‘Smiling Friends’ Final Season Scores Emmy Nod In An Otherwise Familiar Animation Lineup

The Television Academy has announced the nominees for the 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards, with familiar franchises once again dominating most of the animation race, with one notable exception.

The Outstanding Animated Program category largely features returning series, with longtime Emmy contenders The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, Rick and Morty, and South Park joined by Lucasfilm’s previous Individual Achievement in Animation Emmy-winning anthology series Star Wars: Visions and Adult Swim’s newcomer to the party, Smiling Friends. The lineup continues the Emmys’ well-established reputation of mostly uninspired animation recognition, which typically leaves room for only one or two innovative or non-traditional nominees. That’s not meant as a knock on the nominees, many of which have upheld incredible production standards for years, but it doesn’t feel like any ground is being broken by The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, or even Rick and Morty or South Park in 2026.

From other categories, South Park earned a nomination for original music and lyrics, while The Simpsons stalwart Hank Azaria received another voice-over nod. Joining Azaria are Steven Yeun for Invincible and Pamela Adlon for King of the Hill, with the remaining spots going to live-action voice-over performances. In this year’s sound editing categories, animation scored a pair of nominations for Predator: Killer of Killers and Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord.

The visual effects races continue to be dominated by prestige genre programs. Apple TV+’s Foundation, Netflix’s Stranger Things, and FX’s Alien: Earth headline the season-long category, while Spider-Noir, Gen V, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon compete in the single-episode race.

2026 Animation Emmy Nominations

Outstanding Animated Program

• Bob’s Burgers
• Rick and Morty
• The Simpsons
• Smiling Friends
• South Park
• Star Wars: Visions

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance

• Pamela Adlon, King of the Hill
• Julie Andrews, Bridgerton
• Hank Azaria, The Simpsons
• Trey Parker, South Park
• Matt Vogel, The Muppet Show
• Steven Yeun, Invincible

Outstanding Emerging Media Program

• Blumhouse Enhanced Cinema
• Uncanny Alley: A New Day
• The World of Fallout

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation

• Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
• Murderbot
• Predator: Killer of Killers
• Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord
• Widow’s Bay

Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics

• The Boys, “Raise Him Up”
• Hacks, “Mis Figuritas”
• The Pitt, “Need Someone”
• South Park, “Christian Woman”
• Spider-Noir, “The Devil You Know”
• Wednesday, “The Dead Dance”

Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie

• Alien: Earth
• Foundation
• IT: Welcome to Derry
• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
• Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age
• Stranger Things

Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Single Episode

• Gen V
• Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
• Paradise
• Spider-Noir
• The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon