All About Tonight’s Emmy Awards: The Favorites, and Why That Canadian Hit Series Got Shut Out

Awards season reaches one of its biggest nights yet as the Primetime Emmy Awards take place Monday in Los Angeles, capping off months of buzz, campaigning, and no shortage of genuine surprises along the way. With so many prestige dramas and comedies competing for recognition this year, the race across nearly every major category has felt unusually unpredictable.

That unpredictability starts right at the top of the nomination leaderboard. ‘Hacks’ pulled in a record-breaking 24 nominations this year, surpassing the previous record of 23 shared by ‘The Bear’ and ‘The Studio’ from last year’s ceremony. ‘The Pitt’ wasn’t far behind with 25 nominations of its own, while Apple TV’s ‘Widow’s Bay’ shocked plenty of industry watchers by landing 19 nominations despite a relatively late spring launch and its unexpected horror leanings.

Heading into tonight’s ceremony, shows like ‘Beef,’ ‘Hacks,’ ‘Pluribus,’ and ‘The Pitt’ have emerged as the clearest favorites for the night’s most prestigious prizes, with ‘Widow’s Bay,’ ‘DTF St. Louis,’ ‘Slow Horses,’ ‘The Bear,’ and ‘Abbott Elementary’ also positioned as serious contenders. Among the nominated performers generating the most buzz are Zendaya, Noah Wyle, Sarah Snook, and Colman Domingo, all considered strong contenders in their respective acting categories.

Amid all that excitement, though, plenty of fans have been asking one specific question: why wasn’t the breakout Canadian hit ‘Heated Rivalry’ nominated at all? The answer comes down to eligibility rather than any kind of snub. The show was fully financed and produced outside the United States by Canadian outfit Crave, part of Bell Media, and Television Academy rules require a U.S. partner to be intrinsically involved in a production for it to qualify for Emmy consideration.

That technicality hasn’t slowed the show down elsewhere, though. ‘Heated Rivalry’ has already taken home 16 awards at the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards, and it remains eligible for the International Emmy Awards later this year. One member of its cast still found his way onto tonight’s ballot regardless, with Connor Storrie earning a nomination for his guest-hosting appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ separate from the show itself.

Tomorrow’s the BIG night! 🏆 ✨

Don’t miss all the unforgettable moments at the 78th Emmy Awards LIVE tomorrow, September 14, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT hosted by Mariska Hargitay on NBC and Peacock. #78themmys #emmys #tvawards pic.twitter.com/Ef3lov9WaZ

— Television Academy (@TelevisionAcad) September 13, 2026

‘Heated Rivalry’ wasn’t the only source of surprise once nominations were announced earlier this summer. Sydney Sweeney missed out on a nomination entirely, while ‘Stranger Things’ was largely shut out of the major races for its final season, a result many considered one of the morning’s bigger shocks given the show’s massive cultural footprint. ‘Euphoria’ also landed with noticeably fewer nominations than many had anticipated heading into its own final stretch.

With so many close races across both the drama and comedy fields, tonight’s ceremony promises to deliver plenty of genuine suspense rather than a predictable coronation for any single frontrunner. Given how tightly ‘The Pitt,’ ‘Hacks,’ ‘Pluribus,’ and ‘Widow’s Bay’ are all bunched together at the top of this year’s nomination counts, the eventual winners could easily go in several different directions once the envelopes actually open.

For fans of ‘Heated Rivalry,’ the show’s absence from tonight’s ceremony stings less once the eligibility rules are properly understood, and its dominant showing at the Canadian Screen Awards suggests its acclaim hasn’t gone unnoticed, just under a different banner. Who are you rooting for at tonight’s Emmy Awards? Let us know your picks in the comments.

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