The 2026 Emmy ballot features 136 submissions in the Best Drama Directing category, which will result in six finalists when the nominations are announced July 8.
This race is perhaps the hardest to predict in terms of nominations, due to the vast number of submissions from each show. The risk of vote-splitting seems to be less of a problem in the directing categories since the director’s names are on the ballot and in this one especially, you would be hard-pressed to find a show that entered only one episode for consideration when given the option.
Series like Alien: Earth, The Morning Show, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Industry, and Task each went for for dual entries, while Fallout, The Diplomat, The Gilded Age, and Paradise each opted for triple plays. Meanwhile, The Testaments and The Audacity took a chance with quadruple installments, and two of the biggest favorites in the category, The Pitt and Pluribus, each has six episodes for consideration.
Those are a lot of entries, and in situations like that, standout episodes are crucial and name recognition doesn’t hurt as well. History has shown that passionate voters will mark down a show on the ballot multiple times, so the series with the most buzz can land more than one bid.
That will certainly be the case for The Pitt, which filled two of the spots last year, can be expected to at least maintain that number given its front-runner status in Best Drama Series, the standout being the season finale “9:00 P.M.” by 28-time Emmy nominee/seven-time winner John Wells (who has never won for directing) and “5:00 P.M.” by Uta Briesewitz. Both episodes are packed with emotional breakdowns and emergency procedures, but also watch out for installments by cast members Noah Wyle and Shawn Hatosy, as well as Damian Marcano, which feature the medical show’s signature blocking and dramatic conflicts.
Then there is Pluribus, which has less of a guarantee for multiple nominations, but will very likely get in for its technically impressive pilot “We Is Us,” helmed by creator Vince Gilligan, with the illustrious convulsing sequence, ending in a one-take drive-through. The next likely candidate is Gordon Smith for “Grenade,” which per its title, has a hand grenade explosion.
Slow Horses is one of only few main contenders to put up a single episode, having only one director, Saul Metzstein, behind the camera for the entirety of Season 5: “Scars,” the season finale filled with intense shootouts and suspenseful action scenes. Considering the show’s surprising Emmy victory last year for the Season 4 finale, a nomination this time around is all but a sure thing.
There are other shows that should figure prominently. If voters are into action, they could opt for the penultimate episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by Owen Harris (“In the Name of the Mother”) and Task by Salli Richardson-Whitfield (“Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, There Is a River.”), the latter of whom got in out of nowhere for the canceled Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty two years ago, and is also on the ballot for the season finale of The Gilded Age (“My Mind Is Made Up”).
The Diplomat has been a show on the upswing, but it’s hard to determine which of its submissions could get a nod: “Amagansett” by Liza Johnson was nominated earlier this year at the Directors Guild of America Award, but the finale “Schrodinger’s Wife” was helmed by Alex Graves, who is more widely known as a two-time winner for The West Wing.
Another name to look out for is Mimi Leder, who has been recognized in this category for the season finales of The Morning Show, and is back yet again in a similar case for “Knowing Violation”.
Here is how we see the 2026 Best Drama Directing category breaking down:
Front-runners
Pluribus (Vince Gilligan, “We Is Us”)
The Pitt (John Wells, “9:00 P.M.”)
Slow Horses (Saul Metzstein, “Scars”)
The Pitt (Uta Briesewitz, “5:00 P.M.”)
Task (Salli Richardson Whitfield, “Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, There Is a River.”)
The Diplomat (Alex Graves, “Schrodinger’s Wife”)
Potential Spoilers
The Pitt (Damian Marcano, “7:00 P.M.”)
Pluribus (Gordon Smith, “Grenade”)
Pluribus (Zetna Fuentes, “Please, Carol”)
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Owen Harris, “In the Name of the Mother”)
Task (Jeremiah Zagar, “Crossings”)
The Diplomat (Liza Johnson, “Amagansett”)
The Pitt (Noah Wyle, “12:00 P.M.”)
The Morning Show (Mimi Leder, “Knowing Violation”)
The Pitt (Shawn Hatosy, “3:00 P.M.”)
Longshots
The Gilded Age (Salli Richardson Whitfield, “My Mind Is Made Up”)
Pluribus (Adam Bernstein, “The Gap”)
Paradise (Hanelle M. Culpepper, “Exodus”)
Paradise (John Requa & Glenn Ficarra, “Graceland”)
The Testaments (Mike Barker, “Precious Flowers”)
The Testaments (Shana Stein, “Marat Sade”)
Alien: Earth (Noah Hawley, “In Space, No One”)
Fallout (Frederick E.O. Toye, “The Strip”)
The Night Manager (Georgi Banks-Davies, “Episode 4”)
Industry (Mickey Down & Konrad Kay, “The Commander and the Grey Lady”)
The Audacity (Alex Buono, “Granfalloon”)
