LOS ANGELES -- “The Pitt” led all nominees with 25 in a dominant sophomore season, while “Hacks” led all comedies with 24 for its final season as the Emmy nominations were announced Wednesday. HBO Max’s 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. Already a beloved veteran show, it owned this year’s acting categories. Wyle was nominated again, as was LaNasa. Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif and Sepideh Moafi also got nominations, with “The Pitt” taking four of the seven supporting actress spots. Three of their castmates were nominated for best supporting actor: Patrick Ball, Shawn Hatosy and Gerran Howell. Emmy voters love a departing show, and have loved “Hacks” since its first season. Those two colliding phenomena let it rake in nominations for its fifth and final season. “Hacks” 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 in September. Her sidekick throughout the series Hannah Einbinder, who last year broke through and won supporting actress in a comedy in her fourth nomination, got a fifth nomination Wednesday, as did her castmate, the show’s co-creator Paul W. Downs. Recent winners Liza Colon-Zayas and Jeff Hiller announced the nominees at the Television Academy in Los Angeles. The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards 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. Two new shows from AppleTV+, the one-woman-against-the-hivemind drama “Pluribus” and the horror comedy “Widow’s Bay,” both scored big in their first seasons. “Pluribus,” from “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” creator Vince Gilligan, got 18 nods. They included best actress in a drama for its only lead cast member Rhee Seahorn, who is considered the favorite to win the category. “Widow’s Bay” got 19, second only to “Hacks” among comedies, including a best actor nod for star Matthew Rhys. Two other Apple shows got best comedy nods, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” whose stars Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer also got acting nominations, and “Shrinking.” The nominations for “Shrinking” included a best supporting actor in a comedy nod for Harrison Ford. The buzz is strong for Ford, with prognosticators picking him to finally win an EGOT-tier award after a storied career. His castmate Jason Segel got a lead actor nomination for the show about therapists crossing boundaries. Netflix’s “Beef” was tops in the limited or anthology series categories with 16 nominations. “Beef” had a dominant first season in 2023, and the anthology’s all-new grudge holders, Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac and Charles Melton, all got nominations. Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
