The Emmys 2026 kick off at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 14, hosted by Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay, with the ceremony poised to hand first-ever wins to some of television's most familiar faces, led by Steve Carell.
Carell is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in Rooster, competing against Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for Wonder Man, Matthew Rhys for Widow's Bay, Jason Segel for Shrinking and Martin Short for Only Murders in the Building. Despite his acclaim, Carell has never won an Emmy for playing Michael Scott on The Office.
Carell received six nominations for playing Michael Scott and ten in total once his work as a producer on the NBC comedy is counted. He picked up one further nomination in 2020 for playing disgraced news anchor Mitch Kessler in The Morning Show, and in 2026 earned his 12th nomination overall for playing Greg Russo in Rooster.
Rainn Wilson, who played Carell's Office colleague Dwight Schrute in the Greg Daniels comedy, criticized the Television Academy after the 2011 ceremony, Carell's final year of eligibility for the role, in a since-deleted post on X. "The world of TV should be ashamed of itself that Steve Carell never won an Emmy for Michael Gary Scott," Wilson wrote. That year, Jim Parsons won the award for The Big Bang Theory.
Of Carell's current category rivals, Abdul-Mateen II, Rhys and Short have each won an Emmy before. Segel is also still chasing his first, having received only his debut nomination in 2023 for Shrinking despite starring in How I Met Your Mother for nearly a decade.
David Harbour and the Stranger Things Cast
David Harbour is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his role in DTF St. Louis, giving him a shot at a first win after missing out on nominations in 2017 and 2018 for playing Jim Hopper in Stranger Things. The Netflix series' final season earned seven nominations at this year's ceremony, but its stars, including Millie Bobby Brown, who was also nominated in 2017 and 2018, have never won for the show.
Noah Wyle's Long-Awaited Win
Not every wait ends empty-handed. Noah Wyle won his first Emmy last year after five previous nominations for playing Dr. John Carter on ER. "What a dream this has been," Wyle said on stage. "Thank you to everyone at HBO Max and Warner Bros. Television for allowing the conditions to exist for lightning to strike in my life twice."
More TV Stars Still Waiting
Carell and Harbour are far from alone. A long list of familiar names have racked up nominations without ever taking home an Emmy:
- Keri Russell has eight nominations, five for acting and producing The Diplomat and three for The Americans.
- Kaley Cuoco was never nominated for playing Penny on The Big Bang Theory, though costar Jim Parsons won four Emmys for playing Sheldon. She has two nominations for acting and producing The Flight Attendant.
- Kathryn Hahn has four nominations, most recently for The Studio in 2025.
- Natasha Lyonne has five nominations since 2014 for acting, writing and producing Poker Face, Russian Doll and Orange Is the New Black.
- Matthew Perry, who died in 2023, earned one nomination for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, two for The West Wing, one for The Ron Clark Story and one as an executive producer on Friends: The Reunion. Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston are the only Friends cast members to have won an Emmy.
- Courteney Cox has never received an individual nomination, though she shared a 2021 nomination for Outstanding Variety Special for the Friends reunion.
- Matt LeBlanc has seven nominations, three for playing Joey on Friends, four for playing a satirical version of himself on Episodes, plus a producing nod for the 2021 Friends reunion.
- David Schwimmer was nominated for playing Ross on Friends in 1995 and for playing Robert Kardashian in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story in 2016, plus a producing nod for the Friends reunion, totaling three nominations.
- Connie Britton has five nominations, two for playing Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights and others for American Horror Story, Nashville and The White Lotus.
- Kristen Wiig has 13 nominations, eight for Saturday Night Live as a cast member and host, two for producing and acting on Palm Royale, one for voicing Lola on The Looney Tunes Show, one for The Spoils of Babylon and one for her song in Will & Harper.
- Hugh Laurie has ten nominations, seven for House, two for The Night Manager and one for a guest role on Veep.
- Angela Lansbury, who died in 2022, had 18 nominations, including 12 for playing Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, and became a Television Academy Hall of Fame honoree in 1996.
- Cate Blanchett has three nominations, including for Disclaimer and for acting and producing on Mrs. America.
- Lauren Graham has never been nominated for playing Lorelai Gilmore on Gilmore Girls or Sarah Braverman on Parenthood.
- Denzel Washington has two shared nominations, for the specials Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks in 2001 and Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream in 1995.
- Amy Adams has two nominations for acting and producing Sharp Objects in 2019.
- Emilia Clarke was nominated in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2019 for playing Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones.
- Kit Harington has two nominations for playing Jon Snow on Game of Thrones, a series that won 59 Emmys overall.
- Leonardo DiCaprio has one nomination, from 2015, for producing the documentary Virunga.
- Hugh Grant has two nominations, for The Undoing in 2021 and A Very English Scandal in 2019.
- Milo Ventimiglia was nominated in 2017, 2018 and 2019 for playing Jack Pearson on This Is Us.
- Mandy Moore received her first nomination in 2019 for This Is Us.
- Lena Dunham has eight nominations for acting, directing, writing and producing Girls.
- Don Cheadle has 11 acting nominations.
