2025 Emmy Award Nominations Live Blog: I'm Reacting To Severance And The Studio Crushing So Hard, And The Biggest Head-Scratching Snubs

Welcome, TV Lovers And Award Show Fanatics!

The Emmy nominations are almost always a hurried and harried affair, so let's make sure we have all our much-needed items nearby to help us make it through the morning.

Coffee? Check.
More coffee? Check.
The rest of the coffee? Check.

Well, that was quicker than expected. So let's take a look at the first of two categories already announced this morning.

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

• The Amazing Race
• RuPaul’s Drag Race
• Survivor
• Top Chef
• The Traitors

MY PREDICTION: The Traitors

Outstanding Talk Series

• The Daily Show
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

MY PREDICTION: The Daily Show, which has won the past two years of the "post-John Oliver winning every year" era

It's Go Time

Big props to Chairman Cris Abrego for kicking things off. He gets my nomination for whatever this would be nominated for.

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie

• Colin Farrell, “The Penguin”
• Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”
• Jake Gyllenhaal, "Presumed Innocent"
• Brian Tyree Henry, “Dope Thief”
• Cooper Koch, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”

MY PREDICTION: Stephen Graham

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie

• Cate Blanchett, “Disclaimer”
• Meaghann Fahy “Sirens”
• Rashida Jones, “Black Mirror”
• Cristin Milioti, “The Penguin”
• Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”

MY PREDICTION: Michelle Williams

Outstanding Limited Series

• Adolescence
• Black Mirror
• Dying for Sex
• Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
• The Penguin

MY PREDICTION: Adolescence

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy

• Uzo Aduba, “The Residence”
• Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”
• Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
• Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
• Jean Smart, “Hacks”

MY PREDICTION: Jean Smart

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy

• Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”
• Seth Rogen, “The Studio”
• Jason Segel, “Shrinking”
• Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
• Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”

MY PREDICTION: Seth Rogen

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Abbott Elementary
• The Bear
• Hacks
• Nobody Wants This
• Only Murders in the Building
• Shrinking
• The Studio
• What We Do in the Shadows

MY PREDICTION: The Studio

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama

• Kathy Bates, “Matlock”
• Sharon Horgan, “Bad Sisters”
• Britt Lower, “Severance”
• Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”
• Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”

MY PREDICTION: Britt Lower

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama

• Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise”
• Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”
• Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us”
• Adam Scott, “Severance”
• Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”

MY PREDICTION: Sterling K. Brown

Outstanding Drama Series

• Andor
• The Diplomat
• The Last of Us
• Paradise
• The Pitt
• Severance
• Slow Horses
• The White Lotus

MY PREDICTION: Severance

Additional Limited Series & TV Movie Nominations

I'm not sure if it's just me, or if everyone else also always believes that the prior year's Emmy nominations were spread out and timed better. With zero supporting performer categories being addressed in the live announcement, I'm going to run through those as well for the major categories.

Outstanding TV Movie

• Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
• The Gorge
• Mountainhead (MY PREDICTION)
• Nonnas
• Rebel Ridge

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie

• Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”
• Ruth Negga “Presumed Innocent”
• Deirdre O’Connell, “The Penguin” (MY PREDICTION)
• Chloë Sevigny, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
• Jenny Slate, “Dying for Sex”
• Christine Tremarco, “Adolescence”

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie

• Javier Bardem, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" (MY PREDICTION)
• Bill Camp “Presumed Innocent”
• Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”
• Rob Delaney, “Dying for Sex”
• Peter Sarsgaard, “Presumed Innocent”
• Ashley Walters, “Adolescence”

Additional Comedy Series Nominations

Same deal here for the Comedy noms.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy

• Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear”
• Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks” (MY PREDICTION)
• Kathryn Hahn, “The Studio”
• Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”
• Catherine O’Hara, “The Studio”
• Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”
• Jessica Williams, “Shrinking”

