Landman Shut Out at 2026 Emmys, Colbert’s Late Show Lands 9 Nods

The Television Academy handed out its 2026 Primetime Emmy nominations on Wednesday, and Taylor Sheridan’s biggest show landed nowhere. Landman, the Paramount+ oil drama starring Billy Bob Thornton, and The Madison, Sheridan’s Yellowstone-adjacent western with Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell, both received zero nods.

The same morning gave Stephen Colbert nine nominations for The Late Show, the program CBS canceled less than two months before the ceremony for what the network called financial reasons.

Landman Shut Out, Thornton Left Off the List

Forbes reported on July 8 that Landman Season 2 and The Madison Season 1 both drew no nominations, despite a Paramount+ campaign and Thornton’s Critics Choice nod for the show’s second season. Sheridan’s Tulsa King landed one nod for stunt coordination. That is the entire Sheridan footprint at this year’s Emmys.

The Pitt dominated the drama field with 25 nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series and 10 acting nods. Landman was nowhere in the Outstanding Drama Series race. Thornton missed Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Sam Elliott and Andy Garcia missed Outstanding Supporting Actor. Ali Larter, Michelle Randolph, and Demi Moore missed Outstanding Supporting Actress.

Landman is in its second season. Forbes noted that Season 1 was also shut out, a back-to-back shutout for one of the most-watched dramas on streaming. The Actor Awards, formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards, nominated Landman for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Drama Series earlier this year. The Golden Globes and Critics Choice have both nominated Thornton. The Television Academy has not.

Pfeiffer, who led The Madison’s cast, missed Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She landed a separate nod for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Margo’s Got Money Troubles. Russell missed Outstanding Supporting Actor. The Hollywood Reporter called the snubs mystifying given the casts.

Colbert’s Late Show Lands 9, a Series Record After Cancellation

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert received nine Emmy nominations on Wednesday, the largest haul for the series since Colbert took over in 2015, per Fox News. The previous record was five nominations, hit in 2024, 2022, and 2021. The slate runs from Outstanding Variety Series through Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series, Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series, Outstanding Production Design, Outstanding Technical Direction, Outstanding Lighting Design, Outstanding Sound Mixing, Outstanding Picture Editing, and Outstanding Music Direction.

The show aired its final episode on May 21. CBS canceled the program last year for what it described as financial reasons, with reports at the time claiming the network was losing $40 million a year on it. The finale helped earn the show five of the nine nominations, per Fox News. CBS referred to an Instagram post congratulating the series for its nominations, per Fox News.

• Late Show 2026 nominations: 9
• Previous record: 5 (2024, 2022, 2021)
• Final episode aired: May 21, 2026
• Air date of the 78th Emmys: Sept. 14, 2026

The $40 Million Loss CBS Now Says Became $15 Million in Profit

CBS followed the cancellation with a statement one week later, claiming credit for replacing Colbert with Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed. The network said it had shifted an hour “that was losing roughly $40 million annually to $15 million in profit, a $55 million swing.” The Daily Beast obtained the statement and reported it on May 31, 2026.

The Daily Beast also reported that CBS primetime late-night viewership dropped 85 percent after Colbert’s exit. The Late Show’s final broadcast drew 6.7 million viewers, the highest weeknight number in the show’s history. Comics Unleashed drew 995,000 viewers for its premiere, per initial Nielsen data cited by The Daily Beast. Allen’s deal, in which he covers all production costs and sells his own advertising, pays CBS a flat fee.

Jimmy Kimmel, asked about the $40 million figure at the time of the cancellation, called it “beyond nonsensical.” Allen previously kept the deal’s exact sum a secret, saying only that it cost him “tens of millions.” CBS’s own statement revealed the figure as $15 million. Allen told TheWrap the deal could be worth “$150 million+ per year” to CBS across both time periods.

Sheridan’s Own Diagnosis: ‘I’m Pretty Common’

You’re not going to win no Emmys with me, but I’m not trying to win Emmys. That’s not my goal. My goal is to sit somebody on their couch and move them, make them think, make them laugh, scare the s— out of them, excite them. That’s what I want to do, because that’s what I want from a show.

Taylor Sheridan, the screenwriter behind Yellowstone, Landman, Tulsa King, and The Madison, laid out his position on The Bill Simmons Podcast on June 28, 12 days before the nominations landed. People reported his remarks the next day. His framing was blunt. “I’m pretty common, and I’m going to tell stories that common people are going to understand,” he told Simmons. “That’s most of America.”

Sheridan is 56, per People. He signed his 2021 deal with Paramount that produced the Yellowstone universe plus Landman, Lioness, and Tulsa King. He was on the podcast to promote his book, How Not to Die in Prison, per Forbes. His Marvel critique from the same Bill Simmons appearance ran here when his Call of Duty film with Peter Berg was announced days later.

Sheridan unloaded on the critics who have spent years dismissing his work in the same episode. “The critics and me, I don’t care what they think, and it annoys the s— out of them that I don’t care,” he said. “I’ll be the first to tell you that there are things that I do that rage-bait them a bit, and this is one of them. F— ’em, honestly.” He has taken the same pitch to Joe Rogan Experience episode 2517, in a longer conversation from earlier this year.

What the Snub Reveals About the 2026 Race

The only acknowledgment of Sheridan’s entire 2026 television output, across six shows on Paramount+ and CBS, is a single stunt coordination nod for Tulsa King. The reason voters give, when they give one, is rarely on the record. The reason some of the people who work for Sheridan give is. AOL reported that Thornton sees politics in the decision.

That framing is not new to awards bodies, but 2026 makes it harder to ignore. Colbert’s nine nominations were awarded to a show whose own network said it was losing $40 million a year and canceled it. The show’s writers had launched an Emmys “for your consideration” campaign after the cancellation, per Fox News. The Television Academy’s own page for The Late Show lists all nine nominations.

The Daily Wire’s Pendragon Cycle, a drama whose audience is presumed to sit outside the industry’s coastal center, just landed a Leo Award nomination for its lead, Colin Cunningham, in British Columbia’s regional ceremony. That parallel, a show whose audience is presumed to be politically inconvenient, rewarded locally and ignored nationally, is the same shape that runs through Sheridan’s 2026. The Leo Awards do not draw the Emmys’ prestige. The Emmys do not draw the viewers Landman draws on Paramount+.

Sheridan’s contract gives Paramount something no peer review can revoke. The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards air Sept. 14, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do the 2026 Emmys air?

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards air Sept. 14, 2026.

How many nominations did Stephen Colbert’s Late Show receive in 2026?

Nine nominations for the final season, a series record. The previous high was five, hit in 2024, 2022, and 2021.

Was Landman nominated for any Emmys in 2026?

No. Landman Season 2 received zero nominations. The Madison Season 1 received zero nominations. The only nod for a Sheridan show in 2026 was a stunt coordination nod for Tulsa King.

Why was The Late Show with Stephen Colbert canceled?

CBS said the cancellation was purely a financial decision, citing $40 million in annual losses. CBS later said the Byron Allen replacement deal will turn that hour into $15 million in profit.