2026 Emmy Awards: Add a Nominee, Subtract a Nominee

by Julian Spivey
Every year the Emmy Awards, like any award show, have a long list of snubs. But it’s too easy to say that shows or performers were snubbed without giving a show or performance that you think should have been removed from the nominations to add your snub in its place.
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Here’s a list of some changes I would’ve made to the 2026 Emmy Awards:
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Photos: HBO, Netflix & Apple

Outstanding Drama Series

In: Task (HBO)
Out: The Diplomat (Netflix)

​I had HBO’s crime drama “Task” as the third-best television show of 2025, and maybe that in itself is part of the reason it was snubbed from the Outstanding Drama Series field, as it aired so long before the voting opened, but it was a shocker to me on nomination day that it didn’t make the field, especially with acting nominations for Mark Ruffalo (Lead Actor) and Tom Pelphrey (Supporting Actor). The show, from “Mare of Easttown” creator Brad Inglesby, saw Ruffalo’s FBI agent and Pelphrey’s criminal as two men who the world has beaten down on opposite ends of the spectrum. With those two nominated performances, it’s a surprise that shows like HBO’s “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (which I haven’t seen) and Apple TV’s “Your Friends & Neighbors” (which I have seen, and it’s not nearly as good as “Task”) received series nominations over it. Even though I think “Task” is more deserving of a nomination than “Your Friends & Neighbors,” it’s Netflix’s “The Diplomat” I’d kick out of the category. “The Diplomat” has always had some nice performances but is too melodramatic for its own good. It’s uneven with some remarkable episodes sprinkled in amongst some of the most boring political drama you’ll seen on television.

Outstanding Comedy Series

In: Rooster (HBO)
Out: Abbott Elementary (ABC)

So, I like ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and I like the idea of a network television series still making the cut at the Emmy Awards, but the fifth season of the show was uneven and tiresome and I wonder if the show’s awards-worthiness has passed it by. I would’ve liked to have seen HBO’s freshman comedy “Rooster,” starring Steve Carell as a pulp novelist who takes a job at a university to help out his professor daughter (played by Charly Clive) who’s life is in shambles, nominated instead. The show also has a stunning supporting cast including Danielle Deadwyler, John C. McGinley and Rory Scovel. It’s somewhat surprising “Rooster” wasn’t nominated as Bill Lawrence has seen quite the Emmy love over the last half-decade between “Ted Lasso” and “Shrinking.” Maybe voters didn’t want to nominate a second Lawrence-run series to go along with the better “Shrinking.” At least Carell was nominated for his performance.

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

In: Death by Lightning (Netflix)
Out: Beef (Netflix)

I think it’s been a bad year for limited series. I couldn’t get into HBO’s “DTF St. Louis.” I didn’t finish Netflix’s “The Beast in Me” or Netflix’s “Beef.” I felt like the only person alive who didn’t like the first season of “Beef,” an anthology series, but gave it a second chance with a new cast and story. I just don’t jive with its point of view on the world. I watched Peacock’s “All Her Fault,” but didn’t necessarily enjoy it all that much, though it was the only nominee in this category I managed to finish. I don’t understand how these shows made the cut but Netflix’s historical drama “Death by Lightning,” which told the story of President James Garfield and his assassin, Charles Guiteau, and did so in an incredibly entertaining fashion a wonderful cast of Michael Shannon, Matthew Macfadyen, Nick Offerman (the only one from the show who received an Emmy nom), Bradley Whitford and Shea Whigham. Of the shows I couldn’t complete I saw the most of “Beef,” so I’d let “Death By Lightning” has its slot.

Actor in a Drama Series

In: Ramon Rodriguez (Will Trent)
Out: Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat)

It’s clear that Emmy voters no longer even bother watching network dramas. The fact that Ramon Rodriguez’s name is never even in consideration seems to be proof of that. For four seasons on ABC’s “Will Trent,” Rodriguez has performed the role of the titular dyslexic detective with such emotion, sincerity, smarts and humor that he’s been one of my favorite performers on television since the show began. I’ll give him Rufus Sewell’s spot. There’s nothing really wrong with Sewell’s performance as Hal Wyler on “The Diplomat,” but the writing of that character has always bugged me. Wyler is supposed to be incredibly smart but is always getting himself into trouble and doing dumb stuff. It just doesn’t make sense to me.  

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series & Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

In: Ted McGinley & Christa Miller (Shrinking)
Out: Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary) & Dale Dickey (Widow’s Bay)

“Shrinking” has a lot of cast love at the Emmy Awards with Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Harrison Ford and Michael Urie all receiving nominations this year and in past years, though hopefully this will finally be the year it wins an Emmy for one of those (most likely Ford), but Ted McGinley and Christa Miller, two long-time television stalwarts, are giving likely career best performances as Derek and Liz Bishop, the married neighbors of Segel’s Jimmy. There isn’t a single scene in which McGinley and Miller are in that they don’t steal. I’d give McGinley the spot of Tyler James Williams, again I think “Abbott Elementary” has seen better days. I’d give Miller the spot of Dale Dickey from Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay.” I know “Widow’s Bay” is the critical darling this year and the likely favorite to win Outstanding Comedy Series and it is terrific, but I just don’t think Dickey’s performance as Rosemary was meaty enough for a nomination.

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

In: Rory Kinnear (The Diplomat)
Out: Billy Crudup (The Morning Show)

So, we’ve already gone over the fact that I think “The Diplomat” is overrated. But one of the things about the show that’s always firing on all cylinders for me is Rory Kinnear’s performance as British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge in the smarmiest, most disgusting way. He’s detestable, but Kinnear does so much scenery-chewing that you want him on the screen at all times. I’m a bit surprised he’s never been nominated for the performance, since Emmy voters clearly love the show. I’ll give him two-time winner Billy Crudup’s spot. I can’t watch “The Morning Show” anymore. Crudup was maybe the only thing keeping me around as long as I did, but the show is straight trash.