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Seth Rogen’s The Studio took home the most Emmy nominations in the comedy category, nabbing a total of 23 nods for the Apple TV+ series that pokes fun at Hollywood.

Other best comedy series nominees include HBO Max’s Hacks (which took home the top award and best actress for star Jean Smart at last year’s ceremony), Hulu’s The Bear (which set a record for most wins in a single season), ABC’s Abbott Elementary, Netflix’s Nobody Wants This, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, Apple TV+’s Shrinking and FX’s What We Do in the Shadows.

The 2025 Emmy nominations include a first-time nod for Harrison Ford and the first acting noms for directors Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard.

The 77th Emmy Awards, hosted by Nat Bargatze (who is also nominated for best writing for a variety special), will air live on CBS from the Peacock Theater in L.

Going into its fifth season, it's no secret that Hacks remains one of the most popular and successful comedies on television and shows no signs of slowing down. But it's not even just one of the biggest comedies, it's also among the biggest shows on television overall. That's even more clear following the 2025 Emmy Award nominations announcement.

Hacks season 4 was among the most-nominated shows, landing 14 total nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series, which the show won last year, and Outstanding Lead Actress in Comedy series for Jean Smart, which she has won for three consecutive years. Even with all of this success, there's still chatter that Hacks season 5 could be the last.

Hacks season 5 might be the final season

The chatter isn't coming out of nowhere, though, as the trio of Hacks creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky have stated that they have always envisioned a five-season plan for the series.

Are we in store for more “Emmy sweepers?”

With more than 25,000 voting members, the Television Academy is made up of 31 peer groups, each representing a specific field of expertise — actors, writers, editors, and so on. Of the many categories, only 15 are voted on by the entire membership. These include outstanding comedy, drama, limited or anthology series, television movie, talk series, variety special (live and pre-recorded), short form, hosted nonfiction series, structured and unstructured reality, reality competition, scripted variety and game show.

Unlike the Oscars, which allow all eligible members to vote in the final round, the Emmys restrict both nomination and winner selection to designated peer groups. That exclusivity shapes the voting landscape — and it explains the rise of a modern phenomenon: the Emmy sweep.

Only once before 2020 had a series ever won all seven major categories: HBO’s “Angels in America” in 2004. Then came the Covid-era stunner: Pop TV’s “Schitt’s Creek,...

Be our guest!

With the Gold Derby predictions center now open for the 2025 Creative Arts Emmys, we can begin to see favorites emerge in the four guest acting races. Based on the early data, the current front-runners are Bryan Cranston (The Studio), Julianne Nicholson (Hacks), Shawn Hatosy (The Pitt), and Kaitlyn Dever (The Last of Us). Please note: this is just an initial snapshot of the race; the rankings can shift and tighten as we get closer to the Emmy ceremony on Sept. 14.

With that in mind, let's break down each of these contests as they stand after the first wave of polling.

Best Comedy Guest Actor Comedy Guest ActorContenderOdds 0.Bryan Cranston The Studio72.6% 1.Jon Bernthal The Bear13.2% 2.Martin Scorsese The Studio9.1% 3.Ron Howard The Studio2.8% 4.Dave Franco The Studio1.3% 5.Anthony Mackie The Studio0.9%

This category belongs to The Studio, with five of the six nominees. But unlike the other...

Jay-Z and Beyoncé are the Emmys’ “’25 Bonnie and Clyde.” Let’s just hope the power couple stays Drunk in Love even after this year’s competition, where they’re competitors in the outstanding variety special (live) category.

Jay-Z, under his real name Shawn Carter, is among the executive producers nominated for Fox’s “The Apple Music Super Bowl Lix Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar,” which earned four nods total. Beyoncé is up for Netflix’s “Beyoncé Bowl” as executive producer and performer (billed as Beyoncé Knowles-Carter); that Christmas event also landed four nods.

Perhaps Jesse Collins can keep the peace. Not only is Jesse Collins Entertainment once again producing this year’s Emmy telecast, but the company was part of both the Kendrick Lamar halftime show and the Beyoncé event. On Emmy night in the production truck, Collins is likely to face 99 problems — hopefully this isn’t one.

That’s...

After the announcement of the Emmy Awards nominations yesterday morning, The Studio was the toast of the town. With 23 nominations, the Seth Rogen-led industry send-up not only broke the record for the most nods in history for a freshman comedy, but tied The Bear's record for the most nominations for any season of a comedy.

Coming out of nominations morning, it may seem as though nothing can stop The Studio from claiming Best Comedy Series at the Emmys on Sept. 14 (and probably thanking Sal Saperstein).

But Deborah Vance may have something to say about that.

The Studio's record breaking doesn't change the fact that Hacks is the reigning Best Comedy Series, a title it claimed for its third season after two previous nominations. It has been nominated again for the top prize, one of its 14 nominations — down just a tick from last year's 17. Among those nominations is yet...

