Emmy Predictions 2026 - Who Will Likely Be Nominated for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series?

From June 11 to 22, 2026, voting is taking place for The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. As such, it's fun to look at which actors and shows have the best chances of actually being nominated this year. So, these are my predictions for which performers will be nominated for Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

Performers most likely to be nominated:

1. Rob Reiner for FX's The Bear
2. Michael J. Fox for Apple TV's Shrinking
3. Jeff Daniels for Apple TV's Shrinking
4. Jon Bernthal for FX's The Bear
5. Brett Goldstein for Apple TV's Shrinking
6. Connor Storrie for NBC's Saturday Night Live

Serious threats that could break through:

1. Christopher McDonald, Tony Goldwyn, Christopher Briney and Tony Kushner for HBO Max's Hacks
2. Colman Domingo, Will Ferrell, Bad Bunny, Jack Black, Ryan Gosling and Harry Styles for NBC's Saturday Night Live
3. Peter Dinklage for FX's The Lowdown
4. Seth Rogen for Netflix's Nobody Wants This
5. Steve Carell and Steven Pasquale for Netflix's The Four Seasons
6. Andrew Scott, Bradley Whitford, John Early and James Burrows for HBO's The Comeback
7. Keegan-Michael Key and Teddy Coluca for Hulu's Only Murders in the Building
8. Hamish Linklater and Tim Baltz for Apple TV's Widow's Bay
9. David Zayas and Robert Townsend for FX's The Bear

Some considerable long-shots:

1. Alan Ruck for HBO's Rooster
2. Elijah Wood and Froy Gutierrez for HBO's I Love LA
3. Luke Tennie and Zack Fox for ABC's Abbott Elementary
4. Tracy Letts and Aidan Laprete for Peacock's The Paper
5. Rob Huebel for Netflix's Running Point
6. Darren Goldstein for Netflix's Big Mistakes
7. John Getz for Netflix's A Man on the Inside
8. Craig Robinson and Corbin Bernsen for NBC's The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins
9. Fred Armisen and Christopher Lloyd for Netflix's Wednesday
10. Jared Lindner for HBO's The Chair Company

Colorful oddities that still have an outside chance:

1. John C. McGinley for ABC's Scrubs
2. Stephen Colbert for CBS' Elsbeth
3. Sam Richardson for NBC's St. Denis Medical
4. John Stamos and Matt Rogers for Apple TV's Palm Royale
5. Tim Daly for Netflix's Leanne
6. Justin Theroux, Simon Helberg and Cliff "Method Man" Smith for Peacock's Poker Face
7. Jack McBrayer for Apple TV's Murderbot
8. Josh Gad, Joe Pantoliano and Byron Bowers for Disney+'s Wonder Man
9. Jarrad Paul and Ian Roberts for Prime Video's Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat
10. Lukas Haas for MGM+'s Spider-Noir

The nominations for The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, July 8. The winners will be awarded in a ceremony broadcast on NBC on Monday, September 14.