The Emmys are a strange beast. A show can dominate a category for years on end (“Modern Family,” “Veep”) and then be discarded before you know it. For 2026, the Comedy Series category seems pretty set. In theory, HBO Max’s “Hacks” should win it for the second time. It’s the fifth and final season, and last year’s winner, “The Studio,” has not dropped a second installment yet. Is there room for a surprise? Or is everyone else just fighting for a nomination?
Both “Abbott Elementary” and “Only Murders in the Building” have been nominated four times previously, and should easily do so again. “Shrinking” and “Nobody Wants This” are going for their second nomination, while “The Bear,” a two-time winner, is going for its fourth. In theory, all three are safe, although the former programs struck out at the PGA Awards and SAG Actor Awards. As for the latter, is the love still there for the one-time FX breakout?
More intriguing is HBO’s “The Comeback,” which only earned four nominations combined in its previous seasons, 21 and 12 years ago, respectively. Star Lisa Kudrow earned two Lead Actress nods, and the show has picked up a Casting and Directing nod. The third season is its most critically acclaimed and, without spoiling anything, the show has one of the most memorable series finales of any program this decade. A finale that will speak to the existential zeitgeist many in the television industry are experiencing. It needs to earn one of eight likely slots, but could it also be a potential upset winner?
Other shows hoping to make the cut include “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” “The Lowdown,” “Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat” (what a terrible title), “Rooster,” “Wonder Man,” and “The Chair Company.” Whatever the case, those final two to three slots may genuinely be full of surprises.
April 30, 2026
Locks
“Hacks”
“Abbott Elementary”
“Only Murders in the Building”
Almost There
“The Comeback”
“Shrinking”
“Nobody Wants This”
“Margo’s Got Money Troubles”
“The Bear”
“The Lowdown”
“Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat”
Longshots
“Rooster”
“Wonder Man”
“The Chair Company”
“Scrubs”
“Wednesday”
“Widow’s Bay”
“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins”
“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair”
“Ponies”
“A Man on the Inside”
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