Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
The 2026 Emmy nominations came out. Emmys are awards for the best TV shows and actors.
The TV show "The Pitt" got the most nominations. It got 25 nominations in total.
The TV show "Hacks" got 24 nominations. That is a new record for a comedy show.
The Emmy Awards show will happen on September 14. Mariska Hargitay will host the show.
- award
- A prize given for doing something well
- nomination
- A formal suggestion that someone or something could win an award
- drama
- A serious TV show or play
- comedy
- A funny TV show or play
- record
- The best result ever achieved
- actor
- A person who performs in TV shows, movies, or plays
- host
- A person who leads or presents a show
- ceremony
- A formal event held to celebrate something
Level 2 — Elementary
The 2026 Emmy nominations have been announced, and HBO Max's medical drama The Pitt leads every program with 25 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series.
The Pitt also earned a Lead Actor nomination for star Noah Wyle, nearly doubling the show's 13 nominations from last year.
Hacks, which wrapped up its fifth and final season, received 24 nominations, setting an all-time record for the most nominations ever earned by a comedy series. Star Jean Smart is nominated for Lead Actress and could win her eighth Emmy overall.
The science-fiction drama Pluribus also performed well, collecting 18 nominations. The Emmy Awards ceremony will air live on Monday, September 14, from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live, hosted by Mariska Hargitay.
- outstanding
- Excellent, better than most others
- wrap up
- To finish or complete something
- series
- A set of connected television episodes
- all-time
- Existing across all periods of history so far
- collect (nominations)
- To receive or gather several of something
- air (verb)
- To broadcast a program on television
- double
- To become twice as large or many
- science fiction
- Stories involving imagined future science or technology
Level 3 — Intermediate
The 2026 Emmy nominations have reshuffled the television awards landscape, with HBO Max's medical drama The Pitt topping every program with 25 nominations, including nods for Outstanding Drama Series and a Lead Actor bid for star Noah Wyle, nearly double the 13 nominations the freshman season received a year ago.
On the comedy side, Hacks closed out its run with a historic haul: 24 nominations for its fifth and final season, surpassing The Bear and The Studio, which had each previously held the record with 23. Star Jean Smart earned a nomination for Lead Actress, putting her in position to claim her fifth Emmy for the role and her eighth overall, a tally that would tie her for the most acting wins in television history.
Elsewhere in the drama field, the science-fiction series Pluribus secured 18 nominations, competing for Outstanding Drama Series alongside The Diplomat, The Gilded Age, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Paradise, The Pitt, Slow Horses, and Your Friends & Neighbors, one of the most competitive drama fields in recent memory.
The 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on Monday, September 14, from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles, airing on NBC and Peacock with actress Mariska Hargitay serving as host.
- reshuffle
- To rearrange or change the order of something
- freshman (season)
- A show's first season
- haul
- A large quantity gathered at once
- surpass
- To go beyond or exceed a previous level
- tally
- A running count or total
- competitive
- Involving strong rivalry among participants
- broadcast (verb)
- To transmit a program to a wide audience
- bid (noun)
- An attempt to achieve or win something
Level 4 — Advanced
The 2026 Emmy nominations have redrawn the contours of the television awards conversation, with HBO Max's The Pitt dominating the field at 25 nominations, including bids for Outstanding Drama Series and a Lead Actor nod for Noah Wyle, a tally that nearly doubles the 13 nominations its freshman season garnered only a year earlier and signals an emphatic consolidation of the show's critical standing.
The comedy race, meanwhile, was defined by a valedictory triumph: Hacks concluded its run with 24 nominations for its fifth and final season, eclipsing the previous benchmark of 23 jointly held by The Bear and The Studio to become the most-nominated comedy series in Emmy history. Star Jean Smart's nomination for Lead Actress positions her to capture a fifth statuette for the role and an eighth overall, a milestone that would place her in a tie for the most Emmy acting victories ever recorded.
The drama category has grown correspondingly crowded, with the science-fiction series Pluribus amassing 18 nominations to contend for Outstanding Drama Series alongside The Diplomat, The Gilded Age, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Paradise, The Pitt, Slow Horses, and Your Friends & Neighbors, a slate whose depth underscores how competitive the category has become amid an era of prestige-television abundance.
The 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on Monday, September 14, from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles, simulcast on NBC and Peacock, with Mariska Hargitay presiding as host over what promises to be a closely contested night across both the drama and comedy fields.
- redraw (the contours)
- To significantly change the shape or nature of something
- consolidation
- The process of becoming stronger or more established
- valedictory
- Serving as a farewell, marking a final appearance
- eclipse (verb)
- To surpass or overshadow something previously dominant
- benchmark
- A standard used for comparison
- statuette
- A small statue, often given as an award
- amass
- To gather a large quantity over time
- prestige
- Widespread respect and admiration based on achievement
Talk about this article with KatePractice this story's vocabulary in a real spoken conversation with your AI tutor