Sept. 14, 2026, 5:10 a.m. ET
On the Monday, September 14, 2026, episode of The Excerpt podcast: HBO’s The Pitt enters Emmy night with a leading 25 nominations, but could tonight end with this being Apple TV+’s biggest Emmy year ever? USA TODAY Senior Entertainment Correspondent Ralphie Aversa explains how contenders like “Widow’s Bay” and “Pluribus ” are helping the streamer challenge established powers such as HBO and Netflix, while changing how audiences consume television.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Dana Taylor:
Tonight’s Emmy Awards could tell us a lot about where television is headed next. We have HBO’s The Pitt leading all nominees, Apple TV+ chasing what could be its biggest Emmy night ever, as well as plenty of new stars looking to break through. Tonight we’ll find out which shows and streaming services are shaping television.
Hello and welcome to USA TODAY’s The Excerpt. I’m Dana Taylor. Here to dish on all things Emmys with me is USA TODAY Senior Entertainment Correspondent Ralphie Aversa.
It’s always good to have you here, Ralphie.
Ralphie Aversa:
Thanks, Dana.
Dana Taylor:
HBO’s The Pitt enters tonight as the nomination leader, with 25. Is this already the defining TV story of the year? And also, what would a Pitt sweep actually mean for television?
Ralphie Aversa:
Well, I think it potentially could be after this evening, for sure. Obviously, they’re already in the mix of filming season three of this hit HBO series also. And it really, in so many different ways, highlighting the plight of first responders and healthcare workers. Obviously, you talk about Noah Wyle as well and kind of his resurgence and his comeback. And then there’s so many other ancillary stories, whether it’s Tal Anderson, who had stopped by USA TODAY, the autistic actress who earned an Emmy nomination, whether it’s Taylor Dearden as well, the neurodivergent actress who also earned an Emmy nomination.
Katherine Lanasa, who I’ve gotten to know a little bit now since her nomination last year, she won last year, her first ever Emmy, this long career that she’s had, where she really grinded, she really struggled. She told me about how her husband would stay up with her at midnight, and they’d be doing self-tape auditions in the living room. Not that long ago, mind you. And now she’s really this celebrated actress that’s continuing to receive roles. The self-tape audition days I’m pretty sure are done for Ms. Lanasa.
And again, we talk about the different storylines. Katherine I think is kind of leading this group of actresses who, let’s face it, these women who are not in their 20s or 30s, sometimes they have a difficult time finding work in Hollywood and when they do, they’re usually pigeonholed into certain roles. And Katherine’s kind of leading this new movement where that no longer isn’t the case. I mean, certainly again, as far as women in Hollywood, I think there is still some work to be done, but it’s been great to see actresses like herself have this kind of success. So yeah, for so many reasons, The Pitt has been a huge story and certainly could be even more of a big story after tonight with its 25 nominations.
Dana Taylor:
Apple TV has a shot at its biggest Emmy year to date. Both Widow’s Bay and Pluribus are contenders. Say that three times fast. Is Apple having a Netflix or HBO moment? Where do they land in that conversation now?
Ralphie Aversa:
I mean, I think they’re right there with them. And you got to remember too, even go back to past Emmys with Severance and with The Studio and with Ted Lasso. I mean, Apple TV, Apple TV+, they’ve been really in the mix. I look at it as far as just from a live TV perspective. We’ve seen HBO Max, and obviously they’re different because they’re a part of Warner Brother Discovery. For now. Okay, we get that. Netflix obviously has certainly gone into live as well. But I think when you’re talking about the overall streamers, that’s probably the one piece of the puzzle that Apple TV is still trying to nail down. We’ve seen them go into the sports rights universe, obviously with Major League Soccer, which they kind of redid that, and took that package off of a paywall now. Friday Night Baseball, they have a baseball package as well with MLB. We’ll see if they can get into maybe the NFL front as well as some of these other contracts expire, and the NFL looks to continue its TV rating dominance.
But no, once again, shown here with this Emmys, the aforementioned shows that you talk about, they have a lot of star power, and they have shows that are critically acclaimed, including one that still has 100% rotten tomato rating as well, Pluribus.
Dana Taylor:
Okay. Widow’s Bay racked up an impressive 19 nominations. Does that signal changing audience tastes? I mean, it’s a strange show. And do they have a shot at pulling off an upset tonight?
Ralphie Aversa:
Well … All right, as far as the upset, I’m not 100% sure. As far as audience tastes, I do think it signals a change in audience taste, but not necessarily from a genre standpoint. I’ve talked about this with so many different content creators, whether it’s authors who have their works adapted for television, or directors, or actors, or so on and so forth. And the common thread that I hear from everybody is that they just enjoy so much the flexibility that streaming gives them. They’re not pigeonholed into a certain amount of time, and a certain block, and you got to hit these marks, and you have to run so many episodes to cover a fall season or a spring season or both. And obviously then the release of the show is pigeonholed into a certain time.
All of that is pretty much out the window with these streamers. You’re really just talking about a budget, and then however they seem fit. If it’s a limited series, it’s a limited series. If it’s multiple seasons, and obviously there’s audience support for that, there’s multiple seasons. So I think that’s the biggest change is that, and certainly we saw this, especially during COVID and maybe a little prior to that when it came to binge-watching. But I think now, we’re also seeing these different creatives kind of really think, excuse the cliche, but outside of the box, and these streamers kind of afford them this opportunity where they could do that and still be financially supported.
Dana Taylor:
Okay. We have to talk about Hacks and Jean Smart. Does she win one more out the door?
Ralphie Aversa:
Yes. Yes. That prediction I have no problem giving you. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, again, you talk about actors/actresses who we have loved to have celebrate at these award shows, and Jean Smart’s right up there. You talk with her colleagues at Hacks, and they sing her praises as well. They love working with her. And I do think that that’s important, especially when you’re number one on the call sheet. This is a conversation that I have with a number of leading actors and actresses. You got to set the tone on set. And when you’re on a TV show like this, which has been on for a number of seasons, and then obviously you’re a part of all of these awards campaigns, and you’re getting together for those as well, you do really become a family. And Jean has certainly led that family. If she’s the matriarch, so be it. She is the matriarch. Yes, I do think she gets one out the door though. For this show, of course. We’re not sending Jean into retirement yet if she doesn’t want to, just as far as the final season of Hacks.
Dana Taylor:
Most know her as Olivia Benson from Law and Order SVU, but tonight she’s running the show. It’s already been a big year for Mariska Hargitay, hasn’t it?
Ralphie Aversa:
Are you talking about the fact that she took a night off from Broadway to go to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding? What are we … No, I’m just joking, of course. It does seem like, especially being here based in New York, that it has been a great year. Again, we mentioned Mariska’s run on Broadway. Obviously, her Knicks fandom, we saw her court side for pretty much that entire playoff run. Her and Jalen Brunson just announced he’ll be the first guest host of Saturday Night Live, the new season that’s coming up. And obviously, their relationship, well documented, Law and Order SVU, and let’s go ahead and throw the Emmys right into the mix as well. She is such a beloved figure, and so I am very curious to see how she’s going to open the show, what kind of host she’s going to be, and how she’s going to be received.
My guess, if you asked for a prediction, you didn’t. I’ll give it to you anyways, Dana, I don’t think she’s going to be too political. I don’t think she’s going to be too polarizing. That said, I do think she will be well-received at the end of the night.
Dana Taylor:
So most of the Emmys are going to be handed out tonight, but there have been some early winners. The biggest headline so far seems to be the posthumous Emmy for Rob Reiner, his role in The Bear. Any other early winners you want to talk about?
Ralphie Aversa:
Shailene Woodley is certainly one, and I saw that all over my social feeds. Sabrina Carpenter is another, and the third Bad Bunny and the Halftime Show, of course, as well. So we’ll give you those three right there I think that were cool. And it was nice to see the creative Emmys get more of a light shined on it. Jimmy Kimmel also, who is in the headlines, he also won for best game show host for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. So that’ll be another interesting part of the primetime Emmys to see the late night hosts as well in addition to SNL, John Oliver, all of those folks. It’s always nice to catch up with them on the red carpet, and we’ll see who comes home with hardware after tonight.
Dana Taylor:
Well, you’re usually the person that I look for on the red carpet. I want to see what you’re wearing. Tonight, it’s going to be Zendaya. I want to see what she wears. You’ve worked enough of them to know that there’s always one celebrity that everyone crowds around. As we head into tonight, who’s that person and why?
Ralphie Aversa:
Well, look, Zendaya, we talk about people who’ve had quite the years, quite the summers. Zendaya, I mean, with The Odyssey and with the new Spider-Man and with this. We could say they’re married now, if we all but confirmed that. I mean, her stylist did. That’s the thing. When you bring up Zendaya, I mean her stylist has become as much … Maybe not as much of a star as her, but certainly a boldfaced name, Law Roach. And so people will be crowding around Zendaya. They’re going to be crowding around Law as well, especially if Zendaya’s got a train, and he’s following her down the carpet, as he did, by the way, as I watched him do at The Odyssey premiere.
So yeah, look, the Emmys do like to on occasion throw it back and kind of get a number of cast members from past popular shows together. So it’ll be interesting to see the manner in which they do that this evening. But look, yeah, Zendaya, absolutely, Mariska Hargitay, the host I think as well would be another off the top of my head, and we’ll go from there.
Dana Taylor:
This is a bigger industry question for you, but from prestige dramas like The Pitt to horror comedies like Beef, what kind of TV is winning right now?
Ralphie Aversa:
I do think that comedy still plays well. I think people want to laugh, especially in this day and age. And certainly if it’s comedy that isn’t necessarily touching on any political notes or any notes that maybe hit too close to home for fractured relationships, we’ll call them. So I think that certainly works. I do see again, as we talk about how these creatives, through streaming, are able to expand their horizons a little bit, and not necessarily be restricted by what they used to be restricted for when it came to cable television or broadcast television. I do think genre bending certainly has become popular as well. Limited series, again, we talk about binging. Those seem to also hit because they’re so digestible compared to a series that maybe has five seasons, and it’s a little daunting to start at the top. So yeah, those are the trends certainly that jump out for me as we look ahead to the Emmys tonight.
Dana Taylor:
Ralphie Aversa is a senior entertainment correspondent for USA TODAY.
Always love having you on. Thank you, Ralphie.
Ralphie Aversa:
Thanks, Dana.
Dana Taylor:
Be sure to like and subscribe to The Excerpt to stay connected. I’m Dana Taylor. Thanks for listening.
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