It's 'Pitt' vs 'Pluribus' in drama and 'Hacks' vs 'Widow's Bay' in comedy at the upcoming Emmys

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s “The Pitt” versus “Pluribus” and “Hacks” against “Widow’s Bay” at the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday night.

The stars of all four shows — Noah Wyle in “The Pitt,” Rhea Seehorn in “Pluribus,” Jean Smart in “Hacks” and Matthew Rhys in “Widow’s Bay” — look to be runaway favorites for the top acting awards. And prognosticators are nearly all picking “The Pitt” to win its second straight best drama prize.

But the television competition should otherwise be tight at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The ceremony will air live on NBC starting at 8 p.m. Eastern with one of the network’s signature stars, three-time Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay, hosting. Peacock will stream the show live.

HBO Max’s day-in-the-life-of-an-emergency-room drama “The Pitt” has already become a cultural institution in two seasons, and after big wins as an upstart rookie, it was this year’s top overall nominee with 25.

“Hacks” led all comedies with a record-breaking 24 nominations for its fifth and final season. Here’s a closer look at where things stand and how they might play out.

While the biggest stars are still awaiting the opening of the envelopes, the majority of this year’s Emmys were already handed out at early ceremonies Saturday and Sunday.

“Widow’s Bay,” the first-year Apple TV horror comedy with Rhys as the mayor of a small New England town dealing with a centuries-old curse, won a whopping eight Emmys including best guest actress for Betty Gilpin .

The show had been widely acclaimed for its sly shifting between humor and dread, and it got 19 nominations, but few expected such a trophy haul. It can win up to six more on Monday.

“Hacks” managed just one win.

“The Pitt” won four early Emmys including an emotional first career victory for 73-year-old Ernest Harden Jr. as best guest actor in a drama.

“Pluribus,” another Apple TV Emmy rookie, from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan, also won four.

The soon-to-be-host Hargitay won two Emmys for the documentary she directed about her mother, Jayne Mansfield, to go with one she already had for her long-running role on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

The early Emmys weekend will be edited down to a single recorded show that airs on FXX on Saturday at 8 p.m. in all time zones.

The doctors, nurses and patients of “The Pitt” were flooded with Emmy nominations for Season 2. Many will be competing against one another. There’s so much category overlap that despite having 12 nominations for Monday night’s awards, it can win only six.

Wyle alone can win four Emmys including directing, writing, best drama as a producer and best actor — an award he won last year in his role as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.

The other best drama nominees are “Paradise,” “Slow Horses,” “The Diplomat,” “The Gilded Age,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” “Your Friends & Neighbors,” and “Pluribus.”

Rarely has a single actor carried a show as much as Rhea Seehorn does “Pluribus,” where she plays one misanthropic woman taking on a hivemind that has enveloped almost everyone else alive. Voters are likely to reward the former “Better Call Saul” star with her first Emmy after four nominations.

Seehorn’s fellow nominees include Zendaya, who has won the category twice before for “Euphoria.”

Katherine LaNasa won best supporting actress last year for her “Pitt” portrayal of Nurse Dana, and the character had an even bigger second season, guiding patients through harrowing dramatic moments and becoming a viral phenomenon for her line deliveries on the ER’s “Baby Jane Doe.”

This year she’ll have three castmates — Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif and Sepideh Moafi — as competition.

“It feels really exciting to have more of my colleagues up on the board,” LaNasa told The Associated Press after the nominations were announced.

Two “Pitt” men — Patrick Ball and Shawn Hatosy — are up for supporting actor.

The Emmys loves to give golden send-offs to outgoing shows, and it will be stunning if Jean Smart doesn’t win best actress in a comedy for playing stand-up comic Deborah Vance, as she did for all four previous seasons.

But Emmy voters’ clear affection for “Widow’s Bay” could keep “Hacks” from winning much more. The two shows will be competing for best comedy along with “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Shrinking.”

Hannah Einbinder , who had a breakthrough win last year as best supporting actress in a comedy after four nominations for “Hacks,” will be up against Kate O’Flynn, who wowed with a breakout performance in the debut season of “Widow’s Bay.”

Both shows also have nominees for best supporting actor in a comedy, but they could easily be upstaged by Harrison Ford, who many think will finally win his first major Hollywood award for his performance on Apple TV’s “Shrinking.”

Apple TV has become the dominant force in Emmy comedy. This year’s nominees will benefit from the temporary absence of Apple’s “The Studio,” which had an all-time dominant Emmy performance last year, and of the streamer’s “Ted Lasso,” which put it on the Emmy map.

The limited series categories will have a diminished role at the main Emmys show after four of them were demoted to the early Emmys weekend.

HBO Max’s “DTF St. Louis” was the big winner of those awards, taking best supporting actor and actress for David Harbour and Linda Cardellini.

“Beef” brings star power to the lead acting categories, with Carey Mulligan the consensus favorite for best actress in a limited series and Oscar Isaac favored for best actor.

And after another year of antagonizing President Donald Trump , the late night shows of Jimmy Kimmel and the now-canceled Stephen Colbert are both up for outstanding variety series.