Awards season buzz is already picking up in 2026, and the nominations for the Emmy Awards will be announced in the not-too-distant future. Unfortunately, network TV shows don’t get as much attention on the awards circuit as they once did, after the rise of online streaming services as well as premium cable’s prestige television. Some shows, like HBO Max’s The Pitt, FX’s The Bear, Peacock’s The Traitors, and HBO’s Hacks are all but guaranteed to earn some big nominations. Still, there are series on ABC, CBS, and NBC that are worthy of winning Emmys.
After all, Saturday Night Live is really the only network show that will reliably score a nomination each year. Abbott Elementary has earned a few solid wins for ABC, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert pulled off an upset in the Outstanding Talk Series category in 2025. Matlock‘s Kathy Bates made news just for being nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress and setting an Emmy record. There have been a few victories for network TV shows in recent years, but they’ve gotten fewer and farther between.
Shows that run for 20+ episodes under the constraints of network TV will probably never be dominant on the awards circuit again, but it’s still worth looking at some of the best of the best from the last broadcast season. The official nominations will be announced on July 8, and the 78th Emmy Awards will take place in September.
High Potential
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama – Kaitlin Olson
Prior to 2024, anybody who recognized Kaitlin Olson almost certainly knew her from FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or perhaps for her recurring guest role on HBO’s Hacks. As soon as High Potential arrived on ABC in late 2024, however, Olson proved that she’s as talented with drama as she is with comedy. She plays Morgan, a complicated single mom who uses her genius-level IQ to solve crimes with the LAPD.
If High Potential was nothing more than Morgan helping Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) and the rest of the LAPD close cases each week, the drama could have been written off as just another primetime procedural. The format of the show meant that it would either stand out from standard procedurals or flop, depending entirely on the lead performance.
Following the season 2 finale, it’s safe to say that the ABC drama certainly hasn’t flopped. Kaitlin Olson has proved herself as a leading lady on High Potential more than she’s ever had the opportunity to on Always Sunny.
Ghosts
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy – Utkarsh Ambudkar
Ghosts is still going strong on CBS, although the premise was nearly stretched thin by the end of the fifth season. The vast majority of the cast plays ghosts, who literally can’t leave the premises of Woodstone Mansion, and the fun shenanigans of only Sam (Rose McIver) being able to see them has veered more heavily into cringe humor. The actor who has one of the toughest jobs of the series has also consistently delivered from the start: Utkarsh Ambudkar as Jay.
As the straight man to all the ghostly hijinks of the house, Ambudkar might have had a pretty thankless role. Instead, Jay is one of the funniest characters of the show, and arguably the one who has shown the most substantial growth over the years. Yet, except for the Critics Choice Awards, Ghosts hasn’t earned many nominations from major industry events, and he has been snubbed.
While Ambudkar is technically more of a lead actor than a supporting actor, the other shows vying for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy are headlined by stars like Martin Short, Steve Carell, and Jason Segal. The Ghosts star might have a better chance in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category.
Elsbeth
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy – Steve Buscemi
Elsbeth‘s third season on CBS was also its first season to qualify as a comedy on the awards circuit, and one of the highlights was Steve Buscemi as a guest star opposite Carrie Preston.
Like most celebrity guests, Buscemi was on board as a murderer. The former Boardwalk Empire star played Simon, an obsessive crossword puzzle enthusiast who snapped and killed the editor. If that doesn’t sound particularly funny, Elsbeth has a knack for making the crimes hilarious each week, and Buscemi strangling a man with the drawstring of a nylon backpack definintely delivered some laughs. The episode, called “Murder Six Across,” is available streaming on Paramount+, and Buscemi’s performance makes it one of the most unforgettable from season 3.
The odds aren’t terrible for Buscemi to be recognized by the Emmys for his performance. SNL hosts frequently win for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy, so network television isn’t totally off the map for this category. Buscemi is also one of the biggest celebrities who guest-starred on Elsbeth.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Outstanding Talk Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been an institution on ABC for more than two decades, but the network abruptly pulled the show from the late night lineup in 2025 after the host’s controversial comments about Charlie Kirk. The highly-publicized fiasco meant that all eyes were on Kimmel to see how he would handle his return when he eventually came back. While Kimmel was visibly emotional throughout his first opening monologue after the suspension, he managed to address the serious issue while still delivering some laughs.
Jimmy Kimmel Almost Lost ABC Gig To Another Famous Late-Night Host
Jimmy Kimmel reveals which famous late-night talk show host nearly got his ABC gig.
