Will Pluribus stop The Pitt from flatlining the competition? Will Hacks fall prey to Widow’s Bay? Was the second helping of Beef worth the wait?
We’re just days away from the announcement of the 2026 Emmy nominations. Read on for Gold Derby’s final Emmy predictions in the top races, as voted on by nearly 4,000 awards experts, website editors, and users. At this stage, we only predict the program and acting contests; post-noms, we will predict many more categories.
Due to the sheer number of voters — the Television Academy reports there are 27,000 active members divided among 31 peer groups, though it’s unclear how many actually vote — popularity is key at the Emmy Awards. That’s why perennial favorites and prestigious new shows that influenced the cultural zeitgeist have the best chance of getting recognized.
First-year series looking to make a dent in the nominations include dramas A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Pluribus, Task, and The Testaments; and comedies The Chair Company, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Rooster, and Widow’s Bay.
They’ll be facing off against reigning champion The Pitt for Best Drama Series and 2024 winner Hacks for Best Comedy Series, plus repeat nominees like The Diplomat, Paradise, and Slow Horses for drama, and comedies Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, and Shrinking.
The Best Limited Series race features the second installment of 2023 winner Beef competing against All Her Fault, The Beast in Me, Half Man, and Love Story.
Other projected nominees include Remarkably Bright Creatures and Miss You, Love You for Best Movie; The Traitors and RuPaul’s Drag Race for Best Competition Program; The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Live for Best Variety Series; and The Simpsons and South Park for Best Animated Program.
Here are the final nominations predictions in 24 Emmy categories (the number of acting slots are determined by the number of submissions):
Drama Series
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
8.
Drama Actress
1.
2.
Keri Russell
The Diplomat
3.
4.
5.
Carrie Coon
The Gilded Age
Drama Actor
1.
2.
Sterling K. Brown
Paradise
3.
4.
5.
Drama Supporting Actress
1.
Katherine LaNasa
The Pitt
2.
Julianne Nicholson
Paradise
3.
4.
5.
Allison Janney
The Diplomat
6.
7.
Drama Supporting Actor
1.
2.
3.
4.
Billy Crudup
The Morning Show
5.
6.
7.
Carlos-Manuel Vesga
Pluribus
Drama Guest Actress
1.
Shailene Woodley
Paradise
2.
3.
4.
5.
Merritt Wever
The Gilded Age
6.
Elisabeth Moss
The Testaments
Drama Guest Actor
1.
Jonathan Pryce
Slow Horses
2.
3.
4.
Bradley Whitford
The Diplomat
5.
6.
Comedy Series
1.
2.
3.
4.
Only Murders in the Building
5.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
6.
7.
8.
Comedy Actress
1.
2.
3.
Quinta Brunson
Abbott Elementary
4.
Elle Fanning
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
5.
Comedy Actor
1.
2.
Martin Short
Only Murders in the Building
3.
4.
Jeremy Allen White
The Bear
5.
Comedy Supporting Actress
1.
2.
Janelle James
Abbott Elementary
3.
Jessica Williams
Shrinking
4.
Michelle Pfeiffer
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
5.
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Abbott Elementary
6.
Kate O’Flynn
Widow’s Bay
7.
Comedy Supporting Actor
1.
2.
3.
4.
Nick Offerman
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
5.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach
The Bear
6.
Tyler James Williams
Abbott Elementary
7.
Bowen Yang
Saturday Night Live
Comedy Guest Actress
1.
2.
3.
4.
Jamie Lee Curtis
The Bear
5.
6.
Amy Poehler
Saturday Night Live
Comedy Guest Actor
1.
2.
3.
4.
Brett Goldstein
Shrinking
5.
6.
Connor Storrie
Saturday Night Live
Movie
1.
Remarkably Bright Creatures
2.
People We Meet on Vacation
3.
4.
5.
Movie/Limited Actress
1.
2.
Claire Danes
The Beast in Me
3.
Sarah Snook
All Her Fault
4.
5.
Sally Field
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Movie/Limited Actor
1.
2.
Matthew Rhys
The Beast in Me
3.
4.
Paul Anthony Kelly
Love Story
5.
Charlie Hunnam
Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Movie/Limited Supporting Actress
1.
2.
3.
4.
Dakota Fanning
All Her Fault
5.
Laurie Metcalf
Monster: The Ed Gein Story
6.
Movie/Limited Supporting Actor
1.
2.
3.
Jason Bateman
DTF St. Louis
4.
Alessandro Nivola
Love Story
5.
Jonathan Banks
The Beast in Me
6.
