Nardine Saad
Reporting from the Emmy Awards

I'm wandering around the JW Marriott, where the media centre is set up for press interviews.

Stars are walking through here with their publicity teams and I've just seen Sam Nivola of the White Lotus walk in, all smiles.

There is a security screening area outside the hotel and there are police officers posted at most of the entrances, with K-9 units milling about around LA Live - the downtown LA campus that houses the Peacock Theater, the JW Marriott and Crypto.com arena.

The Emmy trophies - golden statuettes of a winged muse holding up an atom - are heavily guarded by security personnel.

Image source, Dave King / BBC

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, has been spotted on the red carpet.

A number of Apple TV+ shows are up for awards tonight, including Severance, The Studio and Slow Horses.

Nardine Saad
Reporting from the Emmy Awards

Image source, Nardine Saad / BBC

I'm behind the scenes here at the media center at the JW Marriott, which is adjacent to the Peacock Theatre.

And I've just come across the Emmy trophies before they're engraved with the names of winners.

Image source, Dave King / BBC

Our team on the red carpet have just sent us these photos, showing how busy it's starting to get at the Emmys.

Stick with us, we'll bring you all the updates as the stars arrive.

Image source, Dave King / BBC

Awards don't always tell us the full story of which shows are audience favourites.

So let's take a look at the series that were actually the most watched within the Emmy eligibility window, according to Nielsen research.

A note on this data, it can include previous seasons of these shows.

Drama series: The White Lotus

The White Lotus was viewed for about 210 million hours between June 2024 and May 2025. It's followed by Severance (157.5m hours) and The Last of Us (137.1m hours).

Comedy series: Abbott Elementary

It looks like everyone showed up to class this year because Abbott Elementary outranked all other comedy series in terms of viewership with 181.4m hours viewed. Other fan favourites were Only Murders in the Building (159.1m hours) and The Bear (141.1m hours).

Limited series: Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

As their legal battle continues in real life, the show about the Menendez brothers' crimes got nearly 150m hours of viewing, outranking The Penguin (102.3m hours).

Most watched actors and actresses

Nielsen also recorded who the most watched actors were in every category. Gary Oldman, was the most watched in any category, with more than 600 million viewing hours. And while his show Slow Horses is a nominee tonight, it's likely his numbers are so huge because of his appearances in the Harry Potter movies.

Kathy Bates was the most watched drama actress.

Image source, Getty Images

The White Lotus' season three star Walton Goggins has arrived on the Emmys red carpet. He's nominated for best supporting actor in a drama.

He's wearing a white jacket and unbuttoned shirt with black pants, and he's joined by his wife Nadia Conners.

Goggins is one of the first major names we've seen tonight, but there are many more to come.

Image source, Getty Images

Brandon Livesay
US reporter

Image source, HBO

My colleagues have been telling you what they loved most about the five most nominated TV shows at the Emmys. The final show on that list is The Penguin. And I have some thoughts.

When you make a TV show about one of the most infamous comic supervillains of all time, you’d expect them to battle a superhero.

But there’s no Batman in sight in HBO’s The Penguin.

And it’s better for it.

Instead of a good vs evil plot, you get a truly unrecognisable Colin Farrell playing a Gotham gangster trying to rise up through the underworld.

Farrell’s performance is helped by a mass of prosthetics, a pronounced limp, and a harsh New York accent.

But it’s Cristin Milioti’s role as a mobster’s daughter that steals the show as she seeks revenge against seemingly everyone she has ever known.

Another standout is the gritty cinematography. Shot on locations across the real New York City, it creates a claustrophobic atmosphere of alleys and buildings no normal person would want any part of.

The Penguin is no Tony Soprano, but he kept me intrigued to see what his next move in the deadly game of chess would be.

Lisa Lambert
US reporter

Image source, Apple TV+

Warning, there's some spoilers ahead

The amazing locations, Seth Rogen's wardrobe, and a group of comedic talents delivering laugh after laugh. These are my top reasons for loving The Studio and, I must admit, my affections follow that order.

I had never cared about men's clothing before this show and I'd also never rooted for a contemporary costume nomination (didn't know that category existed until I elatedly saw The Studio got a nod). No, The Studio's Emmy-nominated writing didn't make my list.

Honestly, that's the weakest point for this workplace comedy about a bunch of moviemakers, where the plot turns, punchlines, problems our hapless crew creates, and clumsy resolutions to those problems are all obvious from miles away, or even just from the episode titles.

What the performers, though, do with the writing kept me rushing to wince-watch episodes on the same days Apple dropped them. Each member of the core ensemble shines alone.

All crowded in together with a heady array of guest stars (almost all of whom have nominations), they push this show to the level of the best episodes of Parks and Rec, The Thick of It and, during the big splashy scenes at the end of the season, 30 Rock.

The fluid single camera moving among the herd of characters made me feel like I was in on the action, and in on the jokes, which often turned the cringiest moments into ones of squealing delight. At the least, it made me regularly talk to the screen, nearly shouting at Kathryn Hahn's hilarious trendy buffoon, Maya, "Just ask Ice Cube!" as she discussed casting and then whispering to Rogen's overeager man-child, Matt, "Don't you do it" as he nervously looked around the table at an auction at The Ebell.

Ah, The Ebell of Los Angeles, the Spanish-style clubhouse that brings me to what I truly love most about this show - the Hollywood locales.

Since I left LA (I actually spent a lot of my childhood on the lot of an old Hollywood studio), I often find myself longing for its Deco and Modernist buildings and desert-meets-the-sea landscaping. Watch just one episode of this stylish romp, and you'll feel the same, oh yeah.

Blanca Estrada
US reporter

Image source, HBO

Editor's note: We've been bringing you some thoughts about the most nominated shows at the 2025 Emmys, and up next is my colleague Blanca's take on the HBO smash hit The Last of Us.

Warning, there's some spoilers ahead

After playing The Last of Us, I had my doubts about whether HBO could do justice to such a beloved video game - but the show surpassed all my expectations.

HBO has masterfully capture the heart of the story with powerful performances, thoughtful pacing and writing, and stunning visuals.

Watching these characters come to life has made my inner fan girl lose it with excitement. Even those who haven't played the video game can appreciate the richness of the series. Also, two words: Pedro Pascal.

His portrayal of Joel Miller carried both season one and two. Despite his character's demise early in season two, his performance is unforgettable.

For me, he wasn't just playing Joel, he was Joel. He delivered a version of the character that was more broken and deeply protective than ever before, which I loved.

Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporter

Image source, Fabio Lovino/ HBO

Warning, there's some spoilers ahead.

Set against the backdrop of a beautiful resort in Thailand, this season of White Lotus was less about action and more about gradual mental undoing's.

There were no rich ladies falling to their death from a yacht or brutal stabbings, but watching Jason Isaacs’ character have a several-episode mental breakdown had me stressed.

This emotional rollercoaster of a season was rife with the whispered trash talk and subtle jabs of a girls trip, the self-hatred of a shady man with major daddy issues, and a set of entitled, borderline-incestuous siblings.

The writing was understated and full of red herrings, and the entire internet was convinced the final killer was a monkey with a gun.

There were so many standout performances, especially by Isaacs, Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood (who played the world’s most patient girlfriend). So it makes sense that the show is up for multiple acting and writing awards tonight.

The cast has virtually taken over the outstanding supporting actress in a drama series category, with Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell and Aimee Lou Wood all facing off. Isaacs and Goggins are also going head to head in the supporting actor category.

My White Lotus honourable mention is Lisa from Blackpink, who, though not nominated for an award, made the season extra exciting. I hope she makes an appearance tonight.

Laura Blasey
US reporter

Image source, Apple TV+

Warning, there's some spoilers ahead.

Severance often gets compared to The Office‘s satire of aughts corporate life, though one is a thriller and the other a comedy. I’d argue Apple TV+’s hit actually has more in common with the work of David Lynch — and that’s a major selling point for me. It’s a rare, worthy successor to the auteur’s films that deserves our attention for its unsparing look at the modern workplace.

Lynch’s work often mingled the mundane with the sinister, with an occasional hint of whimsy (melon party, anyone?). His work often features dual personalities and average people corrupted by forces that lurk out of view — dark technologies, personal tragedy and mysterious cults, perhaps.

Severance and Lynch’s oeuvre also share Patricia Arquette. She plays Harmony Cobel, the emotionally-repressed and ambitious program leader of the severed floor in the Apple series, and also starred in Lynch’s surrealist thriller Lost Highway (1997) as an emotionally-repressed and ambitious femme fatale.

This season of Severance wasn’t perfect - Cobel’s revelatory visit home was a slow weak spot. But the season greatly expanded the world of Lumon Industries, and when it hit its marks, it was transcendently weird, such as the reveal of Gemma’s doll-like existence as a research patient.

Tramell Tillman’s Seth Milchik was also given an expanded and complex role this season worthy of an Emmy. We see how his job, his status in the company and his race divide him in different ways.

Mark’s (Adam Scott) conversation with his severed self via an old-school camcorder (a very Lynchian device!) was also an inspired and inventive highlight for me.

In a world full of slick streaming productions and corporate branding, a little weirdness can wake us up. Even if it doesn’t win the major awards this year, Severance has your attention.

Brandon Livesay
US reporter

With about an hour to go until the red carpet coverage really ramps up, we're going to take a look at the five most nominated TV shows of this year's Emmys.

I've asked some of my colleagues to tell us what they loved about each series.

(And be warned, I've marked in bold if they drop any spoilers.)

As a reminder, these are the most nominated shows: Severance (27 nominations), The Penguin (24), The White Lotus (23), The Studio (23), The Last of Us (16).

Laura Blasey will start us off with Severance, the office satire where employees really leave their personal lives at the door.

Nardine Saad
Reporting from the Emmy Awards

Dame Julie Andrews, Alan Cumming and former US President Barack Obama have already won Emmys. That's because many of the prizes are handed out long before tonight’s red carpet.

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles across two nights last weekend, and the bulk of the technical and behind-the-scenes awards (and some standout categories like guest star and animated programmes) were recognised.

"This is the real Emmys. This is the Emmys for the people who make all the magic happen," host Maya Rudolph said at the show.

That's why a show like Severance, this year’s top nominee, starts off with 27 Emmy nominations but might only be mentioned a handful of times during the primetime telecast. The Apple TV+ drama picked up six trophies last weekend, including one for guest star Meritt Wever and for outstanding title design.

The scorecard begins to take shape even before tonight’s opening monologue is recited, with shows such as comedy frontrunner The Studio - nominated 23 times this year - starts off its evening with nine prizes already in the bag. The Penguin, the limited series favourite, already has eight wins to its name.