Our Emmys Dream Ballot: The 2026 TV Series That Deserve Awards Love

The following article is an excerpt from the new edition of “IndieWire’s The Lead Up,” a weekly newsletter in which our Awards Editor Marcus Jones takes readers on the awards trail, interviewing key figures responsible for some of the most compelling stories of the season, and offering predictions on who will win. Subscribe here to receive the newsletter in your inbox each week.

Keep in mind: I am not a television critic as much as I am a person who makes educated guesses about which TV programs and stars will be nominated for Emmys. Still, I thought it would be a fun exercise to share part of what my Emmys ballot would be if I were a Television Academy member.

I am still taking a page from our actual TV critic Ben Travers in how I am structuring my choices, but I am forgoing lists of specific actors, as I am not as discerning about which specific people from each show deserve the spotlight. I’ll reserve my thoughts for which dozen actors on “The Pitt,” or half dozen actors on “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette” should be racking up those nomination slots.

So, as we prepare for the 2026 Emmy nominations next week, here are the series from this season that I would have given some awards recognition to.

Best Comedy Series

‘Hacks’Courtesy of HBO Max

1. “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
2. “The Chair Company” (HBO)
3. “The Comeback” (HBO)
4. “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” (NBC)
5. “Hacks” (HBO Max)
6. “I Love LA” (HBO)
7. “The Lowdown” (FX)
8. “Widow’s Bay” (Apple TV)

First off, although “The Bear” is not on my list, I will defend it being in the Comedy categories to the death, because I hate the debate about category fraud — especially for something as amorphous as genre. Get in where you fit in, we’re trying to win some awards here. It just feels like a lot of yums being yucked every time someone goes into their screed about how they did not laugh at the show. But ultimately, Season 4 is seen as its weakest season. My votes would still specifically go to the episode “Worms.”

HBO Max series “Hacks” and “The Comeback” are still the major standouts in the sense of how funny they manage to be while being so prescient about the downfall of the entertainment industry, from the death of late night talk shows to the rise of AI. They are also incredible star vehicles for Jean Smart and Lisa Kudrow, respectively. It kills me that the latter actress has not won an Emmy for her iconic turn as Valerie Cherish, but where she really deserved it was for Season 2, which aired a decade ago. It is hard not to root for Smart to do a clean sweep of Comedy Actress Emmys for “Hacks,” as the final season of the comedy cemented her and her character Deborah Vance into the TV Hall of Fame (the Television Academy agrees).

Keeping to HBO, the last time the proper linear pay cable channel won the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy was nine years ago for the final season of “Veep.” Again, “Hacks” is exclusive to streamer HBO Max, which I think has distinguished itself from HBO by going broader with its programming. But I don’t hate that HBO comedies have gotten more esoteric. Programs like “The Rehearsal” or “The Chair Company” help push TV comedy forward, and deserve credit for that. Part of what makes a show feel so necessary too is that sketch comedy used to be the subversive work for which new comedic ideas would grow, but that genre is all but dead outside of “Saturday Night Live” (the dynamics of the Variety Series Emmy certainly did not help with that). But creator and star Tim Robinson, who is both an “SNL” alum and an Emmy winner for short form sketch series “I Think You Should Leave,” keeps that same energy with “The Chair Company,” which kind of works as one big, long sketch gone awry in the best way possible. 

“I Love LA,” a fellow newcomer to the channel and the Emmys race, is important in a different way. People often compare star and co-creator Rachel Sennott to her network predecessors like Lena Dunham and Issa Rae, but the incredibly canny thing she really did with her Gen Z comedy is make “Entourage” for the Internet It Girl. That gives it much more of a capacity for cultural critique than what critics initially gave it credit for. If you were to bet on its awards potential now, I would bet you’d see dividends in the future.

I’ll be short about “The Lowdown” and “Widow’s Bay.” I just really appreciated that they were both funny and inventive, and I am a victim of recency bias. Where I want to actually end my treatise on comedy is that it’s a shame how much voters have forgotten how hard it is to make a good network sitcom. They are doing as many episodes in one season as some of their fellow contenders do in three. “Abbott Elementary” continues to be best in class with how it skillfully gives each cast member a chance to shine, and show why they are all awardsworthy, season after season. “Ghosts” on CBS deserves some credit for that as well. But my favorite new network comedy was “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” on NBC. I never thought I’d see the combo of Daniel Radcliffe, Tracy Morgan, and Erika Alexander, whose reputations precede them, but somehow it works wonderfully.

Best Drama Series

‘The Pitt’Courtesy of Warrick Page / HBO Max

1. “Alien: Earth” (FX)
2. “Bridgerton” (Netflix)
3. “Euphoria” (HBO)
4. “The Gilded Age” (HBO)
5. “Industry” (HBO)
6. “Paradise” (Hulu)
7. “The Pitt” (HBO Max)
8. “Pluribus” (Apple TV)

The three undeniable Outstanding Drama Series contenders are “Pluribus,” “The Pitt,” and “Paradise.” I am not even that big of a drama series viewer, but I am just as hooked as everyone else. Controversially, I am lower on “The Pitt” Season 2. It felt a little too lived in to me. Obviously Emmy-winning stars Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa remain the load-bearing walls of the series, but I did actually like how supporting stars Supriya Ganesh, Shabana Azeez, and newcomer Sepideh Moafi got more dramatic storylines this year. I worry Season 1 still lingers too much in the minds of voters though, and Taylor Dearden and Isa Briones, who were more so comic relief this go round, will be the ones to receive Emmy nominations a year too late.

Story-wise, I think “Industry” is unbeatable, and is doing things that are braver than any other series, period. But outside of that, the back half of my drama ballot is going to the series that felt like they spared no expense. However you feel about “Euphoria,” its craft is undeniably inspirational. Both “Bridgerton” and “The Gilded Age” show such impressive scale, and are more on the fun and juicy side, which is the flavor of drama series I most appreciate, over contemplative and dreary. And in addition to “Pluribus,” “Alien: Earth” is my favorite of the latest examples of how grand and expansive sci-fi storytelling has become, but I do not think the Emmy nominations have taken enough notice of that shift in the genre. 

Best Limited or Anthology Series

Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini, and David Harbour in ‘DTF St. Louis’Tina Rowden/HBO

1. “All Her Fault” (Peacock)
2. “Beef” (Netflix)
3. “Death by Lightning” (Netflix)
4. “DTF St. Louis” (HBO)
5. “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette” (FX)

I feel the need to clarify that, although I have written a lot about the uphill battle networks like Paramount+, Starz, and Peacock faces getting voters to even watch their shows does not mean I think their shows are undeserving of awards recognition. The limited series Netflix sandwiched between fall release “Death by Lightning” and spring release “Beef” Season 2 are all pretty middling when compared to Peacock’s “All Her Fault,” which has a really stacked cast and is probably the best version of a “Big Little Lies” progeny we got this season. Something like a “Black Rabbit” or “The Beast in Me” just still probably had more viewers though.

“DTF St. Louis” was the true surprise. I’m not the biggest fan of murder mysteries, so I like how Steven Conrad’s show used that plot as a bait and switch to deliver to the audience a much deeper story about human intimacy and connection. It also pairs strangely well with the viral Lily Allen album “West End Girl,” right down to it starring her ex-husband David Harbour in his best performance yet. 

But I am someone who loves a show that becomes a launchpad for a bunch of new stars, so while I again admire “Death by Lightning” and “Beef” for featuring some IndieWire favorites like Nick Offerman and Betty Gilpin, or Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny, my favorite limited series of the season was “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.” Lead Sarah Pidgeon just brings so much to a real life character that the world was so interested in, but never got to really know. I think Paul Anthony Kelly does a good job of filling some impossible shoes. And the finale with Grace Gummer and Constance Zimmer is such a triumph for those of us who thought they deserved more Emmy love for their roles in “Mr. Robot” and “UnReal,” respectively. Alessandro Nivola is also greatly amusing as Calvin Klein, and I can at the very least appreciate how hard producer Ryan Murphy is working toward getting Naomi Watts her first Emmy.

See IndieWire’s full list of 2026 Emmy predictions, complete with frontrunners, contenders, and long shots on our website. As a reminder, my email is [email protected] if you’d like to share any feedback.