Where To Watch 2025 Emmys’ 10 Most-Nominated Shows? (Photo Credit – Hotstar/Prime Video)

The battle for television’s most prestigious awards just got even fiercer. The Television Academy has announced the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, which will be held on September 14, 2025, in California.

Leading the pack with an impressive 27 nominations is the Apple TV+ dystopian sci-fi thriller Severance. Close behind are Colin Farrell’s crime drama The Penguin, which has 24 nominations, followed by satirical comedy The Studio and dark comedy The White Lotus, tied at 23 nominations each.

Here are the ten most-nominated shows at the 2025 Emmys, along with their IMDb ratings and streaming platforms in India and the US.

10. The Pitt Streaming Platform – Jio Hotstar (India), Max (US) IMDb Rating – 8.9/10 Creator – R. Scott Gemmill Emmy 2025 Nominations – 13 Trending How To Train Your Dragon Ott Release Update: Universal’s Biggie Gears Up For Its Digital Arrival, Here’s How To Watch It

M3GAN 2.0...

With the 2025 Emmy nominations out, we’re doing a quick hit of who we think can actually win the golden statues. Check out our winner picks for the big categories below, with explanations for some of the closer races.

2025 Emmys Predicted Winners Comedy Series Categories

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

And the nominees are:

Uzo Aduba – The Residence

Kristen Bell – Nobody Wants This

Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary

Ayo Edebiri – The Bear

Jean Smart – Hacks

Predicted Winner: Jean Smart

Potential Upset: Quinta Brunson

Longshot: Uzo Aduba

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

And the nominees are:

Adam Brody – Nobody Wants This as Noah Roklov

Seth Rogen – The Studio as Matt Remick

Jason Segel – Shrinking as Jimmy Laird

Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building as Oliver Putnam

Jeremy Allen White – The Bear as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto

Predicted Winner: Jeremy Allen White

Potential Upset: Martin Short

Longshot: Seth Rogen...

The excitement of Emmy nomination morning fades quickly for studios and networks, because the more daunting question is always the same: How do we actually win?

It’s tempting to judge frontrunners based on sheer nomination tallies. If we followed that logic, drama series “Severance” with 27 nods, satirical comedy “The Studio” with a record-breaking 23, and the villainous limited series “The Penguin” with 24 would seem like the ones to beat. But this is the Emmys — nothing is ever that simple.

Looking at the drama categories, the race looks to shape up with Apple TV+’s “Severance” versus HBO Max’s critically acclaimed freshman entry “The Pitt,” which earned a solid 13 nominations.

On Emmy night, winning is rarely about just one factor. It’s about crafting the “winning package,” and both “Severance” and “The Pitt” performed exceptionally well with the Television Academy’s four largest branches: Executives, Actors, Writers, and Editors.

Courtesy...

Daniel Fienberg: Say what you will about Emmy voters, but when they like something, they Really like it.

My biggest takeaway, as I’m picking my way through the nominations for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, is how top-heavy the list is. Twenty-seven nominations for Severance! Twenty-four nominations for The Penguin! Twenty-three nominations apiece for The Studio and The White Lotus!

So many of these juggernauts received nominations so completely across the board — the dominance of White Lotus and Severance in the supporting categories is especially impressive — that I found myself more distracted by the standouts from those casts who didn’t get nominated than those who did. Where’s Rhenzy Feliz for The Penguin? Or Chase Sui Wonders for The Studio? Or Lisa from Blackpink for The White Lotus (or Carrie Coon’s vacation buddies, I suppose)?

It’s a myopia that leads to the consistent impression that...

Emmy voters gave Hacks a standing ovation on Tuesday, rewarding the show with 14 nominations including Best Comedy Series, which it won last year. (The only comedy with more bids is The Studio with a whopping 23.) However, Season 4 of HBO Max's acclaimed series didn't get everything for which it submitted, and there were three notable snubs that caught fans off-guard: supporting actors Paul W. Downs and Megan Stalter, and guest actor Christopher McDonald.

Here are the categories Hacks got into — and missed.

Best Comedy Series: Nominated

The fourth season of Hacks focused on Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) becoming the respective host and head writer of a broadcast network talk show, fulfilling Deborah's lifelong dream. It was predictably nominated in Best Comedy Series alongside Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building, Shrinking, The Studio, and What We Do in the Shadows.

Harrison Ford has scored his first ever Emmy nomination – days after celebrating his 83rd birthday.

The Star Wars star was nominated in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for his role in the second season of Apple’s Shrinking.

