The 2026 Emmys nominations were revealed on Wednesday, July 8, and now the dust has settled, HELLO! is taking a look at some of the incredible records that were made and broken, including by Matthew Rhys, Sir David Attenborough, and HBO Max.
Returning shows The Pitt and Hacks dominated the 2026 nominations with 25 a-piece across all categories, while Widow’s Bay led all freshman series with 19 nominations, while Pluribus (from the man behind Breaking Bad) secured 18 nominations in the drama categories.
Double Whammy
© Apple TV
Jason Bateman and Matthew Rhys were among the nominees who made history, as the two actors became the first in Emmys history to receive career nominations in all three lead acting categories: Drama, Comedy and Limited Series.
Welsh actor Matthew received a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for his performance in Netflix’s The Beast In Me, and he was also nominated for his work on Apple TV show Widow’s Bay in Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy.
He was previously nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama for his work on The Americans (winning in 2018) and as the titular Perry Mason in the HBO series.
© © 2026 Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc
Jason received a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for his performance in Netflix’s Black Rabbit; he has also been nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy for Arrested Development in 2005 and 2023, and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama for Ozark in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022.
Jason was also nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his role as Clark Forrest in HBO Max’s DTF St. Louis at the 2026 ceremony.
No actor has ever been nominated in all acting categories, although Cloris Leachman holds the ultimate record, nominated in seven different acting categories over her career.
Laura Linney, Edie Falco, Tyne Daly, and Sterling K. Brown have all picked up four career nominations.
Matthew breaks John Goodman’s record
Matthew is also the first actor since John Goodman in 1995 to pick up nominations in two of the three leading actor categories.
John was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long, and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Roseanne.
John did not win either at the 1995 ceremony.
Sir David
© BBC
Sir David Attenborough broke his own record when he became the oldest Emmy nominee ever, receiving two nominations for Outstanding Narrator at the age of 100.
He celebrated the milestone birthday earlier in 2026, and had previously been nominated at the age of 99.
Sir David has won four Emmy Awards in total: three Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Narrator in 2018, 2019, and 2020, and in 2025, he won his first Daytime Emmy for Daytime Personality – Non-Daily.
Hacks breaks comedy record
© © 2025 Home Box Office, Inc. Al
HBO Max’s Hacks broke the record for the most nominations ever received by a Comedy series in a single year, scoring 24.
The previous record was jointly held by The Studio (2025) and The Bear (2024) each with 23 nominations.
However the HBO Max show received a total of 25 nominations across all categories; Hacks: Bit by Bit, a documentary series that provides a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the show, received a nomination for Outstanding Shortform Non-fiction or Reality Series.
A Peacock first
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The Sarah Snook-led drama All Her Fault became Peacock’s first scripted series to receive an Emmy program nomination. The streaming service launched in 2020.
The limited series received three nominations including acting nods for Sarah and Elle Fanning.
Stephen Colbert
© Getty Images
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, last year’s winner for Outstanding Talk Series and Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, received a record nine Emmy nominations.
It was the show’s biggest haul ever — and came weeks after Stephen closed out his tenure as a late-night host after CBS canceled the show amid speculation of political motivations.
