‘The Pitt,’ ‘Pluribus’ poised to compete for top Emmy honors

LOS ANGELES — “Pluribus” could be a record-setting freshman, “The Pitt” could have a dominant sophomore season and “Hacks” is set for a graduation celebration as Emmy nominations are announced Wednesday morning.

Recent winners Liza Colón-Zayas and Jeff Hiller are set to name the nominees at the Television Academy in Los Angeles. The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, airing on NBC, will be held Sept. 14 at the Peacock Theater, the longtime Emmys home that will soon also be home to the Oscars. Mariska Hargitay, who for decades has been one of NBC’s standard bearers as the star of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” will host.

HBO Max’s beloved emergency room series “The Pitt” was a rookie upstart last year with big wins including best drama series, best actor for Noah Wyle and best supporting actress for Katherine LaNasa.

And in an era when major Emmy contenders — like 2025’s top drama nominee “Severance” — tend to take years off between seasons, “The Pitt” is coming right back for another round, part of its game-changing model of marrying classic network tendencies with modern streaming prestige.

Wyle and LaNasa are virtual shoo-ins for new nominations. And several residents, interns and attending physicians from their big ensemble cast will almost certainly join them. It could dominate the supporting acting categories the way that “The White Lotus” — another major Emmy contender sitting this one out — has in recent years.

But “The Pitt” could easily be surpassed in the nomination count by “Pluribus,” the one-woman-against-the-world Apple TV+ series from “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” creator Vince Gilligan. It has a chance of breaking a 32-year-old record for most Emmy nominations for a debut season, set by “NYPD Blue” with 26 in 1994.

“Pluribus” is the sort of clever, consummately crafted series Emmy voters love. It should run up the score in the technical categories. The only thing holding back its total may be its premise. Rhea Seehorn is the lone lead actor. She should be the favorite to win best actress once her inevitable nomination arrives on the heels of her Golden Globes win. Karolina Wydra, who plays the show’s spokeswoman for the rest of humanity, has a strong chance at a supporting nomination.

This year’s batch of comedies benefits from the absence of last year’s rookie juggernaut “The Studio.” Emmy voters love a departing show, and have loved “Hacks” since its first season. Those two colliding phenomena should bring a healthy nomination total for its fifth and final season.

Star Jean Smart has won best actress in a comedy for all four previous seasons. It would be stunning if she didn’t claim a fifth. Her sidekick throughout the series Hannah Einbinder, who last year broke through and won supporting actress in a comedy in her fourth nomination, is sure to get another nod, as is their castmate, the show’s co-creator Paul W. Downs.

Downs’ competition will likely include Harrison Ford. The buzz says this could be the year the Hollywood legend finally wins one of the EGOT-level awards if he gets a nomination for best supporting actor in a comedy for “Shrinking.” His castmate Jason Segel is also a likely nominee.

Despite the absence of “The Studio,” AppleTV+, which established a major Emmy comedy presence with “Ted Lasso,” could have three best comedy series nominees. “Shrinking” could be joined by newcomers “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” whose stars Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer are likely acting nominees, and the acclaimed horror comedy “Widow’s Bay.”

Netflix’s “Beef” should throw its weight around in the limited or anthology series categories, especially after one of its big competitors, the cops-and-crooks drama “Task,” switched to the drama category when it announced a second season. “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” from FX could be its main competition.

And big names always emerge in the Emmys’ guest acting categories. This year’s potential candidates include the late Rob Reiner for his recurring part on “The Bear” and Michael J. Fox for his three-episode arc as a patient with Parkinson’s disease on “Shrinking.”