'Severance' leads Emmy nominees with 27 and 'The Studio' tops comedies with 23 as AppleTV+ dominates
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
“Severance” separated itself from the field with 27 Emmy nominations Tuesday, while “The Studio” led comedy nominees with a record-tying 23 in a dominant year for Apple TV+.
No other dramas came close to the dystopian workplace series “Severance,” which achieved a convergence of acclaim and audience buzz for its second season that brought an expected Emmy bounty.
Lead acting nominations came for Adam Scott and Britt Lower for what amounted to dual roles as their characters’ “innie” work selves and “outie” home selves. Tramell Tillman got a supporting nod for playing their tone-shifting, pineapple-wielding supervisor, and Patricia Arquette was nominated for supporting actress for playing an ousted outcast from the sinister family business at the center of the show. Ben Stiller got a directing nomination.
Apple’s Hollywood satire “The Studio” was expected to make a big showing for its first season, but it romped over more established shows like “Hacks,” which got 14, and “The Bear,” which got 13.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
And “The Studio” tied a record set by “The Bear” last year when it also got 23 nominations, the most ever for a comedy.
“The Studio” co-creator Seth Rogen personally got three nominations — for acting, writing and directing. Its A-list roster of guest stars brought in a bounty, with nominations for Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Bryan Cranston, Anthony Mackie, Dave Franco and Zoë Kravitz. The men made for five of the six nominees in the guest actor in a comedy category.
“The Penguin,” HBO’s dark drama from the “Batman” universe, was also surprisingly dominant in the limited series category with 24 nominations, including nods for leads Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti.
Netflix’s acclaimed “Adolescence” got 13 limited series nominations, including a supporting actor nod for 15-year-old Owen Cooper, who plays a 13-year-old suspected of a killing.
HBO’s high-end soap “The White Lotus” got its usual flowering of drama acting nominations for its Thailand-set third season, with four cast members including Carrie Coon getting supporting actress nods, and three including Walton Goggins up for supporting actor. It was second in the drama categories to “Severance” with 23 nominations overall.
“The Pitt,” HBO Max’s prestige medical procedural starring “ER” veteran Noah Wyle, got 13 nominations, including best drama and best actor for its star, “ER” veteran Noah Wyle. One of its nurses, Katherine LaNasa, was able to squeeze in among the women of “The White Lotus” for a supporting actress nod.
“The Last of Us” brought in 16 nominations in drama categories for HBO. The elite cable channel with its streaming counterpart HBO Max has been so prolific for decades in Emmy nominations that it almost felt like an off year without it having a “Succession” or a “Game of Thrones” atop the drama category. But it definitely wasn't. It led all outlets with 142 nominations, the most it's ever gotten.
Netflix followed with 120 nominations overall, and Apple TV+ had 79.
Wyle, who was nominated five times without a win for “ER,” could join Scott to make best actor in a drama a two-man race, with both seeking their first Emmy.
Actors Harvey Guillén and Brenda Song announced the nominations in key categories.
Key nominees for the 2025 Emmy Awards
The nominees for best drama series are: “Andor”; “Paradise”; “Severance”; “Slow Horses”; “The Diplomat”; “The Pitt”; “The Last of Us” and “The White Lotus.”
The nominees for best comedy series are: “Hacks”; “The Bear”; “The Studio”; “Only Murders in the Building”; “Abbott Elementary”; “Nobody Wants This”; “Shrinking” and “What We Do in the Shadows.”
The nominees for outstanding limited series are: “Adolescence”; “Black Mirror”; “Dying For Sex”; “Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story” and “The Penguin.”
The nominees for best comedy actor are: Seth Rogen, “The Studio”; Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”; Jeremy Allen-White, “The Bear”; Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”; Jason Segel, “Shrinking”
The nominees for best comedy actress are: Uzo Aduba, “The Residence”; Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”; Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”; Jean Smart, “Hacks”; Ayo Edibiri, “The Bear.”
‘Severance’ delivers big for Apple TV+
“Severance” has become a signature show for Apple TV+. The streamer has gotten plenty of Emmy nominations for dramas including “The Morning Show” and “Slow Horses,” and “Ted Lasso” was downright dominant on the comedy side.
But Apple has lacked the kind of breakaway prestige drama that HBO seems to produce perennially. That could change when the Emmys are handed out in September.
“Severance” got 14 nominations for its first season in 2023, but won just two, for its music and its title sequence.
How streaming has changed TV and the Emmys
All the shows are living in the splintered world of the streaming era, and the like the Oscars its most acclaimed nominees rarely have the huge audience they once did. While an impressive average of 10 million people per episode watched Wyle on “The Pitt” at some point on HBO Max, according to Warner Bros. Discovery, 30 years ago an average of 30 million sat down on the same night and watched him on “ER” on NBC.
Kathy Bates' best actress nomination for playing the title role in CBS's “Matlock” made for a rare exception to streamers' dominance over broadcast networks. The Oscar-winning Bates is considered the front-runner to get the Emmy. She was the first person nominated in the category from a network show since 2019, and would be the first to win it since 2015.
ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” has been keeping hope alive for broadcasters in recent years. It got six nods this year, including best actress in a comedy for creator Quinta Brunson, who also got a writing nomination.
CBS will air the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sept. 14. Nate Bargatze is slated to host.
List of 2025 Emmy nominees in key categories
Here's a list of Emmy nominees in top categories:
Drama series
“Andor”; “Paradise”; “Severance”; “Slow Horses”; “The Diplomat”; “The Pitt”; “The Last of Us”; “The White Lotus”
Comedy series
“Hacks”; “The Bear”; “The Studio”; “Only Murders in the Building”; “Abbott Elementary”; “Nobody Wants This”; “Shrinking”; “What We Do in the Shadows”
Limited series
“Adolescence”; “The Penguin”; “Dying for Sex”; “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”; “Black Mirror”
Drama actor
Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise” ; Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses” ; Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us”; Adam Scott, “Severance” ; Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”
Drama actress
Kathy Bates, “Matlock”; Sharon Horgan, “Bad Sisters”; Britt Lower, “Severance”; Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”; Kerry Russell, “The Diplomat”
Comedy actor
Seth Rogen, “The Studio”; Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”; Jeremy Allen-White, “The Bear”; Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”; Jason Segel, “Shrinking”
Comedy actress
Uzo Aduba, “The Residence”; Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”; Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”; Jean Smart, “Hacks”; Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
Reality competition
“The Amazing Race”; RuPaul’s Drag Race”; “Survivor”; “Top Chef”; “The Traitors”
Outstanding reality or reality program host
RuPaul Charles, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”; Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Daniel Lubetzky, “Shark Tank”; Alan Cumming, “The Traitors”; Kristen Kish, “Top Chef”; Jeff Probst, “Survivor”
Talk show
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”; “Jimmy Kimmel Live”; “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”
Animated program
“The Dirt Under Your Nails”; “Arcane”; “They Slug Horses, Don’t They?; “Bob’s Burgers”; “Cliff’s Edge”: “Common Side Effects”; “Spider Rose”; “Love, Death + Robots”
Supporting actress drama series
Patricia Arquette, “Severance”; Carrie Coon, “The White Lotus”; Katherine LaNasa, “The Pitt”; Julianne Nicholson, “Paradise”; Parker Posey, “The White Lotus”; Natasha Rothwell, “The White Lotus”; Aimee Lee Wood, “The White Lotus”
Supporting actor drama series
Zach Cherry, “Severance”; Walton Goggins, “The White Lotus”; Jason Isaacs, “The White Lotus”; James Marsden, “Paradise”; Sam Rockwell, “The White Lotus”; Tramell Tillman, “Severance”; John Turturro, “Severance”
Lead actor limited series
Colin Farrell, “The Penguin”; Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”; Jake Gyllenhaal, “Presumed Innocent”; Brian Tyree Henry, “Dope Thief”; Cooper Koch, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
Lead actress limited series
Cate Blanchett, “Disclaimer”; Meghann Fahy, “Sirens”; Rashida Jones, “Black Mirror”; Cristin Milioti, “The Penguin”; Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”
Supporting actress limited series
Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”; Ruth Negga, “Presumed Innocent”; Deirdre O’Connell, “The Penguin”; Chloë Sevigny, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”; Jenny Slate, “Dying for Sex”; Christine Tremarco, “Adolescence”
Supporting actor limited series
Javier Bardem, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”; Bill Camp, “Presumed Innocent”; Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”; Rob Delaney, “Dying for Sex”; Peter Sarsgaard, “Presumed Innocent”; Ashley Walters, “Adolescence”
Supporting actor comedy series
Ike Barinholtz, “The Studio”; Colman Domingo, “The Four Seasons”; Harrison Ford, “Shrinking”; Jeff Hiller, “Somebody Somewhere”; Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”; Michael Urie, “Shrinking”; Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”
Supporting actress comedy series
Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear”; Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”; Kathryn Hahn, “ The Studio”; Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”; Catherine O’Hara, “The Studio”; Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”; Jessica Williams “Shrinking”
Outstanding television movie
“Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy”; “The Gorge”; “Mountainhead”; “Nonnas”
Scripted variety series
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”; “Saturday Night Live”
Live variety special
“The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar”; “Beyoncé Bowl”; “The Oscars”; “SNL50: The Anniversary Special”; “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert”
Outstanding game show host
“Elizabeth Banks, “Press Your Luck”; Steve Harvey, “Celebrity Family Feud”; Ken Jennings, “Jeopardy!”; Colin Jost, “Pop Culture Jeopardy!”; Jimmy Kimmel, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”
Dear reader,
Your voice matters. And we want to hear it.
Will you help shape the future of Minnesota Public Radio by taking our short Listener Survey?
It only takes a few minutes, and your input helps us serve you better—whether it’s news, culture, or the conversations that matter most to Minnesotans.
