Emmys Night: 'The Pitt' Eyes Repeat as Ford and Smart Chase History
The Primetime Emmy Awards air Monday on NBC and Peacock, with 'The Pitt' favoured for best drama and Jean Smart and Harrison Ford chasing record wins.
Hollywood gathers in downtown Los Angeles on Monday night for the Primetime Emmy Awards, with "The Pitt" favoured to repeat as best drama and two veteran performers chasing milestones.
The ceremony, broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, will be hosted by Mariska Hargitay of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" — a break from the tradition of handing emcee duties to a comedian. Presenters include Jon Hamm, Sally Field, Amy Poehler and Zendaya.
Hargitay said she worked with writers from Stephen Colbert's former late-night show to prepare her material. "To spend time in a room full of brilliant comedy writers and be in this just joy and celebration, it's very different from what I do," she said ahead of the ceremony. "It's been a beautiful diversion and a beautiful gift and everything feels new."
HBO Max's "The Pitt," set in a Pittsburgh trauma centre, is tipped to take the night's top prize for a second straight year, against competition that includes "Pluribus," an Apple TV series about a woman battling an alien hive mind. The show's star, Noah Wyle, is a leading contender for a second consecutive best actor Emmy.
In the comedy races, "Hacks" star Jean Smart could become the first performer to win best comedy actress in every season of a show's run. The series, which has won best comedy once in its previous four seasons, faces late momentum behind Apple TV's "Widow's Bay," a horror comedy starring Matthew Rhys as the mayor of a seemingly cursed New England town.
Harrison Ford, 84, could claim his first Emmy for "Shrinking."
Winners are selected by the more than 27,000 writers, directors, performers, producers and craftspeople of the Television Academy. This year the academy revamped its late-night comedy competition: nominees including "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," cancelled by CBS, and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" will compete for outstanding variety series in a category that could yield more than one winner, as each nominee is judged individually and any show reaching 90% approval receives an Emmy.
The evening offers a rare moment of celebration for an industry contending with production cutbacks, anxiety over artificial intelligence and the proposed Paramount Skydance purchase of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has divided Hollywood and faces legal challenges.