Entertainment
HBO Emmy Campaign Perseverance Should Pay Off
The following article is an excerpt from the new edition of “IndieWire’s The Lead Up,” a weekly newsletter in which our Awards Editor Marcus Jones takes readers on the awards trail, interviewing key figures responsible for some of the most compelling stories of the season, and offering predictions on who will win. Subscribe here to receive the newsletter in your inbox each week.
Going into the week before final Emmys voting kicked off, if you asked me which nominee would win Outstanding Comedy Series, I would have said “Widow’s Bay.” To be second in Comedy nominations after only premiering in May (and with its final three episodes not even eligible this year) is quite the feat for Apple TV’s freshman horror comedy. However — and disclaimer: I say this not having gone to the show’s events at the Culver Hotel and the Hollywood Forever Cemetery — I’ve since changed tune.
For as much of said feat it was for “Widow’s Bay” to build that kind of momentum, I fear many of us have been overlooking how “Hacks,” in its final season, broke the record for most nominations for a single season of a comedy with 24 nods. The pioneering HBO Max has only won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series once, but it has been a major player in the comedy categories from the start of its run, winning three Emmys each year the show’s been eligible.
Recently, I talked to Television Academy President and CEO Maury McIntyre about the significance of having major Emmys frontrunners like “Hacks” star Jean Smart and the “South Park” creators as this year’s TV Academy Hall of Fame inductees, and how clips of Smart’s speech really proved to be resonant after the fact. But the event that really sealed the deal was the “Deborah Vance & Friends & Enemies Live!” concert at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, which happened last Friday, right before voting opened.
Smart and her fellow Emmy-nominated costars Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs, Lauren Weedman, and Meg Stalter (via video message), all made appearances in character for the standup show that also incorporated sets from actual comedians Naomi Ekperigin and Pat Regan (a longtime writer on the show). The finale, in which Smart and Einbinder lip-synced to Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland duet “Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again” to close the series finale, did serve as a beautiful bookend to the whole “Hacks” experience.
But the aspect that felt the most pivotal to the Emmys conversation was the reminder that the award is for comedy.
I do easily believe people find “Widow’s Bay” to be funnier than “The Bear,” for example, but the Apple TV series transparently presents itself as a genre mashup. There are many moments where it’s downright scary. Having “Hacks” hammer that its ultimate goal is to really make the audience laugh is a strategy that helped the show best “The Bear” in 2024, even as the FX series ended up with a record amount of Emmy wins for a “comedy.”
So while “Widow’s Bay” has even more credence than said predecessor to call itself funny, this being the last moment to recognize “Hacks” may up the show’s significance even more in the eyes of voters.
And again, for due diligence, I did go to the “Widow’s Bay” panel at Televerse, the festival organized by the TV Academy, which had panels for five out of the eight Outstanding Comedy Series nominees. Knowing that it was one of the first panels to sell out across the board, I had been anticipating it being a fight to get into the room, but there was really not that type of Comic Con-level hysteria I expected. The room was full, but it did look like there were empty seats here and there. Nominated stars Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn, Dale Dickey, Stephen Root, and Jeff Hiller were all very charming, to the point where I’d have them as frontrunners in their categories still, but I think “Hacks” just did a better job over the weekend with its messaging for why someone should vote for it to win Outstanding Comedy Series.
The other panels I went to at Televerse were for “Shrinking” and “Beef,” as I tried to gauge whether the event would do anything to boost the campaigns of nominees like Harrison Ford or Oscar Isaac or Charles Melton, who would all benefit from just one last blitz toward the Emmys finish line. However, I do feel like the festival was lacking that bit of encouraging energy. It was not an overwhelming amount of attendance, it was more a whelming amount of attendance. The rooms were just full enough.
What I found most interesting was that actors who received an Emmy nomination in spite of their shows not being nominated are pretty much screwed in terms of getting stage time at Televerse. For example, “Wonder Man” star Yahya Adbul-Mateen II is the sole nominee for his Disney+ series. If he wanted to participate in Televerse, the festival would not have a panel for the show, so he would need to find a different panel to participate in. However, the panels and workshops that are separate from the festival’s FYC programming hardly include any actors at all unless it’s a reunion like the ones staged for “Band of Brothers,” “Revenge,” etc. this year.
The only studio that found a way around the issue HBO, which had “Task” star Tom Pelphrey, who is in a similar boat as an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series nominee for a show that did not receive an Outstanding Drama Series nomination, moderate the Televerse panel for fellow HBO series “DTF: St Louis,” an Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series nominee.
That is another small example of the ingenuity HBO showed over the final weekend before final Emmys voting opened. While it felt like other studios were bending to will of what feels like mandatory participation in Televerse, HBO both milked the event for all it was worth and took the risk of becoming counter-programming for it.