He will compete against Ike Barinholtz, Colman Domingo, Jeff Hiller, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Michael Urie and Bowen Yang

Ford had been tipped to receive a nomination last year for the show’s debut season but he was bested by The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who won, and Lionel Boyce, Hack’s Paul W. Downs, Only Murders In The Building’s Paul Rudd, Abbott Elementary’s Tyler James Williams and SNL’s Bowen Yang.

Related: Emmy Winners For Best Comedy Since 1952

Last year, the show did snag an Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series nomination for Jason Segel and an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Jessica Williams.

Jean Smart? “The Bear?” Noah Wyle? “White Lotus?” These are just a few words fans are likely to hear if they tune in Tuesday, July 15 to watch the 77th Primetime Emmy Award nominees announced. “Running Point” star Brenda Song and “What We Do in the Shadows” actor Harvey Guillén will lead the event from the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center starting at 11:30 a.m. Et. How can you watch the Emmy noms as they’re revealed? You can watch live on the Emmy Awards website or on the Television Academy’s YouTube channel, which we’ve embedded below.

For the last few weeks, IndieWire has been predicting the contenders in every category, and there are several names — beyond the first few mentioned above — that are expected. Comedy series like “Hacks,” “Only Murders in the Building,” and “Abbott Elementary” are all anticipated to rack up nominations, while on the...

An expat makes her way through single life in London, where her unique personal style is a frequent topic of discussion. Her work isn’t always stimulating, but does let her mix with entertaining oversharers. When she visits a bar on a pivotal night, she has a chance meeting with a sexy artist who will become very important to her. Is he ready for love? Is she? The first season of their show really puts them through dizzying joys and shattering pain — but yes, Too Much is TV’s tenderest romantic comedy since Starstruck.

Too Much’s expat — an American this time — is Jessica (Megan Stalter), a line producer working in TV commercials. After her boyfriend Zev (Michael Zegen) leaves her for knitting influencer Wendy (Emily Ratajkowski), Jessica is forced to move out of his apartment and back in with her mother, sister and nephew at her grandmother’s house on Long Island.

Not long ago, Megan Stalter — star of Lena Dunham’s new Netflix romantic comedy series, “Too Much” — was still hustling to make a name for herself in comedy.

After leaving Ohio in the mid-2010s to pursue an entertainment career, Stalter did stand-up, improv, and other stage work in Chicago until she found an early dose of fame on social media, posting video parodies of cringe women — including a memorable butter entrepreneur who’s opening line was “Hi, gay!” It didn’t take long for her to parlay her various pursuits, including a web series called “The Megan Stalter Show,” into a breakout part on HBO’s “Hacks,” cameos in projects like Julio Torres’ “Problemista,” and other enviable onscreen roles. Her relatively short road to fame, however, was windy enough for her to learn that, whatever medium she was working in, her true passion was to entertain.

“When I was a kid,...

If you can't afford to subscribe to every streaming service available, how do you decide which platforms are worth the price? Each service boasts its fair share of buzzworthy TV series that convert curious audiences into paying customers. Now, we're focusing on HBO Max.

Since its inception in 1972, the network has aimed to produce content that is a step above regular television programming. HBO's slogan in the 1990s and 2000s, "It's Not TV. It's HBO," illustrated its lofty aspirations, as does its full name, "Home Box Office." HBO has maintained that reputation over the decades, even as the streaming era emerged and HBO Max launched. While not every show on HBO Max is at the level of "The Sopranos" or "The Wire," the streamer has maintained a focus on "prestige" television with big budgets.

Though the streamer's unfortunate name changes from HBO Max to Max to HBO Max once again have caused much eye-rolling,...

Hacks continues to outdo itself with every passing year, and Season 4 was no exception as the HBO Max comedy delivered plenty of laughs amid the tug-of-war between Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her head writer, Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). But there is one scene that has continued to pop up all over social media and is undoubtedly one of the season’s funniest, and it involves neither Smart nor Einbinder. Instead, the moment from Episode 9 puts Deborah and Ava’s managers, Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter), front and center as they try to sober up their new client, Dance Mom (recurring guest star Julianne Nicholson). With only minutes standing before the drunken performer’s appearance on Deborah’s late-night show, Jimmy and Kayla frantically try to solve her problem and decide that cocaine is the answer. “Hurry, more, we don’t know her tolerance right now. C’mon,...

With 94 submissions, this year's Best Comedy Writing category at the Emmys will have six finalists when the nominations are announced July 15.

As expected, there are many single submissions from many of these front-runners, with no series entering more than two installments. But what may come as a surprise is the number of writers credited for scripting each episode — The Studio, for instance, has five writers for its entry. This, of course, does not matter in terms of voting, as writers are not listed on the ballot, but it’s an interesting side note to see how many scribes it takes to make people laugh.

This is a category that often defies conventional wisdom. Voters often gravitate towards shows that are less represented, such as last year when the branch nominated two canceled programs over others that were nominated for Best Comedy Series.

While there are often surprises here, this year the reigning champion,...

Exclusive: On the heels of Hacks‘ Season 5 renewal by Max, the Emmy-winning comedy series’ co-creators, executive producers and co-showrunners Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs have signed a new overall deal with Warner Bros. Television and the Warner Bros. Discovery streamer, which is set to revert to its previous name HBO Max later this summer.

Under the exclusive new multiyear pact, Aniello and Downs will develop and produce new television projects through their Paulilu Productions.

The new agreement begins in August 2025. It will succeed Aniello and Downs’ previous overall deal with Warner Bros. TV Group signed in August 2021, following Hacks‘ May 2021 series premiere, June 2021 Series 2 renewal and July 2021 Emmy breakthrough with 15 nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series.

The Universal TV-produced Hacks, on which Aniello and Downs are co-creators and co-showrunners alongside Jen Statsky, has garnered 48 Emmy nominations for its first three seasons. The 9 wins to date include Outstanding Comedy Series last year,...

This week, everyone's favorite summer-time, fine-dining panic attack, The Bear, returns for its fourth season. But in the awards world — thanks to eligibility windows — it's the third season of the FX series starring Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri that Emmys voters are having to consider.

The ascendency of Hacks kept The Bear from claiming a second Best Comedy Series last year, but there were still a bevy of acting wins, taking five out of six within comedy, including White winning his second Emmy in a row for playing Carmy.

But with The Studio's arrival on the scene and Only Murders in the Building still going strong, comedy categories at the Emmy Awards are more competitive than they've been in years. How will The Bear fare? Here are the series' best shots at scoring nominations when they're announced on July 15.

Best Comedy Series

Vulture recently reported on the supposed...

Hacks is looking to go back to back.

After pulling off one of the biggest awards upsets in recent history at last year's Emmys over The Bear, the reigning Best Comedy Series champ is not only aiming to defend its crown, but to have its biggest Emmy showing ever. The afterglow of a huge win could have that effect. Season 1 scored 15 nominations, Season 2 got 17 nominations, and Season 3 earned 16. All three seasons won three awards each time. Will Hacks pocket its most nominations and most wins this year?

For Season 4, the (soon-to-be HBO) Max (again) series has 30 submissions across 15 categories on the Emmy ballot. Let's break down its Emmy prospects.

Best Comedy Series

Hacks is obviously the odds-on favorite and has been perched in the top spot all season. The Studio has risen all the way up to No. 2, but there is no safer nominee than the reigning champ that has...

The Emmy Awards 2025 predictions for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series are heating up pretty fast. With returning legends, breakout stars, and scene-stealing sidekicks all vying for the limelight, this category is no joke.

History favors icons like Don Knotts (five wins) and David Hyde Pierce (11 nods), but this year’s contenders are carving out their own space. We’re watching The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach, whose chaotic charm as Richie might just clinch it. His Critics Choice and SAG wins already give him major momentum.

Also in the mix is Paul W. Downs for Hacks, plus fan-favorites from Harrison Ford for Shrinking and Ike Barinholtz for The Studio keeping things tight.

Emmy Awards 2025 Predictions: What to Expect in the Supporting Actor Comedy Race Seth Rogen and Ike Barinholtz in The Studio | Credits: Apple TV+ Seth Rogen and Ike Barinholtz speaking to Martin Scorsese | Credits: Apple TV+ Seth Rogen...

The key races for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards couldn’t be more different.

The comedy categories appear to be heading for another showdown between The Bear — once again prompting an obligatory “Is it a drama or a comedy?” debate — and Hacks, with several returning shows still in the mix while the drama fields, which Shōgun dominated last year, are wide open.

While voters can, and in many cases should, absolutely go back to prior favorites like The White Lotus, Severance and The Last of Us, the THR television critics have recommendations on some familiar and some quirky and offbeat ways to fill out ballots.

Voting for the nomination round closes on Monday, June 23, with nominations announced on Tuesday, July 15. The 2025 Emmys will air on CBS and Paramount+ on Sept. 14, with Nate Bargatze serving as host.

Comedy

Best Series

After Max’s Hacks upset The Bear in this race last Emmys,...

Seth Rogen just might get to make a few acceptance speeches after all. While his on-camera doppelganger Matt Remick was desperate to be thanked from the Golden Globes stage, the cocreator/star/writer/director of Apple TV+'s The Studio may not have to worry. The freshman comedy may well prove to be the spoiler in the much-anticipated Emmys rematch between Hacks and The Bear — especially given its deep cast of A-list stars, the high-wire act of those oners, and Hollywood's love of celebrating itself.

See'The Studio' episodes ranked, from worst to best Best Comedy Series

With eight slots for best comedy, The Studio is assured of a nomination — the only question is whether it will unseat the reigning champ, Hacks. As of now The Studio is in second place on Gold Derby's predictions charts, but it's verrrrry close — and this time out, there's no debate about whether these contenders are comedies.

John Wells was in the middle of his explanation about why he doesn’t envy other writers’ work when Tracey Wigfield began to laugh. “John,” she said, stopping him. “I’m jealous of every show I watch.”

Mindy Kaling fell somewhere in the middle. “When I watch TV, I just want it to be good,” she said. “I think when jealousy comes in is when something you think is not that good is getting a lot of praise. Why are they saying that’s so good? It’s just Ok!”

Praise is one thing everybody on THR‘s Producers Emmy Roundtable had in common. The live event, held May 28 at Soho House West Hollywood, gathered the minds behind (and, in some instances, faces in front of) the most critically acclaimed comedies and dramas of the past year. Joining Kaling (Running Point), Wells (The Pitt) and Wigfield (The Four Seasons), were...

We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2025 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 12 to June 23, with the official Emmy nominations announced Tuesday, July 15. Afterwards, final voting commences on August 18 and ends the night of August 27. The 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, September 14, and air live on CBS at 8:00 p.m. Et/ 5:00 p.m. Pt.

The State of the Race

Oddly enough, the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy race is a bit dependent on how many voters watched “Shrinking” on Apple TV+. No one made the cut in this category for Season 1, including Harrison Ford, but many Emmy prognosticators have him, Michael Urie, Brett Goldstein, and even Ted McGinley all in the mix for an Emmy nomination.

Anyone who’s accustomed to seeing Julianne Nicholson in melancholy roles like Ivy Weston from August: Osage County or Lori Ross from Mare of Easttown were no doubt shocked — albeit delightfully — to see her cutting the rug as a quirky influencer this season on Hacks.

Affectionately named Dance Mom, Nicholson’s character is recruited by Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter) to perform on Deborah’s (Jean Smart) fledgling late-night show. The hope is that her big presence on social media — where Dance Mom posts bubbly videos of herself performing wacky, old-school choreography — could help juice ratings.

“I’m more than just heartbreak,” Nicholson jokes about transitioning from heavy, dramatic roles like the one she currently plays on Hulu’s Paradise to the slapstick of Hacks. “That’s been one of the most fun things about it, just flipping the script in that way when people are expecting...

Voting for the 2025 Emmys officially opened today, and Gold Derby has spotted several intriguing strategies, omissions, and oddities in the ballots, which are available to view on the Television Academy website.

When it comes to the writing and directing categories, a popular strategy is to submit as few options as possible, so as not to split the vote. (Remember how Succession would only submit a single episode in writing each year? It won that race four seasons in a row.) That's why we're so surprised to see ABC's boat-themed medical drama Doctor Odyssey flooding the ballot 11 different times for Best Drama Directing. If the show can't pinpoint one or two stand-out directors out of Jen Lynch, Our Lady J, Tessa Blake, Paris Barclay, Crystle Roberson Dorsey, Brad Buecker, Millicent Shelton, Michael Medico, Steven Canals, Maggie Kiley, and John J. Gray, how are the voters supposed to?

Last year, Slow Horses...

Through four seasons, Hacks has become of one of the defining — and one of the funniest — shows of the decade. Created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky, the Max comedy following stand-up legend Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her complicated relationship with a young comedy writer, Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), has delivered some certified bangers that are hilarious, heartwarming, incisive, and absolutely shocking, sometimes all at once. Just as shocking? Its win for Best Comedy Series in 2024 over The Bear, a surprising but wholly deserved victory for its better-than-ever third season. Not as surprising? Smart winning her third Best Comedy Actress Emmy, remaining undefeated for the show.

Hacks, which also stars Downs, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Megan Stalter, Rose Abdoo, and Mark Indelicato, just concluded its fourth season with an ending that sets the show on a new course once again.

As it preps for its fifth season, which...

“Hey, everybody. Welcome to the last day of shooting for Season 4 of ‘Hacks.’”

It was a chilly evening on the beach in Southern California, with a cold wind coming off the water near Los Angeles Harbor. And as a disembodied voice coming from somewhere in the crowd of bundled-up crew members suggested, it was indeed the final night of shooting on the fourth season of the HBO Max series that is the reigning champion in the Emmys’ Outstanding Comedy Series category.

Apart from a couple of pickup shots and a stuntwoman running into the frigid Pacific Ocean while pretending to be Jean Smart, there was one big scene to nail on this early-March night. And in many ways, it was the pivotal scene in all of Season 4. The previous season had ended with writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) blackmailing her way into the head writer’s job on the new...

HBO's For Your Consideration event for Season 3 of The White Lotus kicked off Tuesday at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures with a message from the series creator Mike White, who couldn't make the event because he was on his way to an island. But as fans of Survivor know, he wasn't headed to the series' next luxurious locale.

