Emmys Night 2: The Pitt, Hacks and Pluribus Poised for Major Trophy Hauls
LOS ANGELES — The second of three Emmy ceremonies gets underway Sunday at the Peacock Theater, with top contenders “The Pitt,” “Hacks,” “Pluribus” and “Widow’s Bay” positioned to stock up on trophies eight days before the main primetime telecast. According to AP News, the Television Academy is handing out well over 100 primetime Emmys across the three nights of the 78th Emmy Awards.
The ceremonies formerly known as the Creative Arts Emmys have been rebranded as simply Emmys Night 1 and Emmys Night 2 as part of a Television Academy overhaul. The two early shows will be edited together to air September 12 on FXX and stream on Hulu the following day. The main September 14 ceremony, hosted by Mariska Hargitay, will air live on NBC and stream on Peacock.
Night 1 Sets the Stage
Saturday’s opening ceremony delivered a wave of hardware, with Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show dominating. As Deadline reported, “The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny” won seven trophies, including Outstanding Variety Special (Live), beating out the Oscars, Grammys and Tonys telecasts. Bad Bunny, nominated under his birth name Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, claimed his first career Emmy as a producer-performer.
The Traitors took six awards, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert earned five in its final season, and The Muppet Show collected four. Mariska Hargitay, who will host the main ceremony, won two Emmys for her documentary “My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay.”
The Pitt Leads the Pack
“The Pitt,” HBO Max’s day-in-the-life medical drama, enters Night 2 as the year’s top overall contender with 25 nominations for its second season and could win as many as nine awards on Sunday. The show dominated the drama acting nominations, with two performers up for best guest actor and three up for best guest actress, including Tal Anderson, an autistic actor and advocate for neurodivergent performers who received her first Emmy nomination.
The show’s nominations nearly doubled from last year’s 13, according to Variety, when it was a rookie upstart that took home best drama series, best actor for Noah Wyle and best supporting actress for Katherine LaNasa.
Hacks Eyes Record-Setting Farewell
“Hacks,” also from HBO Max, received a record-breaking 24 comedy nominations for its fifth and final season — the most ever for a comedy series in a single year. As Deadline reported, the show eclipsed the previous record of 23 set by “The Bear” in 2024 and matched by “The Studio” in 2025, and vastly surpassed the 15 nominations “Schitt’s Creek” collected for its send-off season in 2020.
Jean Smart, who has won best actress in a comedy for all four previous seasons, is expected to claim a fifth. Five of the seven nominees for best guest actress in a comedy come from “Hacks,” including Leslie Bibb and Laurie Metcalf.
Apple TV’s Rookie Powerhouses
A pair of freshman series from Apple TV could make major marks. “Pluribus,” the sci-fi drama from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan starring Rhea Seehorn, received 18 nominations and could win up to 10 at the early ceremony. Seehorn is considered the favorite for best actress in a drama. The horror comedy “Widow’s Bay,” starring Matthew Rhys, earned 19 nominations — the most of any new show this year — and could also win as many as 10.
Notable Nominees and Format Controversy
Rob Reiner, who was killed along with his wife Michele Singer Reiner in December, could win a posthumous Emmy for guest actor in a comedy for “The Bear,” about 50 years after winning two Emmys for “All in the Family.” Five-time Emmy winner Michael J. Fox is also nominated in the category for playing a patient with Parkinson’s disease on “Shrinking.”
Sunday’s ceremony also includes five categories the Television Academy moved off the September 14 telecast, including best supporting actor and actress in a limited series, directing for a limited series, and writing for a limited series. The decision drew criticism from the DGA, SAG-AFTRA and WGA, who issued a joint statement saying the move “devalues the contributions of the talented people the Academy is meant to honour,” as reported by Asianet News.
Television Academy chair Cris Abrego defended the restructuring, telling Variety that the changes were made to create “an incredible night of entertainment that celebrates all of the Emmy winners.” He added, “There’s going to be some upset folks on this for sure. We want to honour and respect members across all the professions and all the guilds.”
What to Watch For
With the early ceremonies now complete after Sunday, attention will shift to the September 14 primetime telecast, where the biggest categories — including best drama series, best comedy series and the lead acting races — will be decided. The two early nights will air as a single edited broadcast on FXX on September 12, with the main ceremony following on NBC and Peacock.