Three TV shows are leading the pack of nominations for the 2026 TCA Awards.
On Friday, June 12, the Television Critics Association (TCA) announced the nominees for the 42nd annual TCA Awards. Members of the organization consisting of more than 220 professional television journalists across the United States and Canada selected from shows distributed on major broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms from June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026. The winners will be announced later this summer across the TCA’s social media accounts.
Leading the nominees areHeated Rivalry,Industry, andWidow’s Bay, with five each.Hacks,The Pitt, andPluribus received four each, whileThe Comeback,Margo’s Got Money Troubles, andShrinking got three nominations.
Said TCA President Andy Dehnart, creator of reality blurred and host of the podcast Made from Humans: How Reality Becomes TV, in a statement,“My fellow TCA members’ nominations illustrate a wide range of excellent television and the artists who create it. Even in this period of contraction, there’s so much outstanding art being created and delivered to our homes, and we’re thrilled to celebrate it. The selections you see here are the result of a year of members watching, reporting, and reviewing, in addition to weeks of spirited conversation in our community, both virtually and in-person at the ATX TV Festival. We’re thrilled to celebrate these artists and their outstanding art with the TCA Awards.”
The TCA also has expanded the categories to 14, adding Outstanding Achievement in Animation (best in new or returning animated series) and Outstanding Achievement in International Series (best overall series produced by a country outside the United States where the predominant language spoken on screen is not English).
“These new categories celebrate the ways TV continues to evolve,” TCA Board director Liz Shannon Miller, Senior Entertainment Editor at Consequence, said, “especially as standout new series emerge from outside the mainstream.”
Below are the 2026 Television Critics Association nominees.
Program of the Year
The Comeback — HBO Max
Hacks— HBO Max
Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max
Industry— HBO Max
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — CBS
The Pitt— HBO Max (2025 Winner)
Pluribus — Apple TV
Shrinking — Apple TV
Widow’s Bay — Apple TV
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
Abbott Elementary— ABC (2022 Winner)
The Comeback — HBO Max
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins — NBC
Hacks — HBO Max (2024 Winner)
The Lowdown — FX
Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Apple TV
Shrinking — Apple TV
Widow’s Bay — Apple TV
Outstanding Achievement in Drama
The Gilded Age — HBO Max
Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max
Industry — HBO Max
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — HBO Max
Paradise — Hulu
The Pitt — HBO Max (2025 Winner)
Pluribus — Apple TV
Task — HBO Max
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries or Specials
All Her Fault — Peacock
The Beast in Me — Netflix
Beef — Netflix (2023 Winner)
Death by Lightning — Netflix
DTF St. Louis — HBO Max
Half Man — HBO Max
Lord of the Flies — Netflix
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette — FX
Outstanding New Program
Alien: Earth — FX
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins — NBC
Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — HBO Max
The Lowdown — FX
Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Apple TV
Pluribus — Apple TV
Widow’s Bay — Apple TV
Individual Achievement in Drama
Marisa Abela, Industry — HBO Max
Sterling K. Brown, Paradise — Hulu
David Harbour, DTF St. Louis — HBO Max
Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt — HBO Max
Ken Leung, Industry — HBO Max
Myha’la, Industry — HBO Max
Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus — Apple TV
Connor Storrie, Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max
Hudson Williams, Heated Rivalry — Crave/HBO Max
Noah Wyle, The Pitt — HBO Max (2025 Winner)
Individual Achievement in Comedy
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks — HBO Max
Elle Fanning, Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Apple TV
Harrison Ford, Shrinking — Apple TV
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback — HBO Max
Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay — Apple TV
Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay — Apple TV
Jean Smart, Hacks — HBO Max (2021, 2024 Winner)
Tim Robinson, The Chair Company — HBO Max
Courtesy of HBO Max; Scott Kowalchyk ©2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc.; Warrick Page/HBO Max
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
60 Minutes — CBS (2012 Winner)
The American Revolution — PBS
CBS This Morning — CBS
Disneyland Handcrafted — Disney+
Frontline — PBS (Eight-time Winner in Category)
Have I Got News For You — CNN
Marty, Life Is Short — Netflix
Mr. Scorsese — Apple TV
Outstanding Achievement in Variety, Talk or Sketch
The Daily Show — Comedy Central
Jimmy Kimmel Live! — ABC
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — HBO Max (2018, 2019, 2021 Winner)
Late Night with Seth Meyers — NBC
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — CBS
The Muppet Show: Sabrina Carpenter — Disney+
Saturday Night Live — NBC
Outstanding Achievement in Reality
Couples Therapy — Showtime/Paramount+ (2021 Winner)
Finding Mr. Christmas — Hallmark
The Great British Baking Show — Netflix
Love on the Spectrum — Netflix
RuPaul’s Drag Race — MTV (2014 Winner)
Survivor — CBS
Top Chef — Bravo
The Traitors — Peacock (2024, 2025 Winner)
Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming
Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Animation — Disney+
Electric Bloom — Disney+/Disney Channel
Percy Jackson and the Olympians — Disney+/Hulu
Phineas and Ferb — Disney+/Disney Channel
Stranger Things: Tales from ‘85 — Netflix
Vampirina: Teenage Vampire — Disney+/Disney Channel
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place — Disney+/Disney Channel
WondLa — Apple TV
Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming
Carl the Collector — PBS KIDS
The First Snow of Fraggle Rock — Apple TV
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+ — Disney+/Disney Jr.
Phoebe & Jay — PBS KIDS
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical — Apple TV
Sofia the First: Royal Magic — Disney+/Disney Jr.
Weather Hunters — PBS KIDS
The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball — Hulu
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Bob’s Burgers — Fox
Haunted Hotel — Netflix
Invincible — Prime Video
King of the Hill — Hulu
Long Story Short — Netflix
The Simpsons — Fox
South Park — Comedy Central
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord — Disney+
Women Wearing Shoulder Pads — Adult Swim
Outstanding International Series
The Boyfriend — Netflix
Crime Scene Zero — Netflix
Drops of God — Apple TV
The House of the Spirits — Prime Video
Last Samurai Standing — Netflix
Squid Game — Netflix