“Heated Rivalry” may not have been eligible for the 2026 Emmy Awards, but it certainly found love with the Television Critics Association. The 220 voting members nominated the Crave Original for five TCA awards, including Program of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Drama, Outstanding New Program, and Individual Achievement in Drama nominations for both Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams. Distributed by HBO Max in the U.S., the show surprisingly didn’t earn an International Series nomination. Two other programs also landed five nominations each: HBO’s “Industry” and Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay.”
“Industry” duplicated the Program of the Year and Achievement in Drama nominations and also earned Individual Achievement nominations for stars Marisa Abela, Ken Leung, and Myha’la. “Widow’s Bay,” which was just renewed for a second season, took Program of the Year, Achievement in Comedy, and Outstanding New Program noms. Stars Kate O’Flynn and Matthew Rhys also earned Individual Achievement in Comedy nods.
“Hacks,” “The Pitt,” and “Pluribus” each earned four nominations while “The Comeback,” “Margo’s Got Money,” and “Shrinking” took three respectively. Six other series earned two nominations each.
Other Program of the Year nominees included “The Comeback,” “Hacks,” “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Pluribus,” “Shrinking,” and last year’s winner, “The Pitt.” Surprising omissions included “Alien: Earth,” “The Lowdown,” and “Death by Lightning,” among others.
The remaining Achievement in Comedy nominees were “Abbott Elementary,” “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” “The Lowdown,” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” and “Shrinking.” Unexpected omissions included “The Chair Company,” as well as “I Love LA,” “The Bear,” “Only Murders in the Building,” and “Wonder Man,” all of which were completely snubbed.
The Outstanding Achievement in Drama category was filled out by “The Gilded Age,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” “Paradise,” and “Task.” Surprising omissions included “The Diplomat,” “Slow Horses,” “Fallout,” and “The Testaments,” among others.
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials category features “All Her Fault,” “The Beast in Me,” Beef,” “Death by Lightning,” “DTF St. Louis,” “Half Man,” “Lord of the Flies,” and “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.” There were fewer snubs here, but the lack of support for the fantastic “Bait” is certainly disheartening. Especially from critics.
Outstanding New Program also featured “Alien: Earth,” “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” “The Lowdown,” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” and “Pluribus.” “I Love LA” and “Wonder Man” were certainly overlooked here.
Other notable snubs in the Individual Comedy and Individual Drama categories included Michelle Pfeiffer for “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” Ethan Hawke for “The Lowdown,” Sydney Chandler for “Alien Earth,” Karolina Wydra for “Pluribus,” Michael Shannon for “Death By Lightning,” Claire Danes for “The Beast in Me,” Riz Ahmed in “Bait,” Ben Kingsley in “Wonder Man,” Mark Ruffalo in “Task,” and any of the cast members of “Beef” or “The Bear.”
This year, the TCAs added two new categories. The first is Outstanding Achievement in Animation, which recognized “Bob’s Burgers,” “Haunted Hotel,” “Invincible,” “King of the Hill,” “Long Story Short,” “The Simpsons,” “South Park,” “Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord,” and “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads.” The second new award is Outstanding International Series, which showed love to “The Boyfriend,” “Crime Scene Zero,” “Drops of God,” “The House of Spirits,” “Last Samurai Standing,” and, um, “Squid Game.”
Sadly, there are no plans for an in-person ceremony for the TCA Awards this year. The winners will be announced later this summer, likely timed for right before final Emmy nomination voting.
The 2026 Television Critics Association Awards nominees are as follows:
Program of the Year
“The Comeback” — HBO Max
“Hacks” — HBO Max
“Heated Rivalry” — Crave/HBO Max
“Industry” — HBO Max
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — CBS
“The Pitt” — HBO Max (2025 Winner)
“Pluribus” — Apple TV
“Shrinking” — Apple TV
“Widow’s Bay” — Apple TV
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
“Abbott Elementary” — ABC (2022 Winner)
“The Comeback” — HBO Max
“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” — NBC
“Hacks” — HBO Max (2024 Winner)
“The Lowdown” — FX
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” — Apple TV
“Shrinking” — Apple TV
“Widow’s Bay” — Apple TV
Outstanding Achievement in Drama
“The Gilded Age” — HBO Max
“Heated Rivalry” — Crave/HBO Max
“Industry” — HBO Max
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” — HBO Max
“Paradise” — Hulu
“The Pitt” — HBO Max (2025 Winner)
“Pluribus” — Apple TV
“Task” — HBO Max
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials
“All Her Fault” — Peacock
“The Beast in Me” — Netflix
“Beef” — Netflix (2023 Winner)
“Death by Lightning”— Netflix
“DTF St. Louis” — HBO Max
“Half Man” — HBO Max
“Lord of the Flies”— Netflix
“Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” — FX
Outstanding New Program
“Alien: Earth” — FX
“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” — NBC
“Heated Rivalry” — Crave/HBO Max
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” — HBO Max
“The Lowdown” — FX
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” — Apple TV
“Pluribus” — Apple TV
“Widow’s Bay” — Apple TV
Individual Achievement in Drama
Marisa Abela, “Industry” — HBO Max
Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise” — Hulu
David Harbour, “DTF St. Louis” — HBO Max
Katherine LaNasa, “The Pitt” — HBO Max
Ken Leung, “Industry” — HBO Max
Myha’la, “Industry” — HBO Max
Rhea Seehorn, “Pluribus” — Apple TV
Connor Storrie, “Heated Rivalry” — Crave/HBO Max
Hudson Williams, “Heated Rivalry” — Crave/HBO Max
Noah Wyle, “The Pitt” — HBO Max (2025 Winner)
Individual Achievement in Comedy
Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks” — HBO Max
Elle Fanning, “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” — Apple TV
Harrison Ford, “Shrinking” — Apple TV
Lisa Kudrow, “The Comeback” — HBO Max
Kate O’Flynn, “Widow’s Bay” — Apple TV
Matthew Rhys, “Widow’s Bay” — Apple TV
Jean Smart, “Hacks” — HBO Max (2021, 2024 Winner)
Tim Robinson, “The Chair Company” — HBO Max
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
“60 Minutes” — CBS (2012 Winner)
“The American Revolution” — PBS
“CBS This Morning” — CBS
“Disneyland Handcrafted” — Disney+
“Frontline” — PBS (Eight-time Winner in Category)
“Have I Got News For You” — CNN
“Marty, Life Is Short” — Netflix
“Mr. Scorsese” — Apple TV
Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch
“The Daily Show” — Comedy Central
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — ABC
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” — HBO Max (2018, 2019, 2021 Winner)
“Late Night with Seth Meyers” — NBC
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — CBS
“The Muppet Show: Sabrina Carpenter” — Disney+
“Saturday Night Live” — NBC
Outstanding Achievement in Reality
“Couples Therapy” — Showtime/Paramount+ (2021 Winner)
“Finding Mr. Christmas” — Hallmark
“The Great British Baking Show” — Netflix
“Love on the Spectrum” — Netflix
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” — MTV (2014 Winner)
“Survivor” — CBS
“Top Chef” — Bravo
“The Traitors” — Peacock (2024, 2025 Winner)
Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming
“Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Animation” — Disney+
“Electric Bloom” — Disney+/Disney Channel
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” — Disney+/Hulu
“Phineas and Ferb” — Disney+/Disney Channel
“Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85” — Netflix
“Vampirina: Teenage Vampire” — Disney+/Disney Channel
“Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” — Disney+/Disney Channel
“WondLa” — Apple TV
Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming
“Carl the Collector” — PBS KIDS
“The First Snow of Fraggle Rock” — Apple TV
“Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+” — Disney+/Disney Jr.
“Phoebe & Jay” — PBS KIDS
“Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical” — Apple TV
“Sofia the First: Royal Magic” — Disney+/Disney Jr.
“Weather Hunters” — PBS KIDS
“The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball” — Hulu
Outstanding Achievement in Animation – New Category
“Bob’s Burgers” — Fox
“Haunted Hotel” — Netflix
“Invincible” — Prime Video
“King of the Hill” — Hulu
“Long Story Short” — Netflix
“The Simpsons” — Fox
“South Park” — Comedy Central
“Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord” — Disney+
“Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” — Adult Swim
Outstanding International Series – New Category
“The Boyfriend” — Netflix
“Crime Scene Zero” — Netflix
“Drops of God” — Apple TV
“The House of the Spirits” — Prime Video
“Last Samurai Standing” — Netflix
“Squid Game” — Netflix
PROGRAMS WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS
“Heated Rivalry” — Crave/HBO Max — 5
“Industry” — HBO Max — 5
“Widow’s Bay” — Apple TV — 5
“Hacks” — HBO Max — 4
“The Pitt” — HBO Max — 4
“Pluribus” — Apple TV — 4
“The Comeback” — HBO Max — 3
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles” — Apple TV — 3
“Shrinking” — Apple TV — 3
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” — HBO Max — 2
“DTF St. Louis” — HBO Max — 2
“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” — NBC — 2
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” — CBS — 2
“The Lowdown” — FX — 2
“Paradise” — Hulu — 2
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