The biggest snubs of the 2026 Emmy Awards

cast of industry — The cast of “Industry.”
John Nacion/Variety/Getty Images

The 2026 Emmy Award nominations were announced on Wednesday.
There were welcome surprises, but some baffling snubs.
A few of the best actors from “The Pitt” were left off this year’s list.

The 78th Emmy Awards are about two months away, and now we know who will be competing for the Television Academy’s biggest prizes — and who will be sitting at home watching from their couches.

There are always shows that get left off the Emmys nomination list for various reasons. Maybe not enough people watched them, or the studios didn’t put enough money behind campaigning … or perhaps the voters just lack taste.

In the hours since this year’s batch of nominees was announced, there’s already been lots of online chatter about snubs. We’re here to throw in our two cents and lament the biggest oversights of this year’s crop of (also deserving) nominees.

“Industry,” we will avenge you.

For some reason, the Television Academy refuses to acknowledge what some may argue is the best show on TV.

“Industry” was once known as the British “Succession,” but over its four seasons, it’s evolved into a gripping financial thriller that explores complicated relationships (an understatement), what it means to be alive in 2026, and some of today’s most fun-to-watch sociopaths.

It has somehow been nominated for a grand total of zero Emmys, with that streak continuing this year. If the show keeps this up, it’ll join the ranks of never-nominated amazing shows, like “The Wire.“

No nominations for Ashley Padilla or Bowen Yang for their work on “SNL” last season is bizarre.

Bowen Yang and Ashley Padilla — “Saturday Night Live.”
Will Heath/NBC/Getty Images

Last season was far from “SNL’s” best, and that’s because there was a high turnover of cast members from season 50 to 51, including Bowen Yang, who left halfway through.

Yang has been nominated before, but he’s never won, and this would’ve been the last time for the Emmys to honor his tenure on the sketch show.

On the other hand, there’s Ashley Padilla, who arguably kept the train on the tracks this season, with many people calling her the show’s breakout star. Rewarding her star turn with a nomination would’ve been apropos.

For the first time in a while, the cast of “SNL” was fully shut out. The only person to receive a nomination was Connor Storrie, for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for his turn as host.

“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” was nominated for nine Emmys, including outstanding drama series, but the two actors at its center were snubbed.

dunk and egg in a knight of the seven kingdoms — “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”
HBO

Tell me, how can you call it one of TV’s best drama series without giving props to its two stars, Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell?

Sure, “AKOTSK” got many below-the-line nominations (all of which were deserved), but the show wouldn’t be compelling without these two lovely performances anchoring it.

Ansell, especially, who was cast at just 10 years old, showed considerable acting chops, bringing both comic relief and tear-jerking moments to the third series in Westeros.

Three of the four main actors from season two of “Beef” were nominated — it’s a rough time to be Cailee Spaeny.

Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, and Charles Melton were all nominated for the second season of “Beef,” but the fourth member of their quartet, Cailee Spaeny, was rudely left out.

Was she the most interesting character from this season? No. But it sure must sting to see your three costars, plus Youn Yuh-jung, get recognized and not yourself.

Paul Anthony Kelly was a no-show, though his “Love Story” costars Sarah Pidgeon and Constance Zimmer were recognized.

paul anthony kelly in american love story — “American Love Story.”
Hulu

Of the two leads from “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette,” Sarah Pidgeon as Bessette was more of a sure thing than her costar, Paul Anthony Kelly, who played JFK Jr.

But that doesn’t mean that Kelly wasn’t deserving. He arguably had a harder job — JFK Jr. looms so large in popular culture, as he’d been documented from his birth in 1960 until his untimely death in 1999. Bessette, on the other hand, was more of a blank slate for the writers and Pidgeon to fill in; there’s barely any audio of Bessette that is publicly available.

All that said, Kelly had his work cut out for him, and we think he handled the job with aplomb.

“Your Friends & Neighbors” was nominated for outstanding drama series, but Jon Hamm was oddly ignored.

jon hamm in your friends and neighbors — “Your Friends & Neighbors.”
Apple TV+

After moving from limited series to drama series this year, the crime caper “Your Friends & Neighbors” scored a surprise nomination in outstanding drama series.

However, the man at its helm, Jon Hamm, was snubbed for outstanding lead actor in a drama series.

To put it simply: There would be no show without him, and if you’re going to nominate one, you should nominate the other.

“The Pitt” was all over the nominations, but Supriya Ganesh, Shabana Azeez, and Isa Briones were missing.

supriya ganesh the pitt — “The Pitt.”
HBO Max

Noah Wyle, Taylor Dearden, Shawn Hatosy, Fiona Dourif, Patrick Ball, Katherine LaNasa, Gerran Howell, and Sepideh Moafi were all nominated for their performances in season two of “The Pitt” (and that’s not including guest stars).

So is it a bit greedy to say that some of the cast were snubbed? Maybe, but we’re doing it anyway. Supriya Ganesh, who played Dr. Samira Mohan, had the difficult job of playing a doctor on the edge of burnout, constantly second-guessing herself, and even convinced herself she was dying. That’s not an easy task, and Dr. Mohan is a fan-favorite, which is why the snub after the news that she would not be returning for season three stings all the more.

Isa Briones and Shabana Azeez also had their standout moments from this season. You could argue that one of these three could’ve taken the place of Dearden, who we thought really wasn’t given much to do, or LaNasa, who already won for season one.

Jeremy Allen White missed out for the first time in “The Bear’s” history.

jeremy allen white in the bear — “The Bear.”
Hulu

For the first three seasons of “The Bear,” seeing Jeremy Allen White’s name in the list of nominees was a foregone conclusion. But after a lackluster season three, the momentum slowed, and White was snubbed for season four.

However, with the positive reception of the fifth and final season, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him back on the nominees list in 2027.

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