The Pitt leads the Emmy Award pack with 25 nominations including for best drama series, and for good reason, says streaming columnist NICK OVERALL.

Close to 40 television shows have scooped up nominations for this year’s Emmy Awards.

That number is more than a tad daunting and time-consuming for a watch list so what’s really worth the time? 

It depends on your taste, but here’s a few worth the hype.

The Pitt (on HBO Max) leads the pack with 25 nominations including for best drama series, and for good reason.

This medical thriller plays out in real-time, following a group of emergency department workers throughout the day trying to hold their hospital up from falling into crisis.

Each episode actually plays out over the one hour audiences watch.

The first is titled 7AM, the next 8AM and so forth.

Three seasons in it continues to be as tense as ever. Those who like TV to put them on the edge of their seat will get enough here to almost make them fall off. 

If the tension in Disney Plus’ The Bear (nominated for best comedy) is the sort of pace that appeals, consider The Pitt one to put on top of the list. 

Want something a little slower and easier to enjoy though?

Well running in second place this year is Hacks, which in its final season secured itself 24 nominations.

This show streaming on Stan tells the story of a fading stand-up comedian who takes on a young, entitled TV sitcom writer as an unlikely apprentice. 

Initially clashing over their generational differences, the two women come to form a partnership that may just ignite the careers they’ve always dreamed of.

At first glance it doesn’t seem like a premise that could make it to five seasons but pithy writing has kept the show fresh right until its very end and deserving of some Emmy gongs for its grand finale. 

In terms of who’s doing down under proud, the pickings are a bit more slim this year.

Adelaide actress Sarah Snook leads the charge though. 

The star of HBO’s hit series Succession has scored a best actress in a limited series nomination for her work in All Her Fault.

This one streaming on Binge tells a tale of every parent’s worst nightmare.

The plot gets going when Marissa (played by Snook) goes to pick up her young son from a play date, only to be told by the woman who answers the door that her son was never there.

What follows is a family’s desperate search for answers amidst a mystery that threatens to tear them apart. 

Snook is undoubtedly the emotional anchor point of this excellent series and, with perhaps a little bias, is the standout choice in her category.

Nichole Kidman has also secured a nomination for producing on Margot’s Got Money Troubles.

This comedy series on Amazon Prime Video tells the tale of a 20-year-old college dropout (played by Elle Fanning) whose life is turned upside down when she falls pregnant to her English professor.

With nowhere else to turn as the bills pile up, she starts an OnlyFans account, creating adult content online that she turns into a breakout business.

Walking the line between comedy and drama it’s another one worthy of its award nods this year.

The big surprise though, and arguably the dark horse of this year’s nominations, is Widow’s Bay, a sci-fi comedy series on Apple TV Plus that has truly broken the mould.

It tells the tale of a mayor of a small island town desperately trying to inject some much needed tourism into the local economy.

The only problem is the place might just be cursed. Literally.

The small community’s leader not only has to deal with cranky ratepayers but also supernatural forces that threaten the locale.

It’s difficult for more genre heavy shows to get the attention of the award panels but Widow’s Bay has managed 19 nominations including best comedy and best actor in a comedy for leading man Matthew Rhys. This is my personal favourite to take out an Emmys sweep.

News all day, every day at CityNewsQBN.com.au.