David Harbour
DTF St. Louis
Reality Host
1.
RuPaul Charles
RuPaul’s Drag Race
2.
Alan Cumming
The Traitors
3.
4.
5.
Shark Tank Hosts
Shark Tank
Variety Series
1.
Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2.
3.
4.
5.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Animated Program
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord
And here is the projected acting breakdown by show (with three nominations or more):
The Pitt (11)
Best Drama Actor for Noah Wyle
Best Drama Supporting Actress for Katherine LaNasa
Best Drama Supporting Actress for Taylor Dearden
Best Drama Supporting Actress for Sepideh Moafi
Best Drama Supporting Actress for Fiona Dourif
Best Drama Supporting Actor for Patrick Ball
Best Drama Supporting Actor for Shawn Hatosy
Best Drama Supporting Actor for Gerran Howell
Best Drama Guest Actress for Tal Anderson
Best Drama Guest Actress for Brittany Allen
Best Drama Guest Actor for Jeff Kober
Shrinking (8)
Best Comedy Actor for Jason Segel
Best Comedy Supporting Actress for Jessica Williams
Best Comedy Supporting Actor for Harrison Ford
Best Comedy Supporting Actor for Michael Urie
Best Comedy Guest Actress for Candice Bergen
Best Comedy Guest Actor for Michael J. Fox
Best Comedy Guest Actor for Jeff Daniels
Best Comedy Guest Actor for Brett Goldstein
Hacks (7)
Best Comedy Actress for Jean Smart
Best Comedy Supporting Actress for Hannah Einbinder
Best Comedy Supporting Actress for Megan Stalter
Best Comedy Supporting Actor for Paul W. Downs
Best Comedy Guest Actress for Kaitlin Olson
Best Comedy Guest Actress for Cherry Jones
Best Comedy Guest Actress for Leslie Bibb
The Bear (6)
Best Comedy Actress for Ayo Edebiri
Best Comedy Actor for Jeremy Allen White
Best Comedy Supporting Actor for Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Best Comedy Guest Actress for Jamie Lee Curtis
Best Comedy Guest Actor for Rob Reiner
Best Comedy Guest Actor for Jon Bernthal
Beef (5)
Best Limited/Movie Actress for Carey Mulligan
Best Limited/Movie Actor for Oscar Isaac
Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actress for Cailee Spaeny
Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actress for Yuh-Jung Youn
Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actor for Charles Melton
Love Story (5)
Best Limited/Movie Actress for Sarah Pidgeon
Best Limited/Movie Actor for Paul Anthony Kelly
Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actress for Naomi Watts
Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actress for Grace Gummer
Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actor for Alessandro Nivola
Pluribus (5)
Best Drama Actress for Rhea Seehorn
Best Drama Supporting Actress for Karolina Wydra
Best Drama Supporting Actor for Carlos-Manuel Vesga
Best Drama Guest Actress for Miriam Shor
Best Drama Guest Actor for Jeff Hiller
Abbott Elementary (4)
Best Comedy Actress for Quinta Brunson
Best Comedy Supporting Actress for Janelle James
Best Comedy Supporting Actress for Sheryl Lee Ralph
Best Comedy Supporting Actor for Tyler James Williams
The Beast in Me (3)
Best Limited/Movie Actress for Claire Danes
Best Limited/Movie Actor for Matthew Rhys
Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actor for Jonathan Banks
The Diplomat (3)
Best Drama Actress for Keri Russell
Best Drama Supporting Actress for Allison Janney
Best Drama Guest Actor for Bradley Whitford
Euphoria (3)
Best Drama Actress for Zendaya
Best Drama Guest Actor for Eric Dane
Best Drama Guest Actor for Colman Domingo
Margo’s Got Money Troubles (3)
Best Comedy Actress for Elle Fanning
Best Comedy Supporting Actress for Michelle Pfeiffer
Best Comedy Supporting Actor for Nick Offerman
Paradise (3)
Best Drama Actor for Sterling K. Brown
Best Drama Supporting Actress for Julianne Nicholson
Best Drama Guest Actress for Shailene Woodley
Saturday Night Live (3)
Best Comedy Supporting Actor for Bowen Yang
Best Comedy Guest Actress for Amy Poehler
Best Comedy Guest Actor for Connor Storrie
Slow Horses (3)
Best Drama Actor for Gary Oldman
Best Drama Supporting Actor for Jack Lowden
Best Drama Guest Actor for Jonathan Pryce
The 2026 Emmys nominations will be announced July 8 at 8:30 a.m. PT.