In addition to the “Hacks” stand-up event being on the same Friday that the festival started, HBO had its annual all-day Emmy Nominee Celebration on Sunday, the closing day of Televerse. While Televerse takes place at the J.W. Marriott in Downtown Los Angeles, in an area really only accessible by car or train, the HBO event occurred right in the center of Hollywood at Nya Studios.
Whether it was the programming itself, or the more central location, the Emmy Nominee Celebration had that effect of eager audience members spilling out the aisles to see a panel that I was looking for when judging the efficacy of a show’s presentation at Televerse. Obviously, there was a ton of interest in “The Pitt” and “Hacks,” which have both already won the Emmys for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Comedy Series before, respectively, but because the event had a no re-entry policy, there was also a full house for panels on Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series nominee “The Yogurt Shop Murders” or Outstanding Movie nominee “Miss You, Love You.”
It even opened with Mariska Hargitay, a current double nominee for her documentary special “My Mom Jayne,” using her presentation as practice for hosting this year’s Primetime Emmys on NBC on Monday, September 14.
In the final weekend before Emmys voting, HBO Max really exemplified the phrase “It ain’t over till it’s over.” While I’d argue that “The Pitt” was never really at risk of ever slipping out of favor among Outstanding Drama Series voters, I do think the final push was needed to tip “Hacks” back toward being the top Outstanding Comedy Series contender.
The real question will be whether “Beef” or “DTF: St. Louis” wins for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. While the latter show had well produced panels, even industry insiders I spoke to over the weekend all fear voters are too familiar with the Emmy-winning Netflix anthology to vote otherwise.
See IndieWire’s full list of 2026 Emmy predictions, complete with frontrunners, contenders, and long shots on our website. As a reminder, my email is majones@indiewire.com if you’d like to share any feedback.
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EXCLUSIVE: It’s that time in the comedy calendar when SNL begins taking major focus, with casting for the next season shaping up.
Up to this point, all that’s been announced for Season 52 is Chloe Fineman‘s exit after seven seasons as she shifts focus toward acting and other opportunities. But Tuesday, the SNL team wrapped their fifth and final showcase, with an eye out for talent for the upcoming fall season.
As is customary, staffers hit three big markets: Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Flying under the radar as the “Characters Showcase,” the first took place in L.A. on August 6th. Chicago showcases took place at Annoyance Theatre and The iO Theater on the 10th and 11th, respectively. Last but not least, there were the NY showcases, which we’re told took place at UCB on the 17th and 18th.
So who were the standouts? Names that emerged from L.A. included Trent Mason, Kaba Hues, Chase Rosenberg, and April Rock.
Peyton Ruddy, a 2026 JFL New Face, “dominated” in Chicago, per our sources. Meanwhile, everyone in New York was said to be “raving” about Joey Welsh. Other New York talents highlighted included Allisha Edwards, Amber Singletary, and Saidah Belo-Osagie, to name a few.
As far as big-picture thoughts behind the scenes, the sense is that there’s been a desire to to address the cast’s lack of Black female representation since Ego Nwodim’s departure in 2025 after seven seasons.
Something that’s been widely discussed among reps since last year, this seems to be reflected by the standouts our sources shared with us: Hues, Rock, Edwards, Singletary, and Belo-Osagie are all female performers of color.
Other names that caught our eye out of the showcases included Ismael Loutfi, who made our list of Stand-Ups to Keep an Eye on in 2026, as well as Ethan Edenburg, Eric Jackowitz, and Tom McGovern — the three members of well known comedy rock band Wolves of Glendale.)
Next up in the casting process: Screen tests — we’re told that as of the last hour, calls to talent advancing to the next stage have begun going out.
Sources cautioned that our lists below should be taken with a grain of salt: there’s always a chance of omissions, and even a comedian who didn’t showcase may be asked to test. Also of note is the fact that two names — Leo Gonzalez and Megan Ramsey — came up on lists for both Chicago and New York, for reasons that remain unclear.
Reps for SNL didn’t respond to requests for comment. We’ll chronicle further developments as they happen.
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Paramount‘s purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery could be devastating for California and the entertainment industry, costing the state 4,500 film and TV production jobs and putting at risk $1.26 billion in wages, according to a new report commissioned by Los Angeles County.
The assessment comes from CVL Economics, which notes that the union of the two entertainment conglomerates will force the companies to cut costs aggressively as they try to pay down nearly $80 billion in debt. The study’s authors estimate that the merger could have a much wider impact across the state, putting at risk 10,360 jobs, ranging from producers and agents to people who rent sound equipment. The study notes that tax incentives in states like Georgia and New Jersey, as well as foreign countries like the United Kingdom have already led to an exodus of production out of California, costing the state 52,000 jobs over the last four years.
