The 2026 Emmys could be historic, with a new voting system potentially allowing for all five nominees in the Outstanding Variety Series category to win an Emmy. The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards are shaping up to be a major night for television, with nominations announced on July 8, 2026, The Television Academy announced 610 nominations across 117 categories, with The Pitt leading the drama field with 25 nominations and Hacks setting a comedy record with 24.

Now, a major Emmys rule change could turn this year’s Best Variety Series race into an unprecedented awards scenario. 

A change in the voting rules for the Emmys could produce as many as five winners this year in the newly created Best Variety Series category. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Saturday Night Live and Jimmy Kimmel Live! are nominated, but they will not be facing each other, Page Six reported. As submissions waned, the Television Academy merged the now-defunct Outstanding Scripted Variety Series and Outstanding Talk Series categories into one area award. However, the unusual format has drawn backlash over whether the change could water down the competitive spirit of the Emmys.

“It’s so stupid. It feels like a participation trophy,” one awards insider says of the decision.

As per Page Six, some critics say the new system feels like a participation trophy because it moves away from the usual traditional winner-takes-all approach. Voters will not be voting for the best in the category but will be voting on each nominee individually and deciding if they meet the standard. This could ultimately lead to the awarding of multiple shows in the same category, setting an unprecedented Emmy outcome. 

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The rule change may allow multiple shows to win, but current Emmy predictions point toward a much more familiar outcome. 

With final Emmy voting still underway, the nominations are already here. The Diplomat, The Pitt, Slow Horses, The Gilded Age, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Paradise, Pluribus and Your Friends & Neighbors have been nominated in the main Drama Series category. In comedy, Hacks, Abbott Elementary, The Bear, The Studio, Shrinking, The White Lotus, Nobody Wants This and The Four Seasons are among the contenders. The awards race is now down to the home stretch, with final round voting open from August 17 to August 26.

Meanwhile, the new rules for the Emmy Awards have added an unexpected wrinkle to the race for Outstanding Variety Series, opening the door for multiple winners and sparking criticism about how competitive the category remains. Theoretically, any of the five nominees could walk away with trophies, but that is not what most people are predicting. As the voting continues, the final results will determine whether the new system will lead to a historic multi-winner situation or a more traditional Emmy outcome with only one show winning the award.

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Do you think the Emmys should stick with the traditional one-winner format, or could multiple winners make the Best Variety Series category fairer? Let us know in the comments.