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"By the time you see this, I will either be out of the game or starving on an island somewhere," White said in the video, filmed from his car as he headed out of the country for Season 50 of Survivor. "I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but this is what I have to do to have a vacation these days."

The event then proceeded with a screening of the bloody season finale and two cast panels, both...

At an Emmys FYC event for The White Lotus on Tuesday, creator Mike White made a special video appearance en route to his next gig — competing on Survivor‘s milestone 50th season.

White — who previously competed on the show in 2018 during its “David vs. Goliath” season, coming in second place — said via video message that he was on his way to “a hotel near the airport where I have to turn in my phone and stay the night before I fly to Fiji, because I don’t know if you know this but I’m going on Survivor. So by the time you see this I will either be out of the game or I’ll be starving on an island somewhere — either way, I hope you send me good wishes.”

He also sent his thanks to the audience for showing up to support the show and to his cast,...

Apple TV+ was the big winner at the 2025 Astra TV Awards on Tuesday.

The Studio, the buzzy satire about the inner workings of Hollywood, led with a total of four wins, including Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Seth Rogen, Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Catherine O’Hara, and Best Directing in a Comedy Series for Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Severance was named the Best Drama Series.

Netflix’s Adolescence was named Best Limited Series and Rebel Ridge won Best Television Movie.

Additional Best Actor category winners were Noah Wyle in The Pitt (Drama Series) and Colin Farrell in The Penguin (Limited Series or TV Movie).

The Best Actress category winners were Natasha Lyonne in Poker Face (Comedy Series), Kathy Bates in Matlock (Drama Series), and Cristin Milioti in The Penguin (Limited Series or TV Movie).

See Seth Rogen on taking big swings...

In ‘Hacks’ rollicking rollercoaster of a fourth season, comedy cohorts Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder traversed all-out war, touching reconciliation and a shocking outcome. As Smart’s veteran comedian Deborah Vance reached for the brass ring of a talk show hosting gig, her fear of failure created a world of hurt for Ava Daniels (Einbinder) and much disruption for their agents Jimmy (co-showrunner Paul W. Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter). But, as always, Deborah and Ava led viewers through it all with a chemistry that leaps off the screen and has served the HBO Max show’s hit status all the way to its recent Season 5 renewal. Here, Smart and Einbinder describe a bond so tight, they often seem to finish each other’s sentences, and how it felt to shoot a season filled with vitriol toward each other—a risk that would ultimately pay off, but required trust and the bedrock of true friendship.

When Megan Stalter and Paul W. Downs stepped onto a pickleball court for a recent Gold Derby interview it was a full-circle callback to a fan-favorite scene from Max’s critically acclaimed comedy Hacks. In the Season 3 episode, their characters — eccentric talent agents Kayla and Jimmy — hilariously face off against a TV network president played by Helen Hunt in a match that became a standout moment for fans.

“We trained, we had a coach,” Downs said, laughing. Stalter chimed in: “Yes, I loved our classes.”

The blend of sharp comedy and heartfelt connection has propelled Hacks through four acclaimed seasons, with a fifth officially confirmed. The series follows Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), a legendary comedian, who partners with Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), a young, edgy writer, to revitalize her act. Created by Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky, Hacks has garnered widespread acclaim for its witty writing, emotional depth, and...

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit.

Emmy nomination-round voting gets going next Thursday, with ballots due to be completed by the June 23 deadline. Maybe that is why the 20,000-ish members of the Television Academy are seeing a flurry of emails, invites, FYC events, notifications and last-minute campaigning at a pace I can’t quite recall in all my years covering these awards and as a longtime member and former Writers Governor of the TV Academy itself.

The cutoff date for eligibility for this year’s Emmy contest was May 31, and in May alone I counted 148 direct emails from the Television Academy with FYC invites, screening reminders and lineups from all the networks, streamers and studios touting their wares. Every one of these is paid for, so the Academy is raking in a lot of cash off campaigning, all the while reminding members they have nothing to...

Hannah Einbinder, known for her role as Ava Daniels in HBO Max’s Hacks, has openly discussed the challenges of typecasting in Hollywood. Despite Ava’s character being a complex portrayal of a young, flawed comedy writer, Einbinder has noted that some industry professionals have attempted to pigeonhole her into similar roles, often emphasizing negative stereotypes of millennials.

This experience highlighted the broader issue of typecasting in the entertainment industry, where actors may find themselves repeatedly offered roles that mirror a single character they’ve portrayed, limiting their opportunities to showcase their range and versatility.

Hannah Einbinder got typecast as the “messy millennial” in Hacks Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels in a still from Hacks | Credits: Max

Hannah Einbinder is tired of the typecast. In The Hollywood Reporter’s Comedy Actress Emmy Roundtable, the Hacks star cracked open the box Hollywood tried to put her in. “Early on in Hacks,...

In honor of Roland-Garros 2025, Max hosted a pickleball Paddle Royale at Venice Beach on Wednesday between two of its biggest shows of the season.

“Hacks” stars Paul W. Downs and Robby Hoffman faced off against Katherine Lanasa and Shawn Hatosy from “The Pitt” — and while Team Hacks may have technically won in the end, it would be a safe bet to put your money on Team Pitt for any future rematches.

That’s because Hatosy and Lanasa’s early lead was stifled once tennis great Andy Roddick decided to step in for first-time pickleballer Hoffman. Of course, fellow pro athlete Terrell Owens eventually took the red clay court to make it three-on-three, but by that point, the damage was done.

Le Petit Court (Max) Terrell Owens, Andy Roddick (Max)

The Parisian-inspired event also featured noteworthy mocktails, branded paddles, headwear, passed apps, a sweet and savory crêpe station and crudités from Schaffer.

Hacks will try to fend off foes old and new in Best Comedy Series Emmy race.

It's perhaps fitting that Catherine O'Hara presented Best Comedy Series at last year's Emmys. After doing a bit, the Emmy champ announced the biggest awards upset in recent history: Hacks won over heavy favorite The Bear. As O'Hara handed the trophies to the Hacks team, little did anyone know that this was a preview of the probable top two series in the 2025 race.

By virtue of being the reigning champ and producing a stellar fourth season, Hacks is the odds-on favorite to defend its crown. After its shocking Emmy victory, the HBO Max hit had a near flawless winter run, picking up the top prize at every show except for comedy ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Still, Jean Smart remained undefeated there, just like at the Emmys. Season 3 received 16 Emmy nominations and...

“I never actually made tooth-to-Emmy-winner contact. I did not bite.”

That’s co-creator and actor Paul W. Downs denying — to the best of his recollection — ever clamping down on Emmy-winner Julianne Nicholson’s hand while lunging to bite her during their “frantic” scene in “Hacks” Season 4.

“I think that’s the only take where you pretended to [bite her], actually,” co-creator Lucia Aniello said. “She would’ve been fine with it. She’s so game, if Paul bit her hand, she would’ve gone with it. She would not have stopped the scene.”

“She was really holding onto that bag,” Downs said. “She was very committed.”

The scene in question, which you can see in the full video interview above, is from Episode 9, “A Slippery Slope,” which was written by Downs, Aniello, and co-creator Jen Statsky. They were joined by cinematographer Adam Bricker and production designer Rob Tokarz, for a virtual panel...

“Hacks” is now four seasons into an established comedy rhythm, even as it continues to find new ways to complicate the dynamic between standup legend Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). But that certainly doesn’t mean making the show has gotten easy or expected.

Co-creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky have always been pretty visual writers, with a clear sense of what they want, but they search with the tirelessness of Damian’s (Mark Indelicato) quest for coyote-warding bear piss to sculpt exactly the right comedy moments. So while they often aren’t “finding the show” in the edit in a wholesale way, they are searching every frame for what beat is the funniest.

“We do like to watch pretty much every take of everything. That is always going to be the thing we like to do,” Aniello told IndieWire on...

To date, Emmy voters have showered Only Murders in the Building with 49 nominations and seven wins, though none of the main actors has prevailed. That could all change for the buzzed-about fourth season, which aired last summer and is now eligible at the 2025 Emmys.

According to our updated odds, Martin Short (Oliver Putnam) is out front to win his Best Comedy Actor category, just months after he shockingly scored at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. His costars, Steve Martin (Charles-Haden Savage) and Selena Gomez (Mabel Mora), are both in sixth place for nominations. The three leads play unlikely crime-solvers who podcast about murders that occur in and around their building, the fancy-schmancy Arconia in New York City.

Season 4 features a sprawling roster of special guests, including two actors — Meryl Streep (Loretta Durkin) and Paul Rudd (Glen Stubbins) — who received supporting nominations last year. Due to an already-controversial new Emmy rule,...

It’s no secret that “Hacks” is well-liked around here at IndieWire. We’ve put it on our list of best TV shows, best shot TV shows, and dug into how their production design, costume, hair and makeup, and writing teams have all crafted a great comedy series. But the work that cinematographer Adam Bricker and his camera team pulled off while shooting on location in Singapore for the Season 4 finale, “Heaven,” includes a sequence that might be the most beautiful thing “Hacks” has ever shot — or any other TV comedy, for that matter.

There are actually two bravura montages in “Heaven.” Both of them catch Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) in a fraught place as a result of walking away from her Late Night series before seeing Ava (Hannah Einbinder) fired from it. The first, following a dejected Deborah around a bargain store one listless, late night in Vegas, glows...

