HBO and HBO Max dominate 2025 Emmys nominations / The Studio breaks Ted Lasso's Emmy record / Uzo Aduba earns post-cancelation nomination
PLUS: Harrison Ford, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Kristen Bell earn their first Emmy acting nominations.
HBO and HBO Max dominate 2025 Emmys nominations
HBO and its streamer HBO Max "stomped the yard on Emmy nominations morning with a record haul of 142, led by drama series The Penguin, The White Lotus, The Last of Us and comedy Hacks," says Variety's Cynthia Littleton. "That marks a new high-water mark for the HBO universe. Its previous high was 140 nominations grabbed in 2020. The all-time Emmy record haul remains the 160 nominations hoovered up by Netflix, also in 2020. This year, Netflix commanded 120, ranking second among platforms and up from last year’s 107 noms. HBO limited series The Penguin punched above its weight with 24 nominations. That was second only to the top of the pack, Apple TV+ drama Severance, which grabbed 27 bids. Season 3 of The White Lotus, which has been an Emmy magnet since its debut, commanded 23 noms. The sophomore outing of The Last of Us took in 16 mentions. Hacks, which is the reigning champ among comedy series, is back in the race with 14 bids, making it the second most-nommed comedy behind Apple TV+’s The Studio, which earned 23 noms." Meanwhile, freshman medical drama The Pitt tied for eighth place with Adolescence and The Bear by earning 13 nominations.
ALSO:
The Studio breaks Ted Lasso's Emmy record for most nominations for a freshman comedy, tying The Bear for most in history: "A fictional studio head has broken the Emmy record," says Variety's Clayton Davis. "Apple TV+ continues its awards season dominance as its freshman comedy series The Studio shattered records Tuesday, receiving 23 Emmy nominations — the most ever for a comedy series in its first season. It also tied the record set by The Bear last year, as the most nominated comedy series ever. The previous record was set in 2021 by Ted Lasso, another Apple TV+ production, which scored 20 nominations during its debut year. That series went on to win seven Emmys, including three for acting (Jason Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham) and outstanding comedy series."
Severance earned the most nominations of any show with 27, followed by The Penguin's 24 and The Studio and The White Lotus tying for third with 23 apiece
The White Lotus racked up 23 nominations: Jason Isaacs, Aimee Lou Wood and Scott Glenn earn their first Emmy nods. Carrie Coon, Parker Posey and Natasha Rothwell were also nominated, as were Walton Goggins and Sam Rockwell
Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard each score their first acting Emmy nomination, for guest-starring on The Studio — check out Scorsese's reaction.
Harrison Ford, who only has one career Oscar nomination, earned his first career Emmy nomination thanks to Shrinking
Nobody Wants This' Kristen Bell finally earns her first Primetime Emmy nomination — she was previously nominated for a Daytime Emmy
The Adolescence earns 13 nominations after becoming a surprise hit for Netflix
Adolescence star Owen Cooper is the youngest Emmy nominee in his category — he could become the youngest-ever male winner of an acting Emmy
The Daily Show has its best-ever 12 nominations, after nabbing seven noms last year
The Bear didn’t quite cook in Season 3, but it (still) has a nice simmer going with 13 nominations
Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal was snubbed for Outstanding Comedy Series, but did improve over Season 1 with four nominations
Severance earned three best supporting actor nominations for Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry and John Turturro
Uzo Aduba received one of The Residence's three post-cancelation nominations
Only three The Pitt actors earned nominations: Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa and Shawn Hatosy — watch Wyle and LaNasa’s celebrate on set
The Bear's Ayo Edebiri is the first woman at the Emmys to be nominated in the same year for acting and directing in a comedy series
RuPaul becomes the most-nominated reality TV host with his 10th nomination for Drag Race
SNL breaks its own Emmy nomination record following Season 50, adding 31 nominations for a new record total of 372
Bowen Yang becomes the most-nominated Asian male performer with his fourth nomination for SNL
The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives scores its first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
Beyoncé lands another shot to earn her first Emmy with her Netflix Christmas Day halftime show
The biggest snubs: The Pitt's supporting players, Agatha All Along, Elisabeth Moss for The Handmaid's Tale and The White Lotus' Patrick Schwarzenegger, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Nivola and Leslie Bibb
More of the biggest snubs: The Four Seasons, The Diplomat's Allison Janney, Poker Face's Natasha Lyonne, Only Murders in the Building's Selena Gomez, Meryl Streep and Steve Martin
More of the biggest snubs: Andor cast including Diego Luna, Industry, Somebody Somewhere and The Righteous Gemstones' Edi Patterson
More of the biggest snubs: Squid Game, Your Friends & Neighbors' Jon Hamm and YouTube
More of the biggest snubs: A Man on the Inside's Ted Danson, Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney, The Righteous Gemstones' Bradley Cooper and Walton Goggins
Check out the Primetime Emmy nominations by show and by network
Former American Idol music supervisor Robin Kaye found dead at her home in a double homicide
Kaye was found dead Monday alongside husband Thomas Deluca in their Los Angeles home after police performed a welfare check. They were found dead four days after police were called to their home Thursday after neighbors reported a suspect trying to break in. Kaye worked on Idol's first season, returning for Seasons 8 through 21. She also worked on Lip Sync Battle.
