The focus is usually on the favorites and, after the ceremony, on the main winners of the gala. This has historically been the case with major awards and will be repeated with the 78th edition of the Emmys, which will be held this Sunday the 13th at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles (United States) starting at 9:00 p.m. (broadcast on HBO Max and TNT).
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But the presentation of the most important awards in American television is not only marked by the potential triumphs of The Pitt, Hacks or The Curse of Widow’s Bay – this year’s top nominees. They are also an excuse to delve into other matters related to the current state of the industry.
Cris Abrego (Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Hyphenate Media Group Television Academy Chair) and Maury McIntyre (President and Chief Executive Officer of the Television Academy), the institution’s top executives, know this well.
Here, in an interview with Culto, they break down the 2026 version of the award:
Mariska Hargitay is a legend of American television, but no one could have anticipated that she would be chosen to host the 78th edition of the ceremony. The truth is that the star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit enjoys great influence in the industry and comes off an impeccable year, thanks to her Broadway debut (Every Brilliant Thing) and the release of the documentary Jayne Mansfield, My Mother (which won two Emmys in technical categories last weekend).
Cris Abrego says her name came up while talking with NBC – the network responsible for this year’s broadcast – as they looked for “the best person for the job.” Although he acknowledges that her hiring is not a “standard choice,” since it is a position usually held by comedians, he highlights that “she is a talent in every sense. We are really excited about this choice, and she is too.”
For his part, Maury McIntyre shares a preview: “It has been a pleasure working with her. She is rallying as many friends as possible to join her, and she is very beloved in the industry. We often joke that at some point almost all our nominees have been a cast member on her show (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit).”
Categories are sometimes too narrow for some series. For example: The Curse of Widow’s Bay works both as a comedy and as a horror story with almost the same efficiency. This year, if it manages to upset Hacks, it will be the first winner of Best Comedy Series with clear horror elements. Still, it could be argued that it would be a winner more aligned with the norm than Barry, more a drama than a comedy, as has been discussed since its first season.
The institution’s spokespeople emphasize that the final word belongs to the creators, not them as the entity in charge of the Emmy presentation.
“I think everyone knows that television is a writers’ business. It is mainly led by the writer and creator, and the Television Academy does not necessarily consider that it should tell a creator what they have created,” says Maury McIntyre.
“It’s an ongoing conversation – points out Cris Abrego –. Obviously Barry was the most notable case in this regard. We try to be very aware of it, and I think everyone supports creators on the genre in which they themselves place their work.”
McIntyre proposes a plausible situation among voters: “If a writer says they have written a dark comedy, we want to trust their judgment about what they have written and let the members decide. If a creator says they wrote a dark comedy and the members think it is now a hard drama, they should not vote for it as Best Comedy Series; it may be a great series, but it does not seem to be the best comedy of the year. So that has been our philosophy.”
Chernobyl, Watchmen, Baby Deer and Adolescence are some of the titles that have won in this category over the last decade. And many others, of equal or greater quality, have been among the contenders. This year, to be honest, the competition looks weaker. The nominees are Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bissette, DTF St. Louis, The Beast in Me and All Her Fault, as well as the second season of Bronca, which took the award a couple of years ago.
Maury McIntyre has a different view. “Each one has exceptional quality, very different from the others and from previous years,” he says, assuring that the perception in the environment may be associated with the fact that there is no undisputed favorite in this edition.
“We think that is fantastic because it means there is competition. I don’t think anyone can say for sure, at the start of the year, that there is an undisputed winner in many categories. And that shows there is a great offer of quality programs,” he maintains.
In its quest to tune in with the new times, the Television Academy recently updated its rules. The organization specified that “it reserves the right to investigate the use of AI in submissions. The essence of our recognition remains focused on human storytelling, regardless of the tools used to bring it to life.”
Maury McIntyre explains that “the intention of the statement was that the awards are for human beings.” However, he warns, “we recognize that humans create tools daily that help them do their work better. In our view, AI is simply one of those tools. As long as it is used as a tool by a human, we consider it eligible to be evaluated and submitted to the Emmys.”
“We just wanted to make our position clear: we give the Emmys to human beings, not to something created by a machine,” he concludes.
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