Mariska Hargitay, star of "Law & Order: SVU," is hosting the Emmy Awards as the ceremony gets underway Monday evening.
HBO's medical drama "The Pitt" enters the night as the most-nominated series, pulling in 25 nominations across the board, including outstanding drama, lead actor and drama director recognition for Noah Wyle, along with seven acting nods split between supporting actor and actress categories. The show, which took home the outstanding drama trophy last year, nearly doubled its previous haul of 13 nominations.
Right behind it is HBO's "Hacks," which collected 24 nominations for its final season, setting a new all-time record for comedy nominations. The previous record of 23 nominations had been shared by "The Bear" and "The Studio." Lead actress Jean Smart is in contention for her fifth Emmy for the series and eighth overall, a win that would tie her for the most Emmy victories ever by an actress. Her co-stars Hannah Einbinder, Meg Stalter and Paul W. Downs also picked up supporting acting nominations.
Apple TV's new horror comedy "Widow's Bay" made a strong first impression with 19 nominations, including outstanding comedy, lead actor recognition for Matthew Rhys, and supporting nods for Stephen Root, Dale Dickey and Kate O'Flynn. Apple's other new title, "Pluribus," also performed well with 18 nominations, including best drama, lead actress recognition for Rhea Seehorn, and supporting nominations for Carlos Manuel Vesga and Karolina Wydra.
In the limited series and anthology field, Netflix's "Beef" topped the category with 16 nominations, with Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan both nominated for lead actor and lead actress, respectively.
Photo: Joella Marano from Manhattan, NY, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
