Deadline awards columnist Pete Hammond analyses the 2026 Emmy nominations, announced on Wednesday, in which the medical drama The Pitt led with 25 nominations and the comedy Hacks set a new comedy-series record of 24 in its final season, beating the previous record held by The Studio and The Bear. Hammond argues the results confirm a persistent truth about the Emmys: regardless of campaigning spend, the roughly 24,000 voters — and especially the large actors branch — tend to watch only around ten shows, which then dominate the acting categories and rack up large overall totals.

He notes that acting nominations drove both leaders, with 13 actors accounting for over half of The Pitt's haul and 10 for the bulk of Hacks's, and points to first-season breakouts such as Apple's Widow's Bay, Pluribus and Margo's Got Money Troubles benefiting from the same effect. Apple enjoyed its strongest year yet behind HBO and Netflix, while Your Friends and Neighbours earned a lone but notable Best Drama Series nod. By contrast, Paramount+'s heavily campaigned Taylor Sheridan shows, including Landman and The Madison, managed only a single stunt nomination for Tulsa King, which Hammond attributes to the actors branch simply not watching them.