In a statement to Variety, a spokesperson for Paramount said the job defections make the sale of Warner Bros. Discovery more pressing. Paramount has promised to produce 30 movies a year between the two studios, dwarfing the output of any other legacy studio, and to adhere to a longer theatrical window. It also has pledged to invest $30 billion annually in production.
““L.A. County’s own economic report underscores what we have been saying all along: our industry is in decline, production is down and jobs are being lost — and lost for good if we don’t act,” a Paramount spokesperson said.
Paramount’s spokesperson added that its plan means “more production that supports more jobs over time, and ultimately, a stronger, more durable entertainment industry for generations to come.”
While the bulk of the research centers on macroeconomic issues and the constriction in the major studio space, the study also provides a sobering look at what ails the indie film sector. It notes that even as more companies released movies in theaters, there are more films being self-distributed than ever. Instead of finding an established buyer, in many cases, producers financed a theatrical run themselves.
The share of U.S. theatrical releases reaching screens without being acquired rose from 4.7% in 2021 to 21% in 2025, the report said. It noted that at Sundance, the number of films acquired and subsequently released theatrically fell from 104 in 2019 to 53 in 2025. At the same time, the number of companies releasing films in theaters increased from 308 in 2015 to 365 in 2025, as streamers began to embrace cinemas. Yet, the number of these companies acquiring films produced by others declined from 166 to 149.
“Independent films are still reaching theaters, but producers are increasingly doing so without a buyer assuming the cost and risk of release,” the study’s authors note. “A smaller acquisition market means fewer opportunities to sell a completed film and transfer that risk to a distributor—making independent production a more difficult and financially exposed pathway.”
Now, that said, neither Warner Bros. nor Paramount have acquired many independently produced films, at least of the completed variety, of late. Years ago, Warner Bros./New Line bought “Blinded by the Light” at Sundance and Paramount shelled out for “Top Five” at TIFF, but today most indie films are snapped up by speciality labels, if they are purchased at all. After folding its arthouse label, Warner Independent Pictures in 2008, Warner Bros. got back into the business last year with the launch of Clockwork. As for Paramount, it turned out the lights on its prestige arm, Paramount Vantage, in 2013. But that was when the Redstones ran things.
So, as bad as the merger could be for the entertainment industry, as devastating as it may prove to the California economy, it’s a stretch to pin the blame for the indie sector’s nosedive on David Ellison.
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Shortly after reports surfaced that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle plan to move back to the United Kingdom this month, critics on both sides of the pond weighed in on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision.
Piers Morgan, one of the duchess’ most prominent and vocal critics, took to X on Wednesday amid the news, initially sharing a hand-on-face emoji. He then followed up his post with a quip, writing, “May have to emigrate to the U.S.”
Morgan’s response was particularly noteworthy given his complicated relationship with the former royal couple. Namely, Morgan left his role on “Good Morning Britain” in 2021 after questioning Markle’s claims about suicidal ideation during her interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Yet, Morgan wasn’t the only media figure to offer up a strong reaction to the Sussex’s relocation plan. Meghan McCain, a U.S. conservative commentator, took aim at Harry and Meghan in her own response on X, writing, “One thing about Americans is we can see through bulls–t and we don’t like entitled grifters.”
“They could never hack it here and truly no one gives a s–t about d list royals,” she added. “Good luck to our friends in the U.K., they’re your problem now.”
Similarly, British columnist Allison Pearson questioned what the duke and duchess’ return would mean for their position in the royal family.
“Ye gods. Who wants Harry and Meghan back in the U.K.? How is it supposed to work?” she wrote. “Are they planning on making quasi-Royal visits – in which case they undermine the Prince and Princess of Wales who cordially loathe them.”
As Pearson went on, she called out the couple for their prior criticisms of the U.K., adding, “What happened to Britain being a ghastly, racist country Madam couldn’t stand living in? Are they expecting to spend Christmas at Sandringham, welcomed back into the bosom of the family they trashed? That will work well.”
Meanwhile, Kelvin MacKenzie, an English media executive, speculated that “all the pots of money (Netflix, etc.) have been drained in the U.S. and therefore Harry and Meghan sought pastures.” MacKenzie was likely referring to their Archewell Productions’ deal with the streamer, which saw the original $100 million overall pact with Netflix scaled down into a first-look deal.
In reality, reports have indicated that the Sussexes are moving back to the U.K., as their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, are set to begin school there. It’s said the couple will keep their residence in Montecito, Calif., but plan to move into a non-royal home based in the U.K. Harry and Meghan’s status as private members of the royal family is not expected to change following the move.
For a full roundup of reactions, keep reading.
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