Thursday, May 28, 2026

My Reactions to the 2026 Astra TV Nominations. Part 2: Drama

 

 

First of all the first major awards show that has to deal with Season 3 of Euphoria is not particularly high on it. It has a presence, probably more nominations it deserves but the Astras don't seem to like it much more than their critics or the fans do. For this relief much thanks.

We also see no real presence for Knight of The Seven Kingdoms the most recent and exceptionally acclaimed series from Game of Thrones. Ditto Industry The Morning Show or more strangely Slow Horses.  And there is a certain bizarre disconnect between what series are nominated for Best Drama and those that receive the majority of the acting and other nominations.

So what is here?

 

DRAMA SERIES

 

The Diplomat, The Pitt, Paradise and Pluribus are almost certainly going to be nominated. Heated Rivalry is ineligible.

Of the remaining five From is an intriguing show that has never been able to break in. The Boys has managed a presence before but its final season has been polarizing among both critics and fans and its series finale underwhelming. Outlander has never been able to make much headway at the Emmys.

Landman was nominated by the SAG-AFTRA and other critics groups but to this point Taylor Sherdian's shows have never been able to make an imprint at the Emmys. I'd really like to see High Potential nominated for Emmys but I think Matlock has a better chance. I'm shocked that there's so little presence by HBO here: not just Euphoria but also Task and The Gilded Age. That doesn't mean they're not going to be recognized, see below

 

BROADCAST NETWORK ENSEMBLE

Can't argue about High Potential, Matlock or Will Trent. Grey's Anatomy and 9-1-1 are perennial presences here. I'm kind of surprised to see Marshals here but I guess that's the Taylor Sheridan effect.

 

CABLE DRAMA

Seriously? Euphoria over The Gilded Age and Task? Then again they did nominate Welcome to Derry so I shouldn't complain that much. From and Outlander were listed above.

I really do think The Audacity deserves to be considered for nominations and will be advocating for it in my predictions in the weeks to come. I'd have preferred either Dark Winds or Dexter: Resurrection to The Beauty.

 

STREAMING ENSEMBLE

Paradise, The Pitt and Pluribus deserve to be here. The Boys and Stranger Things are odd choices over Slow Horses. I don't know about Landman.

 

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Sterling K. Brown, Noah Wyle, Gary Oldman and Mark Ruffalo are locks for nominations. Walton Goggins was nominated by the Emmys for Fallout for Season 1 and could repeat. Billy Bob Thornton has received nominations from the Golden Globes for Landman.

Sam Heughan has little chance of being nominated for Outlander and Antony Starr has less for The Boys. Billy Magnussen for The Audacity is another story: there has been a lot of buzz for his performance and the Emmys do have a habit of nominated lead actors from AMC series. I think he has a better chance than perennial favorite of mine Ramon Rodriguez for Will Trent.

Decent group. I could argue for Harold Perrineau for From but basically fine.

 

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

Kathy Bates, Rhea Seehorn and Keri Russell have been nominated by every awards show group at the end of 2025 and Carrie Coon was nominated for Season 2 of The  Gilded Age. Zendaya may still be able to carry over for Season 3 of Euphoria though her odds of a three-peat are dropping like a stone.

In descending order of likelihood Ella Purnell might get in if there's enough momentum for Fallout: she's been a force in TV during the 2020s and deserves recognition. Olson might be able to get in if there's enough of a push for Hacks and Michelle Pfeiffer could pull it out for double dipping as well. Chase Infiniti's presence depends just how much the Emmys wants to honor The Handmaid's Tale anymore and given how it dropped off the map for its final seasons I think the answer might be know. Angela Bassett deserves recognition but I don't think she'll ever get it.

I'm slightly surprised Helen Mirren isn't here for Mobland but maybe the Golden Globes were an anomaly.

