Nobody wants this kind of suspense before the Emmy Awards, but Wednesday in Los Angeles brought the first hard answer: The Pitt led the nominations, with Hacks right behind it. NBC had already said on Tuesday that Mariska Hargitay will host the Sept. 14 ceremony.
The lead belongs to The Pitt, and the gap in the story is just as important as the ranking. The tally for The Pitt was not given, and the same omission applies to Hacks, so the public can see which series came out on top without yet knowing how wide the margin is.
Mariska Hargitay on Sept. 14
Hargitay brings a familiar television face to the ceremony. She stars in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and NBC’s Tuesday announcement gives the Sept. 14 show a host before the big night arrives.
That matters because the host announcement landed before the nominations were even out, turning the run-up into a two-step story: first the person who will steer the show, then the programs and actors set to compete. For viewers, it locks in the event’s public face before the awards itself.
The Pitt and Hacks
The Pitt sat at the top of the Emmy nominations, and Hacks took the second spot. Jean Smart is among the actors tied to Hacks, while Katherine LaNasa was named among the people associated with The Pitt, and the list also included actors in Shrinking, Task, and other titles named in the top categories.
That is where the complication comes in. The story tells readers which series led, but not the totals, so the ranking is clear while the distance between first and second stays hidden. For anyone tracking awards momentum, that leaves the main question hanging in plain sight: how many nominations did The Pitt receive, and by how much did it lead Hacks?
Top categories in Los Angeles
Beyond the top two series, the nominations list in Los Angeles also included The Diplomat, The Gilded Age, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Paradise, Pluribus, Slow Horses, and Your Friends & Neighbors. Those titles round out the field that will feed the Sept. 14 ceremony.
For readers following the race, the immediate takeaway is simple. The nominees are set, Mariska Hargitay is set to host, and The Pitt has the lead going into the Emmy Awards — but the size of that lead is still the missing piece.
