Thursday, July 9, 2026

My Generally Pleased Reactions to the 2026 Emmy Nominations, Part 2: Comedy

 

Before we begin I want it noted for the record that I was right about six of my eight selections for outstanding Comedy series and I was also mostly right about the Emmys ignoring The Bear in the majority of its acting nominations. They did only give it one acting nomination out of four.

As for my apparent oversight with Widow's Bay I published my review of the show after I'd made my predictions. I knew after just two episodes it was worthy of all the recognition and praise fans and critics had given it but by the time I'd seen it I'd already started my work on predicting the Emmy nominations and I didn't want to flip-flop. It deserved all the praise it got.

So with that in mind let's look at the nominees.

 

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES

Obviously I have no problem with Hacks the overwhelming and deserving frontrunner for its final season. Ditto no problem with Abbott Elementary, Margo's Got Money Trouble, Only Murders in the Building and Shrinking. Widow's Bay more then deserves to be there and I actually wish Nobody Wants This had gotten more nominations.

I'm not shocked the Emmys nominated Season 4 of The Bear. Old habits die hard. And I'm not particularly surprised The Comeback and Rooster both of which got a lot of high praise from critics drastically underperformed at the Emmys this fall. The former was always too high concept, the latter show while exceptional, just not typical HBO.

 

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Okay here I do have objections. I predicted Jason Segel and Martin Short. After my review of Widow's Bay I have no objection to Matthew Rhys being here. And Steve Carell getting nominated for Rooster seemed relatively certain. And I will take credit for predicting Jeremy Allan White would not be here.

But Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for Wonder Man? Seriously? Bad enough he's the only nominee for his show but they went for him over so many other deserving candidates. Over Steve Martin who keeps getting shafting by the Emmys? (Though to be fair this is kind of how awards show always treat him.) Over Adam Brody for Nobody Wants This? Over David Alan Grier for St. Denis Medical? This nomination to put it mildly is far from a wonder

 

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

This is better. I predicted Quinta Brunson, Elle Fanning and Jean Smart and I won't deny I figured Lisa Kudrow had a better than even chance for The Comeback considering she has been nominated for the previous two seasons.

Am I annoyed that Ayo Edebiri is here ahead of Selena Gomez and Kristen Bell? Yes. But the latter two will get another chance. And we all know who's going to win in this category anyway.

 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Well I managed five out of seven correctly which was better than I expected. Harrison Ford and Michael Urie are here for Shrinking as they deserve to be. Paul W. Downs is here for the final season of Hacks as an actor. They rectified a past wrong when they put Tyler James Williams here and Nick Offerman is here. (More than I expected). And having seen the first two episodes Stephen Root absolutely deserves his nomination for Widow's Bay.

I am somewhat annoyed Colman Domingo is here for The Four Seasons instead of Timothy Simons for Nobody Wants This but relatively speaking that's my problem. And am I upset Ebon-Moss Bachrach was ignored? Not really.

 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Again five for seven. The one that give me the most pleasure is that the Emmys finally nominated Megan Stalter for Hacks. Yes she'll probably lose to Hannah Einbinder but I don't care as much about that.

I was right about Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessica Williams and Janelle James. I'm somewhat annoyed Sheryl Lee Ralph was ignored but she does already have one Emmy and a lot of other trophies for Abbott Elementary.  And to be clear Kate O'Flynn more than deserves her nomination for Widow's Bay. I'm not yet sure about Dale Dickey but as someone who's been a fan of her work for more than two decades I'm glad she was invited to the party.

 

GUEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

I've less knowledge on this one but I'm thrilled to see Michael J. Fox and Brett Goldstein here for Shrinking, I'm glad Christopher McDonald got one last nod for his work in Hacks and I think Rob Reiner earned this. I'll assume Hamish Linklater deserved it.

If they had to nominate one host for SNL I'm glad it was Connor Storie considering how the Emmys have annoyed so many people by following the rules with Heated Rivalry.  And considering that there is no one from the regular cast taking up space that might have robbed a deserving nominee I'll let them have this one.

 

OUTSTANDING GUEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

They nominated everyone in Hacks and I'm more than fine with it. Kaitlin Olson is the favorite but it’s a tough field as she's up against Laurie Metcalf who won in this category. Loved that Leslie Bibb and Cherry Jones are here, I think we are all rooting for them to hook up in real life. I always loved Laura Weedman as Mayor Jo and it seems Weedman was in every comedy series in 2025 from Abbott Elementary to Nobody Wants This to Wonder Man!

As for the two other non-Hacks nominees I'm thrilled that the Emmys finally nominated Betty Gilpin for something after ten straight years of giving great performances across the board. If its Widow's Bay rather than Death By Lightning, I'm fine. And of course Jamie Lee Curtis had to be here for The Bear

 

DIRECTING

Fine with Hacks, Abbott Elementary and Widow's Bay and it wouldn't be the Emmys if they didn't nominated Christopher Storer for The Bear.

I really don't know what it is about the Ms. Pat Show that causes the Emmys to nominate it year after year. But I guess if The Chair Company had to be nominated for something I'm good with it here.

 

WRITING

Glad to see Brunson here for Abbott, wonderful to see Hacks and Widow's Bay here. It doesn't surprise me to see Jury Duty, The Comeback or The Chair Company represented here. I should add in both directing and writing I'm fine with any of the nominations over I Love LA which was completely shutout and The Bear, which owned this category two years ago, doesn't have a nomination here at all. Now if they could just get to recognizing Shrinking…

 

So I'm pretty good with this group. Tomorrow I wrap it up with Outstanding Limited Series where there were the most surprises by far and I do have some issues…although even here less than you might think.

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