandists who’d go soft on Trump. His supporters cheered what they saw as an overdue dilution of what they regard as the liberal elite media.In one enormous controversy epitomizing the administration’s contempt for regular media, Leavitt — under Trump’s direction — banned the Associated Press from certain White House press events, and an agency reporter was excluded from Air Force One. AP, which has thousands of clients in the US and worldwide, had declined to change its style guide to mirror Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”Leavitt’s briefings soon made the “alternative facts” pioneered by Trump’s first-term media team appear tame by comparison. She opened briefings with highly torqued monologues hyperbolically lauding Trump’s achievements. The performances were reminiscent of prime time shows on conservative TV — a world in which she’d surely find a lucrative future once her kids grow up.Tensions develop between every administration and the media. Relations between President George W. Bush’s team and reporters were often brittle. Acrimony between reporters and President Barack Obama’s aides belied conservative notions that journalists were in the tank. And President Joe Biden’s press shop was especially prickly. But Trump has threatened the constitutional role of the press in the republic as never before.Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw said on CNN’s “The Arena” on Wednesday that he didn’t doubt Leavitt’s sincerity in citing family reasons for her departure. But he added: “It’s a tough job. It’s a job where, to be Donald Trump’s spokesman, you have to willfully deny reality on a daily basis.” The Virginia lawmaker added: “I think her legacy will be one of further degrading the relationship between the White House and the press.”While Leavitt’s briefings are made-for-TV showdowns, she’s often more collegial with media members away from the cameras. She’s usually available to reporters, and her bond of trust with Trump means she’s in the room with the commander in chief at pivotal moments. This privilege is important to journalists and builds credibility for top spokespeople. And there are fears that with Leavitt gone, they will find it even more difficult to report on the decision-making of an erratic and nearly unchecked president.Unless the president picks a replacement who is already deep in his inner circle, Leavitt’s successor may lack the authenticity that made her an authoritative voice for the administration. Most White Houses groom one or more deputy press secretaries for the top job, which typically grinds down incumbents within a few years. The lack of a visible succession plan for Leavitt will fuel speculation that Trump may just take on the entire task himself.Leavitt will always be a heroine to Trump’s base. And her influence may outlast the second Trump administration, since West Wing teams often build on the techniques of those who came before. A future president, Democratic or Republican, might balk at voluntarily handing back power to the press.In his second term, Trump often looks like he’s wielding power to ensure nothing can ever be the same again.He had a loyal and effective partner in Leavitt.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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