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA

Billy Crudup and Tom Pelphrey have been among the few constants in the awards in the end of year awards. Patrick Ball will probably be for The Pitt and James Marsden deserves to repeat for his work in Paradise. Zach Galifinaakis has now received his second award nomination for The Audacity which means he will likely be considered. Shawn Hatosy has decided to go for Best Supporting Actor for The Pitt and considering he won as Best Guest Actor last year I think he'll carry over.

Personally I would love to see Jason Ritter considered for Matlock or Bill Skarsgard for recreating Pennywise in Welcome to Derry. I think Jack Lowden has a better chance of getting nominated then either Jamie Campbell Bower or Jensen Ackles. Why are they here instead of Lowden? Who knows?

 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

The Pitt gets a lot of love, deservedly. Katherine LaNassa and Taylor Dearden strike me as lock with Isa Briones next. I'm less sure of Sepideh Moafi at this point.

Alison Janney was robbed of a nomination last year for The Diplomat; the Emmys will make it right this year. Christine Baranski is a shoo-in for The Gilded Age as she was nominated for Season 2. I'd like to see Emilia Jones considered for Task.

I have to say I'm disappointed to see neither Kristin Scott Thomas for Slow Horses, Skye P. Marshall for Matlock, Julianne Nicholson for Paradise or Karolina Wydra here for Pluribus. I'll grant the considerable talent of Alfre Woodard, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Rebecca Hell (here for The Beauty) but these are superior choices. Still it's a good list and I'm glad not to see any presence from Euphoria in either supporting category.

 

GUEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA

Eric Dane is clearly here for the sentimental vote for Euphoria. Bradley Whitford will almost certainly be nominated for The Diplomat. Giancarlo Esposito has been nominated for The Boys before.

The rest of the nominees are question marks. Paul Reiser may not get nominated for anything; Bill Pullman has little chance for The Boroughs. As for Macaulay Culkin for Fallout, you never know.

 

GUEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

Shailene Woodley is the frontrunner at the Emmys for Paradise and I'm glad to see Miriam Shor for Pluribus. I'm always glad to see Kieran Shipka nominated for anything and her work in Industry was superb. Isabella Rosellini was magnificent in The Beauty. I'll withhold comment on Tai Anderson till I see her work and I'm not sure if Elisabeth Moss can carry over to The Pitt.

 

DIRECTING AND WRITNG

Paradise, Pluribus, The Pitt and The Diplomat are nominated in both categories and will likely contend in both. Now to break it down for those in separate categories

Task will be contending for writing and having seen The Audacity I think it deserves to as well. The Gilded Age deserves to contend for direction as do Welcome to Derry and Fallout. If The Boys earns a major nomination it will be for directing. It's conceivable Industry will contend for writing. Much as I'd like to see High Potential in the hunt for directing or writing, I doubt it will. From and The Testament will likely contend for nothing and just as like 9-1-1 and Will Trent will come up short. Euphoria is nominated for nothing in either category which is correct and neither is Slow Horses which is wrong.

 

In the Book to Screen category we see A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms and The Testaments. This is the only nomination the former series got at all from the Astras. Whether that means the Emmys will similarly shaft it remains unclear but it is worth noting that the Astras have been kind to House of The Dragon in its two previous seasons, so the fact they've ignored a series that many feel is superior is striking.

How much this tells us about what the Emmys will do is unclear after the nominations. Its worth noting that Season 4 of The Morning Show has essentially been shutout by the majority of the other awards shows leading up to the Emmys save for Crudup. This group has given an official boost to The Audacity that it didn't have and perhaps for Matlock. Everything else pretty much falls along the pattern of expected. The Astras have never been fans of Slow Horses at any time, so Oldman's nomination is actually an outlier.

And the fact that the biggest contenders on HBO for nominations didn't get nominated for Best Drama while an HBO Max series that is ineligible did, is just another sign of how the Astra beat to their own drum. Again I tip my hat. Don't always agree with them, can't stay mad at them.

 

Tomorrow I'll wrap things up with Limited Series/TV Movie and any other ephemera I consider useful.

 

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