HBO Max’s massive tally puts it back on top, a place where it has spent the majority of the last two decades. In more recent years, it has battled Netflix (which led in 2024) for the top spot. Netflix still holds the record for most noms ever for a network/platform (160 in 2020) and is tied for most wins (44 in 2021, which CBS did in 1974).

Among performers, making history Tuesday was “Matlock” star Kathy Bates, who at 77 is now the oldest woman nominated in the lead drama actress category.

In drama, last year’s winner, FX’s “Shogun,” wasn’t eligible this time out (but will be back in future years). That leaves “Severance” (which has previously won two Emmys, in 2022 for music composition and main title design); HBO Max’s “The Last of Us” (which landed eight Emmys in 2023, including for guest stars Nick Offerman and Storm Reid); HBO Max’s “The White Lotus,” which has won 15 Emmys over its lifespan (including limited series in 2022); Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses,” which landed its first Emmy in 2024 (for writing, via showrunner Will Smith); Netflix’s “The Diplomat” (which previously had just one nom, for star Keri Russell in 2023); Hulu freshman “Paradise” and the HBO Max newcomer “The Pitt.” Can “The Pitt” finally get an Emmy for star Noah Wyle, who earned five noms but no win during his “ER” stint.

 

On the comedy side, incumbent winner “Hacks” (HBO Max) is looking to repeat, having won last year for in 2024 for outstanding series, writing and lead actress Jean Smart. Looking to redeem itself is FX’s “The Bear,” which won outstanding comedy in 2023 and has won 21 Emmys total — last year, that included stars Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edibiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Liza Colon-Zayas, as well as creator Christopher Storer for directing.

ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” is looking to win more for broadcast; past victories include star Quinta Brunson as lead actress in 2023, and Sheryl Lee Ralph as supporting actress in 2022. Across the Disney hall, Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” has won seven Emmys all together, but is hoping to capitalize on the momentum after stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez all finally got nominated together in 2024.

Other contenders include Apple TV +’s “Shrinking,” which is looking for its first Emmy win, newcomer “The Studio,” starring Seth Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders and Kathryn Hahn and perennial Emmy fave “What We Do in the Shadows,” ending its run with a total of 35 noms (but just one win).

In limited or anthology series, last year Netflix won with “Baby Reindeer,” and it’s hoping to lead the category again this year with another surprise hit from the U.K., “Adolescence.” It faces tough competition via HBO Max’s “The Penguin,” FX’s “Dying for Sex,” Netflix’s “Black Mirror” (a former TV movie victor) and Netflix’s “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

And in the reality competition field, Peacock’s “The Traitors” is looking to once again win, as it did in 2024, but it faces 10-time winner “The Amazing Race” (which last took the category in 2014), as well as five-time winner “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” 2010 winner “Top Chef” (Bravo) and CBS’ “Survivor” (which surprisingly has never won since the reality competition Emmy began on 2003).

In the forever shrinking talk series competition, there was room for just three nominees this year: “The Daily Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” That pushed out last year’s fourth nominee, “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

 

As far as rule changes, the Television Academy kept major shifts to a minimum this year. The most significant adjustment came in the guest acting categories, where the org decided that performers who had previously been nominated or won in a lead or supporting category could no longer shift to one of the guest fields in the same role in future years.

That change has been dubbed the “Queen Elizabeth rule” by some pundits (including Variety) because of “The Crown” star Claire Foy. Foy won the lead drama actress Emmy in 2018 for starring as Queen Elizabeth on the show’s first two seasons. After she left, Foy guest starred as the younger Elizabeth in flashbacks, earning her a guest Emmy win in 2021 and a nom in 2024. That can no longer happen under the revived eligibility rules.

Also new this year: A shift in the directing races, where “an eligible individual or the identical team may now enter multiple achievements per category if the achievements are for different programs.” Per the Academy, directors could previously only submit only one entry per category.

Stars Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows”) and Brenda Song (“Running Point”) helped TV Academy chair Cris Abrego announce this year’s major Emmy nominations on Tuesday morning from the Academy’s Wolf Theatre. (Much to nearly everyone’s chagrin, CBS was given permission to break the news of two categories at 4:47 a.m. PT in order to hit the East Coast feed of “CBS Mornings.”)

In 2025, the Television Academy received 228 total submissions across drama, comedy, and limited or anthology series. Across the 15 program categories, there are exactly 600 total series in contention. This year’s nominations-round voting took place between June 12 and June 23.

The 77th Emmy Awards will be hosted by Nate Bargatze and broadcast live Sunday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS, as well as stream live and on demand via select packages on Paramount+.

See the full list of nominees below.

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise

Gary Oldman, Slow Horses

Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us

Adam Scott, Severance

Noah Wyle, The Pitt

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Kathy Bates, Matlock

 

Sharon Horgan, Bad Sisters

Britt Lower, Severance

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us

Keri Russell, The Diplomat

Drama Series

Andor

The Diplomat

The Last of Us

Paradise

The Pitt

Severance

Slow Horses

The White Lotus

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This

Seth Rogen, The Studio

Jason Segel, Shrinking

Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Uzo Aduba, The Residence

Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

Jean Smart, Hacks

Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary

The Bear

Hacks

Nobody Wants This

Only Murders in the Building

Shrinking

The Studio

What We Do in the Shadows

Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series

Cate Blanchett, Disclaimer

Meghann Fahy, Sirens

Rashida Jones, Black Mirror

Cristin Milioti, The Penguin

Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex

Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series

Colin Farrell, The Penguin

Stephen Graham, Adolescence

Jake Gyllenhaal, Presumed Innocent

Brian Tyree Henry, Dope Thief

Cooper Koch, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

Limited or Anthology Series

Adolescence

Black Mirror

Dying for Sex

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

The Penguin

Outstanding Talk Series

“The Daily Show”

“Jimmy Kimmel Live”

“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”

Reality Competition Program

“The Amazing Race”

“RuPaul’s Drag Race”

“Survivor”

“Top Chef”

“The Traitors”

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Zach Cherry, Severance

Walton Goggins, The White Lotus

Jason Isaacs, The White Lotus

James Marsden, Paradise,

Sam Rockwell, The White Lotus

Tramell Tillman, Severance

John Turturro, Severance

 

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Patricia Arquette, Severance

Carrie Coon, The White Lotus

Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt

Julianne Nicholson, Paradise

Parker Posey, The White Lotus

Natasha Rothwell, The White Lotus

Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Ike Barinholtz, The Studio

Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons

Harrison Ford, Shrinking

Jeff Hiller, Somebody Somewhere

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear

Michael Urie, Shrinking

Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Liza Colon-Zayas, The Bear

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

Kathryn Hahn, The Studio

Janelle James, Abbott Elementary

Catherine O’Hara, The Studio

Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary

Jessica Williams, Shrinking

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series

Javier Bardem, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

Bill Camp, Presumed Innocent

Owen Cooper, Adolescence

Rob Delaney, Dying for Sex

Peter Sarsgaard, Presumed Innocent

Ashley Walters, Adolescence

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series

Erin Doherty, Adolescence

Ruth Negga, Presumed Innocent

Chloe Sevigny, Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story

Jenny Slate, Dying for Sex

Christine Tremarco, Adolescence