Panels for shows like ‘House of the Dragon’ and others are launching on Max as it prepares its campaign to sway Emmy voters.

Last year, Max tried a unique tactic in order to win over more Emmy voters over: the platform made its For Your Consideration panels available for subscribers to stream on the service. Several shows on Max won big at the 2024 Emmy Awards, and the panels may have helped to sway some minds. That would explain why Warner Bros. Discovery is bringing back those panels in 2025, as announced on Tuesday.

Key Details: Available now: Max’s For Your Consideration panels are available as of Tuesday, June 3. Access galore: The panels offer access to talent both in front of and behind the camera. Best of the best: Panels for “Dune: Prophecy,” “The Pitt,” and more are available. Sign Up $9.99+ / month max via prime video

These For Your Consideration panels...

Hollywood seems to always take that cliché “write what you know” to heart when it comes to producing scripts about Hollywood. I enjoy those tales, of course, but that’s because my chosen profession is to report on this fascinating business. There’s clearly enough money, creativity, mystery, farce, scandal, glamour and spectacle for us to cover every single day at Variety. And all of the stuff that makes for good copy also makes for entertaining TV and film plot lines.

So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that three of this year’s biggest Emmy comedy contenders play in that space: “Hacks,” “The Studio” and “Only Murders in the Building.” All three have quite a bit of fun with industry tropes, and come a little too close for comfort with some of its satire. And they even crash into each other: “Hacks” creators Lucia Aniello, Jen Statsky and Paul W. Downs...

HBO Max's "Hacks" is arguably the series that gives Jean Smart her due, coming after she spent years killing it in shows like "Fargo," "Mayor of Easttown," and "Watchmen." The dramedy sees her play Deborah Vance, a comedian with fading popularity who hires a younger down-on-her-luck writer, Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), to punch up her material. Thus begins a messy relationship where styles and sensibilities often clash, but a bond forms that allows both of them to learn from each other.

"Hacks" is an unexpected success story that Einbinder thought would end after two seasons, but it's still going strong in its fourth installment -- winning Emmy Awards and garnering heaps of critical acclaim along the way. More impressively, the series has spooked Conan O'Brien due to the way in which season 4 authentically captures the world of late night television -- which he's experienced first-hand in real life. The late...

Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky are well-known to HBO fans as the creators and showrunners of Hacks. The acclaimed comedy stars Jean Smart as Deborah, an aging stand-up comic forced to partner with young writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) to try to get back to the top. The series has been a huge hit with Smart winning just about every Leading Actress in a Comedy award there is for her role.

Season 4 ended a rollercoaster ride for fans, with Deborah and Ava fighting to free Deborah from her talk show contract so she could get back on the road. The finale aired just hours after HBO gave the show a fifth-season renewal.

Speaking to Deadline, the trio did share a lot of details on season 4’s finale and what may come in season 5. They also teased the idea of a spinoff about agent Jimmy (Downs) and his goofball assistant Kayla (Megan Stalter). However,...

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Broad City Credit – Comedy Central

Broad City is a comedy series created by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. The Comedy Central series is set in New York City, and it follows best friends Abbi Abrams and Ilana Wexler as they struggle with their day-to-day life in the city. Broad City stars Jacobson, Glazer, Hannibal Buress, Paul W. Downs,...

While Hacksprimarily focuses on the love-hate relationship between Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), there's another complicated relationship going on in the background. Fans have latched on to the complicated back-and-forth between Deborah and Ava's manager, Jimmy (Paul W. Downs), and his assistant-turned-business partner, Kayla (Megan Stalter). Downs and Stalter recently talked to Variety about their characters, and if they could ever embark on a romance.

Stalter is aware that, much like Deborah and Ava, Hacks fans "ship" her with Jimmy: "There have been a lot of romantic fan edits of them. People are really romanticizing. Their bond is so strong. I mean, I don’t see them as a couple, but I understand why their relationship is so romantic." She's dubious that they'll end up together on the show: "I don’t think they'll be a couple, but that would be so funny next season, we...

The fourth season of “Hacks,” went out with a bang on May 29, hot on the heels of HBO Max renewing the series for Season 5. Cast and creatives are already teasing what might be in store for Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), Ava (Hannah Einbinder) and the gang for the next outing.

On Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Megan Stalter said that she has pitched a life-giving story for Kayla, who has risen from a confidently befuddled assistant to hilariously competent talent manager since the show launched in 2021.

“I really, really want Kayla to be pregnant,” Stalter said. “She doesn’t really know who the father is. It’s not Jimmy, but Jimmy steps up as the father.”

Jimmy, Kayla’s partner in the talent management sphere, happens to be played by “Hacks” co-creator Paul W. Downs.

“I love it,” Downs said of the idea. “I am a father figure.”

The writer-actor...