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy

• Ike Barinholtz, “The Studio” (MY PREDICTION)
• Colman Domingo “The Four Seasons”
• Harrison Ford, “Shrinking”
• Jeff Hiller, “Somebody Somewhere”
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
• Michael Urie, “Shrinking”
• Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series

• Olivia Colman, “The Bear”
• Jamie Lee Curtis, "The Bear"
• Cynthia Erivo, "Poker Face"
• Robby Hoffman, “Hacks”
• Zoë Kravitz, "The Studio"
• Julianne Nicholson, "Hacks" (MY PREDICTION)

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

• Jon Bernthal, "The Bear”
• Bryan Cranston, "The Studio" (MY PREDICTION)
• Dave Franco, “The Studio”
• Ron Howard, "The Studio"
• Anthony Mackie, “The Studio”
• Martin Scorsese, "The Studio"

Additional Drama Series Nominations

Stop me if you've heard this one....we're looking at the unmentioned Drama categories.

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama

• Patricia Arquette, “Severance”
• Carrie Coon, “The White Lotus”
• Julianne Nicholson, “Paradise”
• Parker Posey, “The White Lotus” (MY PREDICTION)
• Natasha Rothwell, “The White Lotus”
• Aimee Lou Wood, “The White Lotus”

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama

• Zach Cherry, “Severance”
• Walton Goggins, “The White Lotus”
• Jason Isaacs, “The White Lotus”
• James Marsden, “Paradise”
• Sam Rockwell, “The White Lotus”
• Tramell Tillman, “Severance” (MY PREDICTION)
• John Turturro, “Severance”

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama

• Jane Alexander, "Severance"
• Gwendoline Christie, "Severance" (MY PREDICTION)
• Kaitlin Dever, "The Last Of Us"
• Cherry Jones, "The Handmaid's Tale"
• Catherine O'Hara, "The Last Of Us"
• Merritt Wever, "Severance"

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama

• Giancarlo Esposito, “The Boys”
• Scott Glenn, “The White Lotus”
• Shawn Hatosy, “The Pitt”
• Joe Pantoliano, “The Last Of Us” (MY PREDICTION)
• Forest Whitaker, “Andor”
• Jeffrey Wright, “The Last Of Us“

Praise Kier For All These Severance Nominations!

Holy ORTBO, people! One of the biggest winners of the day is already Severance, even months before the actual awards get handed out. If anyone was worried about the Apple TV+ drama not making much of an impact after a three-year absence, the whopping 27 Emmy nominations is proof that this show is a critical darling of the highest order.

Season 2 earned NINE acting nominations — Jane Alexander, Patricia Arquette, Zach Cherry, Gwendoline Christie, Britt Lower, Adam Scott, Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, and Merritt Wever — and the other 18 nods were across a variety of different categories. From various Picture Editing nods to a pair of Outstanding Direction noms to ones for stunts, music composition, visual effects and more.

Oh yeah, and Outstanding Drama Series, the biggest award of the night. I'm a huge Severance obsessive, so if the show wins all 27 awards, I would come away happy. (And also confused, since several of the nominated talents are competing against each other in the same category, and thus would make it impossible for all 27 to win, but nothing is impossible at Lumon.)

2025 Emmys By (Some Of) The Numbers

As it normally goes, a bulk of the Emmy nominations went to a relatively limited number of shows. But it wasn't just the same three shows this year, even though past behemoths like Hacks and The Bear are still showing up in a big way. Let's look at some of the more interesting stats to be culled from this year's noms.

