Emmy Awards 2026 predictions: Mariska Hargitay hosts as the first woman in 15 years — and she's already won twice this month
Tonight's the night, and for once I'm not dreading the monologue. The 78th Emmys go down at the Peacock Theater, and the person holding the microphone is not a stand-up doing contractually obligated jokes about streaming.
It's Mariska Hargitay. Detective Olivia Benson herself. The first woman to host the Emmys since Jane Lynch did it in 2011, which — fifteen years, eight hosts, zero women. Great job, everyone.
And here's the part I keep turning over: she found out via a phone call from a top NBCUniversal exec while she was backstage at her Broadway play, and her first assumption was that she was being fired. When it turned out to be a hosting offer, per her own account:
"I thought she was kidding."
She was not kidding. And Hargitay isn't showing up empty-handed, either.
She already lapped half the room
At the Creative Arts ceremony on September 5, Hargitay won two Emmys in one night for My Mom Jayne, her documentary about her mother, Jayne Mansfield — one for directing, one for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special. That brings her career total to three, counting her 2006 win for SVU, and it means the host walks out tonight with more fresh hardware than most of the nominees she'll be introducing.
She's also been refreshingly honest about the workload, admitting that NBC lowballed the prep and that:
"this hosting the Emmys is no joke"
Her writers' room for the night includes the Late Show with Stephen Colbert team, and she's said she's not doing the classic comedian-host format at all — she's building what she calls "the Mariska Emmys." Given that this woman spent 28 seasons making America feel safe and once tested for Monica on Friends, I am choosing optimism.
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The actual predictions, since you asked
Now for the envelopes. The short version: it's The Pitt's world and everyone else is renting an exam room.
- Drama Series: The Pitt, and it's barely a race. Last year it won as an underdog; this year it leads all shows with 25 nominations. Pluribus — Vince Gilligan's twisted sci-fi — is the stylish spoiler, but it radiates the same "too weird for the mainstream voter" energy that sank Severance.
- Lead Actor, Drama: Noah Wyle. Doctor, beloved, overdue since the Clinton administration.
- Lead Actress, Drama: the fun one — Keri Russell for The Diplomat vs. Rhea Seehorn for Pluribus, and Seehorn has the momentum of a woman the Academy still feels guilty about.
- Supporting Actor, Drama: Tom Pelphrey (Task) is running away with every reader poll in sight.
- Comedy Series: Hacks stuck the landing with its finale and should collect on it, though Abbott Elementary is the people's champion.
- Chaos slot: there's always one. Last year it was Jeff Hiller beating Harrison Ford. Tonight, my money's on something rogue in supporting comedy.
If you want to argue with actual professionals instead of me, the full expert breakdowns live at TheWrap. Meanwhile, I'll be on my couch at 8 p.m. ET, watching a woman host this thing for the first time since I had a Tumblr.
Previously we wrote: Ingrid Bergman Just Hated Making This 34%-Rated Hitchcock Drama: "Suffer and Loathe"