Ncuti Gatwa says he and Matt Smith bonded over their Doctor Who experiences: It "takes a lot out of you — physically, emotionally, mentally"
Gatwa told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg he exited Doctor Who after two seasons "because I’m getting old and my body was tired," adding that the show “takes a lot out of you — physically, emotionally, mentally. So it was time.” According to Variety, Gatwa said while at Glastonbury Festival, he bumped into fellow former Doctor Matt Smith “in a club” and the two bonded over the experience. “We had great, deep chats about that job and how there’ll never be another like it in our lifetimes,” he said. “We’ll never work that hard again. Never be as stimulated and stretched. It’s also very exhausting, so it’s lovely to delve into other projects.”
HBO’s Harry Potter unveils the first look at Nick Frost as lovable half-giant Rubeus Hagrid
The first image of Frost as Hagrid has already divided Harry Potter fans, who are comparing him to Robbie Coltrane.
Noah Wyle on The Pitt co-star Tracy Ifeachor: Her departure came down to story, but we've been "amused" by the speculation
“I mean, we’ve all been sort of amused by the speculation about what everybody thinks might be a reason,” Wyle told Deadline of the Dr. Heather Collins actress' exit announced last week. “But truthfully, we loved the actress. We enjoyed having her with us very much. She’s gotten really big and we will miss her.” Wyle also addressed Season 2, saying: "Our job is not to outdo ourselves. Our job is to do ourselves. So think about what worked the first time and do it again. Don’t think about raising a bar on yourself. You don’t have to play by the rules we’ve established. Be faithful to the characters. We introduce the world to take the story that much further. So that’s kind of what our discipline’s been. There are exciting things that will happen, but it shouldn’t feel like we need to come out the gate with a bang to get attention. I think we’ll just tell another story.”
Sarah Pidgeon isn't surprised there is controversy over her Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy role on American Love Story
"I know how special Carolyn is to me and I understand how widely beloved she is," Pidgeon told Variety on the I Know What You Did Last Summer red carpet. "So this role comes with a lot of responsibility and I'm not surprised people have strong opinions about it."
Sarah Sherman is taping her first live special in August
There's no word on when and where the SNL star's first special, An Evening with Sarah Squirm: Live + in the Flesh, will be shown.
Elmo returns to social media after he was hacked over the weekend
"Thank you for being kind to Elmo and all the people in your neighborhood. Elmo loves you," Elmo tweeted Tuesday morning. ALSO: A fake Elmo appeared with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.
Major League Baseball will not cancel its 2028 All-Star Game in order to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said representatives of the league and LA28 met Monday, with both sides hoping to work toward an agreement in which major leaguers would play in the Olympics. MLB has declined to stop its season for previous Olympic baseball tournaments.
ESPN accused of overexposing Pat McAfee with his participation in the Home Run Derby
Like fellow ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith, McAfee is seemingly everywhere across ESPN.
Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng announce "A Debate to Death" joint tour
Minhaj and Chieng, who used to work together on The Daily Show, announced "Hasan Hates Ronny | Ronny Hates Hasan," their first joint tour this fall, in which they'll will face off about America’s most urgent issues.
Spencer Pratt announces his first memoir: The Guy You Loved To Hate: Confessions From A Reality TV Villain
“I poured everything I have into this book, sharing all the secrets, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share it with you," the former star of The Hills says of his debut memoir, due out in 2026.