Kimmel and the rest of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! team pulled off a stellar return after a very scandalous suspension. The ABC show would have seemed like a lock to win the Outstanding Talk Series category, if not for the fact that Stephen Colbert’s last season of The Late Show was airing in the same season. The Late Show is likely to win the category for the second year in a row, and Colbert had an excellent final run of episodes.
That doesn’t make Jimmy Kimmel Live! any less deserving of credit for navigating the fiasco, and the odds at least seem good that the ABC series will be one of the nominees.
Chicago Fire
Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Drama
NBC is the place to be on network TV for action that is worthy of the big screen, and Chicago Fire is the clear standout for stunt sequences. In addition to frequently filming on location in the Windy City, the show has been relying heavily on practical effects from the start, and cast members like Taylor Kinney and Miranda Rae Mayo perform some of their own stunts.
Season 14 saved its best stunts for last, and the season finale inferno could actually kill off several One Chicago characters. Nearly 300 episodes in, Chicago Fire is still delivering stunts so seamlessly that they seem like they shouldn’t be possible on network television. Former showrunner Derek Haas even weighed in the show regularly getting snubbed, telling CinemaBlend that it’s “crazy” that other shows win Emmys for stunts while Fire goes unacknowledged.
Admittedly, Chicago Fire isn’t the only show that deserves an Emmy for stunt work, but it is the show that’s most overdue.
Stumble
Outstanding Casting In A Comedy
Stumble brought the world of junior college cheerleading to NBC, and the mockumentary was packed with clever sight gags and word play. Unfortunately, not enough people were tuning in, and the comedy was cancelled after just one season. Being cancelled doesn’t negate the fact that Stumble is worthy of the Emmy for Outstanding Casting in a Comedy.
The headliners were Jenn Lyon (Claws), Taran Killam (Saturday Night Live), and Kristin Chenoweth (Pushing Daisies), but the heart of Stumble really came from the relatively unknown actors who played the cheerleaders. Most of them were still in the very early stages of their careers when they landed their roles, and they proved that they didn’t need a long list of comedy credits to deliver plenty of laughs.
Stumble deserves credit for filling out the cast with young actors who could hold their own in scenes opposite Lyon, Killam, and Chenoweth. Despite the cancellation, the one and only season is definitely rewatchable thanks to the chemistry between the actors.
Matlock
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama – Skye P. Marshall
Kathy Bates gets a lot of well-deserved credit for putting Matlock on the map for CBS, but Skye P. Marshall also delivers powerhouse performances on a weekly basis as Olympia Lawrence. By the end of season 2, Olympia and Matty had the most important relationship of the series, and a lot of what works goes down to the on-screen chemistry between Marshall and Bates.
Matlock season 3 won’t arrive until 2027, but Marshall only needed two seasons to prove why she deserves to be recognized at the Emmys. It’s also not entirely implausible that she’ll at least be nominated.
Kathy Bates was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama for her work in season 1, and Olympia had a much more nuanced storyline in season 2 than she did in Season 1. Matlock is already a rare network TV drama to actually be recognized on the awards circuit in recent years, and that could work in Marshall’s favor in 2026.
One Chicago’s 2026 Crossover Event
Outstanding Television Movie
No franchise on television is as cohesive as NBC’s One Chicago, and the massive crossover in 2026 was the biggest and most cinematic event to date. Between bringing back former fan favorites and using a literal airplane for this year’s three-part crisis, One Chicago went so far above and beyond that it’s a shame the crossover presumably doesn’t qualify for the Outstanding Television Movie category.
The three episodes of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med blended together seamlessly for one of the franchise’s biggest in-universe emergencies to date, and the returns of Tracy Spiridakos as Hailey Upton and Jesse Lee Soffer as Jay Halstead elevated the crossover into a cinematic event. Plus, the three shows managed to make the crossover happen while still in production on their regular seasons. If there was an Emmy for Outstanding Scheduling, One Chicago’s three-parter would deserve it for the logistics alone. A nomination for Outstanding Television Movie just may not be possible.
Unfortunately, according to the Television Academy’s Rules and Procedures, a “movie is defined as an original program, which tells a story with a beginning, middle and end, and is broadcast/streamed in one part with a minimum running time of 75 minutes,” and “extended-length episodes of series may only be entered in the series area and may not be entered as movies.” That seems like enough to rule One Chicago’s three-show crossover event out of the Outstanding Television Movie category at the 2026 Emmys.
- Location
-
The Peacock Theater, Los Angeles, CA
- Dates
-
September 14, 2026