• Shows With The Most Nominations
  • Severance - 27
  • The Penguin - 24
  • The Studio - 23
  • The White Lotus - 23
  • The Last Of Us - 16
  • Hacks - 14
  • Andor - 14
  • Adolescence - 13
  • The Bear - 13
  • The Pitt - 13
• Networks / Streaming Platforms With The Most Nominations
  • HBO / HBO Max - 142
  • Netflix - 120
  • Apple TV+ - 79
  • ABC - 37
  • FX on Hulu - 35
  • NBC - 29
  • Disney+ - 28
  • CBS - 26
  • Hulu - 23
  • Peacock - 19

While so many accolades go to shows that have been on the air for years, I'm always intrigued by which completely new series end up getting nominated across the categories, since it means those shows went above and beyond to capture everyone's attention spans. This year is no exception, either. Check out some of the biggest wins amongst freshman TV shows, not counting limited series.

• Most Nominations For New Shows
  • The Studio - 23
  • The Pitt - 13
  • The Residence - 4
  • Mid-Century Modern - 4
  • Nobody Wants This. - 3
  • The Diplomat. - 3
  • Agatha All Along - 3
  • The Four Seasons - 1
  • Matlock - 1
  • Pop Culture Jeopardy! - 1
  • The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives - 1
  • Bad Thoughts - 1

A Few Quick Takes From CinemaBlend's Riley Utley

When asked to talk about some of her most positive takeaways from the Emmy nominations, she first gave credit to the voters for letting surprises into Drama's Supporting Actor category:

Another big plus in Riley's book? The love showered onto the acclaimed limited series Dying for Sex. Here's what she had to say:

Expect to hear a bit more from Riley when it comes to snubs.

POLL: Let Us Know What Show You Think Should Win Outstanding Drama Series

Since I've already shared my impulsive predictions for what actors and series will win when the Emmys air in September, let me get YOUR thoughts on what should win for Outstanding Drama series.

POLL: Let Us Know What Show You Think Should Win Outstanding Comedy Series

Second verse, same as the first. Or in this case: Second poll, same as...the first...roll. Ugh. Everyone forget what was just said, and answer the poll below!

The 6 Most Glaring Drama TV Snubs From The 2025 Emmy Nominations

Even with all the Severance nominations at play, I could still spend the next 10-15 minutes yapping about all the parts of the show that didn't get attention for. But none of that would readily count as a snub, so let's take a look at some of the examples that actually count.

In no discernible order:

1. Barely any love for the long-anticipated final season of The Handmaid's Tale or its star/producer Elisabeth Moss. The only nominee for the previous Oustanding Drama winner is Cherry Jones for her guest spot.
2. For all the nominations that The White Lotus did earn, this is the kind of show that's an embarrassment of acting riches where everyone is relegated to Supporting categories. But it's worth pointing out that Michelle Monaghan and Patrick Schwarzenegger were two of the core stars who did not get recognized by the TV Academy.
3. The Pitt's cast readily deserved more acting honors than the three that were announced. Noah Wyle, Katherine LaNasa, and Shawn Hatosy were certainly deserving, but what about other standouts like Fiona Dourif or Tracy Ifeachor or Taylor Dearden? The list goes on.
4. Allison Janney should probably get an automatic Emmy nom anytime she stars in anything, and her work on The Diplomat did not prove to be an exception to that assumption.
5. Somewhat rare is the Outstanding Drama or Comedy series that doesn't earn nominations for any of its lead and supporting actors, while Star Wars Emmy noms are even rarer. But for all that Andor racked up a ton of below-the-line appreciation, the only two performers nominated are Alan Tudyk for Voiceover and Forest Whitaker for Guest Actor.
6. I guess I didn't really expect Yellowjackets to have a ton of sway with Season 3 nominees, but it still feels like a big middle finger to the horror genre.

The 6 Most Glaring Comedy TV Snubs From The 2025 Emmy Nominations

Now let's thumb our nose at the TV Academy voters whose actions led to the following comedy-centric snubs.

1. I get that It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is like Emmy kryptonite and may have a lasting effect on its stars, but I don't understand how Kaitlin Olson missed out on a full trio of nominations. She definitely deserved it for heading up ABC's High Potential, she definitely deserved it for her emotional return to Hacks' fourth season, and she probably deserved it for guest-starring as Sweet Dee in Abbott Elementary's big crossover episode. Get your shit together, dawg.
2. After getting nominated in 2022, 2023 and 2024, Tyler James Williams missed out on his first Emmy nomination since Abbott Elementary began. To me, that’s shocking. One, because he’s remarkable as Gregory, and arguably gave one of his best performances in Season 4, as his relationship with Janine flourished. However, this also highlights a long-standing snub too, as Chris Perfetti was left out once again of the Supporting actor category. So, all around, it’s shocking and disappointing that the actors of Abbott didn’t get nominated. (Written by Riley Utley)
3. Let’s talk about a long-time Emmys oversight: The Righteous Gemstones. Across its four seasons, it has received ten nominations, but none for the major categories, which is a shame. The fourth and final season was remarkable, and while I’m thrilled it picked up six nominations, it should have gotten more. I wish Danny McBride, Bradley Cooper and the cast got nods for their performances. And it 100% should have been a frontrunner for Outstanding Comedy. However, it’s sadly never been a contender. (Written by Riley Utley)

4. I am very pleased that What We Do In The Shadows earned a nomination for Oustanding Comedy for its absolutely superb sixth and final season, but I'll never understand how this cast doesn't get more awards love. If you have Harvey Guillén hosting the nomination announcements, it sure would be nice if he was also listed among them. R.I.P. Guillermo's Emmy dreams.
5. Yes, I'll keep the horror bent going here by endlessly griping that Agatha All Along was completely shut out of any acting categories, while Kathryn Hahn did earn a nomination for her work on The Studio. Certainly well-deserved, but I know somebody put some kind of hex on this shit. Was it Wanda? So jealous.
6. How is Natasha Lyonne not an automatic lock for this category? She's this generation's vape-pluming Jessica Fletcher, and she deserves awards.

CinemaBlend's Laura Hurley Is Hyped For Matlock, Shocked By Pedro Pascal

Before dipping into another list of big snubs, let's turn back to the positive side for some good vibes from CinemaBlend's own Laura Hurley.

Once upon a time, Emmy nominations were full of network TV shows getting awards love, but that changed with the advent of premium cable and streaming dramas. I’m delighted to see that after Kathy Bates took the top prize for Best Actress as the 2025 Critics Choice Awards for her work in CBS’ Matlock, she has officially been nominated for Best Actress in a Drama at the 2025 Emmys. Not only is she the only star representing network TV in a Drama category, but she has made history as the oldest nominee for Best Actress at the age of 77. I’m rooting for network TV to get some love this year, and Kathy Bates has certainly delivered the kinds of performances as Matty Matlock to deserve an Emmy.

The Last of Us finally returned for Season 2 after two years of hiatus, but fans wouldn’t get another full batch of episodes with Pedro Pascal opposite Bella Ramsey. His character, Joel Miller, was killed off in just the second episode, and Pascal would ultimately only be credited with three of the season’s seven episodes. Don’t get me wrong – I cried when Joel was killed off despite thinking I’d pull through without any tears, but I was still surprised to see Pascal nominated for Best Actor in a Drama Series. I’m not predicting that he’ll win up against stiff leading man competition, but I did a double take when I saw him nominated as a lead.

The 3 Most Glaring Limited/Unscripted TV Snubs From The 2025 Emmy Nominations

Now let's cap off our closer look at Emmy snubs with Limited Series and Unscripted categories.

1. I'm not sure what anyone is meant to glean from this, but the fact that both Late Night with Seth Myers and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Kimmel were left out of the Talk Show category's THREE nominations cannot mean great things.
2. Am I wrong for thinking LEGO Masters is still one of the most feel-good reality TV shows out there? Plus, Will Arnett is as great a host as it gets, and he'll be the first, second, and third to agree.
3. Anytime a mainstay nominee like The Voice goes without a nod, it's a shock. And one that leaves the door open for other shows to swoop in.