‘Severance’ and ‘The Penguin’ lead the 2025 Emmy nominations

Psychological thriller ‘Severance’ from Apple TV+ and HBO’s crime drama ‘The Penguin’ led the pack at the Emmy Awards nominations on Tuesday, outpacing ‘The Studio’ and ‘The White Lotus’ in the race for television’s top honours.
‘Severance’ scored a leading 27 nominations, including best drama, alongside ‘Andor,’ ‘The Pitt,’ ‘The White Lotus’ and others.
‘The Penguin,’ set in the DC Comics universe and starring Colin Farrell, earned 24 nominations and will compete for best limited series against Netflix hit ‘Adolescence’ and more.

Hollywood satire ‘The Studio,’ an Apple TV+ show featuring Seth Rogen as a nervous film executive, and HBO’s ‘The White Lotus,’ about murder and intrigue at a luxury resort in Thailand, received 23 nominations each.
“What the heck? We never thought this would happen,” Rogen said in a statement.
Comedy nominees include defending champion ‘Hacks,’ previous winner ‘The Bear,’ ‘Nobody Wants This’ and ‘Abbott Elementary.’ The 23 nominations for ‘The Studio’ tied the record for a comedy in a single season, set last year by Chicago restaurant tale ‘The Bear.’

Winners will be announced at a red carpet ceremony in Los Angeles on September 14, broadcast live on CBS and hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze.

The nominations come as the television industry tightens its spending amid the shift to streaming. HBO and HBO Max topped all programmers with 142 nominations, a network record. Walt Disney followed with 137, including six for ABC’s ‘Abbott Elementary’ and 14 for Disney+ series ‘Andor.’ Netflix garnered 120 nods, and Apple collected 81—its highest since launching its streaming service in 2019.
‘Severance’ tells the story of office workers who undergo a procedure to separate work and personal memories. “It’s distinctive in every way—in storytelling, style, directing and tone,” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming at Apple TV+.
Star Adam Scott, a best actor nominee, added: “The fact that it’s resonated at all has been such an incredible feeling. We thought it might be too weird.”

Wyle, Ford in the running
Noah Wyle received his first Emmy nomination since 1999 for his role as an emergency room doctor on ‘The Pitt.’ Wyle, previously nominated five times for ‘ER’ without a win, said he was “humbled and grateful” for the recognition. ‘The Pitt’ earned 13 nominations overall.
Harrison Ford, 83, scored his first Emmy nod for playing a grumpy therapist on ‘Shrinking.’

Ron Howard, the former ‘Happy Days’ star turned Oscar winning director, earned his first acting nomination—a guest actor nod for playing himself on ‘The Studio.’ “Who says nice guys finish last?!” Howard wrote on Instagram. He will compete with fellow director Martin Scorsese, another guest star on ‘The Studio.’
Other notable acting nominees include Farrell and Cristin Milioti for ‘The Penguin’; Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri for ‘The Bear’; Kathy Bates for ‘Matlock’; Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder for ‘Hacks’; and Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey for ‘The Last of Us.’ Eight actors from ‘The White Lotus’ were also recognised.

“This is a bunch of cherries on the icing on the cake that was the gift of playing such a tortured and lonely human,” said Jason Isaacs, nominated for his role as a suicidal father in financial ruin.

Beyoncé also earned a nomination—her halftime performance during an NFL game on Netflix was nominated for best live variety special.
Missing from the field was Netflix’s hit Korean drama ‘Squid Game,’ while the final season of former drama winner ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ received just one nod.
Winners will be chosen by roughly 26,000 members of the Television Academy.