The Emmys will deliver its verdicts on television excellence across genres, from comedy to drama to reality TV.
The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will be held Sept. 14 at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the ceremony will be hosted by Mariska Hargitay, a UCLA alumnus, Emmy winner and NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star.
Read on for the Daily Bruin’s Arts contributors’ predictions for some of the most anticipated television series winners.
Outstanding Comedy Series: “Hacks”
Happy days are here again for “Hacks.”
The hit series created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky took the comedy world by storm when it burst onto the scene in 2021. This spring, “Hacks” took its final bow. Over five seasons, “Hacks” followed the ups and downs of an unlikely duo, comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) and stand-up diva Deborah Vance (Jean Smart). Their backstabbing relationship slowly burned into a beautiful friendship, making for a bittersweet final season centered on love, grief and, of course, the power of comedy.
Smart has won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series every season, and last year, Einbinder also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. “Hacks,” however, has only won Outstanding Comedy Series once in 2024. Awarding the show Outstanding Comedy Series one more time would make for a fitting send-off.
“Hacks” “may not have 30 years,” but it has some more Emmy wins in its future.
– Kiara Mack
[Related: Q&A: Emmy-nominated alumnus Julie Dash reflects on breaking barriers, building a legacy]
Outstanding Drama Series: “The Pitt”
“The Pitt” should win as many awards as there are patients in their emergency waiting room – starting with Outstanding Drama Series.
Last year’s Outstanding Drama Series winner is returning to the Emmys with 25 total nominations. Starring Emmy winners Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa, each of the show’s seasons follows a 15-hour emergency room shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. Every hour of the shift is represented by one of the 15 episodes in each season, and tension builds with every minute. Wyle is an executive producer, alongside John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill, both of whom produced and wrote for the hit series “ER” that paved the way for today’s medical dramas.
“The Pitt” is the most nominated show of the Emmys this year, with Wyle and LaNasa also receiving nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, respectively, following both their wins last year. With competition including Netflix’s “The Diplomat,” Apple TV’s “Pluribus” and HBO Max’s “The Gilded Age,” sirens are sure to go off when “The Pitt” wins gold.
The Pittsburgh Trauma medical staff will have to swap out their scrubs for suits and gowns when they take the stage to accept one of the evening’s most anticipated awards.
– Kai Echeverria
[Related: Q&A: Emmy-nominated actress Karolina Wydra says acting is a powerful, fulfilling art]
Outstanding Reality Competition Program: “The Traitors”
“The Traitors” remains faithful to fans after four seasons of backstabbing.
This social deduction show returns to the Emmys after winning Outstanding Reality Competition Program the past two years. The series, hosted by Emmy winner Alan Cumming, follows a group of former reality show contestants and public figures tucked away in a castle in the Scottish Highlands. A few castmates are secretly chosen as the titular Traitors and eliminate their opponents, while the remaining Faithfuls attempt to uncover the Traitors and win an up-to-$250,000 prize. This season featured several twists, such as Donna Kelce in a new hidden Traitor role.
The fourth season of “The Traitors” finishes with its second Traitor win in the highest-rated final episode of the show’s entire run. “Love Island” alumni Rob Rausch and Maura Higgins make it to the end together, but Rausch delivers the heartbreaking news he is a Traitor to a trusting Higgins – a Faithful – in an epic finale moment. Rausch’s calm demeanor and strategic approach is paired throughout the season with constant dramatic outbursts and Traitor-on-Traitor violence at the Round Table. “The Traitors” combines all the best parts of its contestants’ original shows, such as the challenges of “Survivor” and the explosive arguments of “The Real Housewives.”
Let’s hope Emmys voters don’t betray “The Traitors” fans Sept. 14.
– Cara Putterman
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