2025 Emmy nominations: ‘Severance’ and ‘The Penguin’ lead the pack

By John Koblin

The dystopian workplace drama “Severance” picked up 27 Emmy nominations Tuesday, the most of any series.

“Severance,” which streams on Apple TV+, is the early favorite in a best drama race that could be unusually competitive this year. Also landing nominations was the surprise HBO Max hit, “The Pitt,” and another HBO favorite, “The White Lotus.” “Andor,” the Star Wars series that critics fawned over, also earned a nomination, as did “The Diplomat,” “The Last of Us,” “Slow Horses” and “Paradise.”

Noah Wyle, a former star of “ER” whose career is in full comeback mode after his performance in “The Pitt,” was nominated for best actor in a drama — it’s his first nomination in 26 years. He’ll face off against Adam Scott (“Severance”), Sterling K. Brown (“Paradise”), Gary Oldman (“Slow Horses”) and Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us”).

Several actors were snubbed, including Diego Luna (“Andor”), Eddie Redmayne (“The Day of the Jackal”) and Lee Jung-jae (“Squid Game”) who won best actor in a drama just three years ago.

Kathy Bates scored a nomination for best actress in a drama for her role in “Matlock,” the rebooted CBS series. Bates, 77, is the oldest actress to ever score a nomination in the category. She will face off against Sharon Horgan (“Bad Sisters”), Britt Lower (“Severance”), Bella Ramsey (“The Last of Us”) and Keri Russell (“The Diplomat”).

“The Studio,” the Seth Rogen-starring comedy, had a strong showing with 23 nominations, tying the record for most nominations for a comedy in a single year. It will be up against last year’s winner, “Hacks,” as well as “The Bear,” “Abbott Elementary,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Nobody Wants This,” “Shrinking” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”

It wasn’t long ago that “The Bear” was a darling of the Emmys. But after a backlash emerged about a year ago — some industry players were aghast that a tense workplace series could be nominated in the comedy categories — the show seems to have lost quite a few Emmy votes along the way. “The Bear” scored 13 nominations, 10 fewer than last year.

Netflix’s out-of-nowhere hit, “Adolescence,” was nominated for best limited series, and forecasters believe it is the favorite in the category. But it will face competition from “The Penguin,” which had 24 nominations, the second most of any series. “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” “Dying for Sex” and “Black Mirror” were also nominated.

The Television Academy unveiled most of the nominations for the 77th Emmy Awards at the academy’s Los Angeles headquarters in an event hosted by Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows”) and Brenda Song (“Running Point”). TV series eligible for Emmy consideration had to premiere between June 2024 and May 2025. The prime-time Emmys ceremony will be held Sept. 14.

HBO Max, fueled by “The Penguin,” “The White Lotus,” “The Last of Us,” “Hacks” and “The Pitt,” had a huge day, scoring 142 Emmy nominations in all.

That is the most of any network and represents the highest tally HBO Max has ever recorded, besting its previous best performance from 2022. It is a big rebound from last year, when HBO fell to third place among all networks in total nominations for the first time in decades.

HBO overwhelmed some categories, including best supporting actress in a drama, where it landed five of the seven nominees. That included four stars from “The White Lotus” — Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell, Aimee Lou Wood — and Katherine LaNasa from “The Pitt.” They will compete against Patricia Arquette (“Severance”) and Julianne Nicholson (“Paradise”).

Netflix finished in second place with 120 nominations, and Apple TV+ was in third with 81, its highest total.

The strong showing from “Severance” and “The Studio” is a shot in the arm for Apple TV+. The streaming service remains little-watched, ranking below Paramount+, Peacock, HBO Max and free streamers like Pluto and Tubi for viewing time in the United States, according to Nielsen.

But its creative team has assembled a lineup in recent years that has proved popular with Emmy voters. “Ted Lasso” won the best comedy Emmy twice already, and other series like “Slow Horses,” “The Morning Show” and “Lessons in Chemistry” have earned top program nominations before.

Colin Farrell, who underwent a transformative makeover for his role in “The Penguin,” earned a nomination for best actor in a limited series or TV movie. He will compete against Cooper Koch (“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”), Jake Gyllenhaal (“Presumed Innocent”), Stephen Graham (“Adolescence”) and Brian Tyree Henry (“Dope Thief”).

Michelle Williams was nominated for best actress in a limited series or TV movie for her role in FX’s “Dying for Sex.” She will compete against Cristin Milioti (“The Penguin”), Cate Blanchett (“Disclaimer”), Meghann Fahy (“Sirens”) and Rashida Jones (“Black Mirror”).

Shows hosted by Jon Stewart (“The Daily Show”), Stephen Colbert (“The Late Show”) and Jimmy Kimmel (“Jimmy Kimmel Live”) will compete for best talk series. Only three series were nominated this year, leaving “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney” out in the cold.

Late-night TV talk series are struggling these days, with ratings, advertising revenue and even the number of shows dropping fast. In 2019, there were as many as six nominees for best talk show, but that’s back when there were many more series up for eligibility.

For best competition reality series, “The Traitors,” the Alan Cumming-hosted reality show on Peacock, was nominated once again. The show, which won last year, will face off against “RuPaul’s Drag Race” as well as “Survivor,” “Top Chef” and “The Amazing Race.”

Nearly 100 Emmys, many of them in technical categories, will be given out at a pair of ceremonies in early September. The biggest awards — including best drama, comedy and limited series, and all of the major acting categories — will be unveiled during the live prime-time ceremony on CBS on Sept. 14. The ceremony will be hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze.