LOS ANGELES – The 2025 Emmy Awards ceremony, taking place on Sept 14 (Sept 15 in Singapore), promises thrilling competition, with the searing teen murder saga Adolescence and Hollywood satire The Studio among the top contenders expected to scoop major awards.

Apple TV+’s sci-fi office thriller Severance and HBO’s medical procedural The Pitt are the leading candidates for the highly sought-after best drama series prize.

As the television industry’s equivalent of the Oscars kicks off at 5pm in Los Angeles, pundits say the race remains too close to call.

Adolescence—arguably 2025’s most-talked-about TV show—is the clear favourite for best limited series, a category reserved for shows concluding after one season. Garnering a staggering 140 million views in its first three months on Netflix, the series follows a 13-year-old boy arrested for allegedly murdering a female classmate with a knife.

Entertainment magazine Variety’s John Ross declared, “It is inconceivable to see a way in which Adolescence loses come Emmy night. Cultural zeitgeist trumps all at the Emmys.”

Shot as four consecutive single-take episodes, the show offers a raw and timely examination of toxic masculinity’s impact on young boys. It has won critical acclaim and sparked widespread discussion. A win here would mark the second consecutive Emmy victory for dark British Netflix dramas, following 2024’s Baby Reindeer.

The best comedy series category also boasts a dominant frontrunner: Apple TV+’s The Studio. Co-created and starring Seth Rogen as struggling movie executive Matt Remick, the series simultaneously celebrates and skewers Hollywood’s insecurities, hypocrisies, and moral flaws.

The Studio received a record-tying 23 nominations—the most ever for a comedy in a single year—and already clinched nine awards last weekend in technical categories. One standout episode humorously unfolds during a Hollywood awards show, featuring a running gag where most winners thank Matt’s assistant Sal Saperstein rather than the boss himself, a moment expected to be referenced at the Emmys.

The ceremony’s most anticipated moment will likely be the announcement of the best drama series winner, traditionally the final and most prestigious award.

Severance, a dystopian psychological thriller about employees who separate their work and personal memories, leads the pack with 27 nominations—the highest this year. Despite missing out in 2022 to Succession, its second season is the presumed frontrunner.

However, HBO’s The Pitt, a medical drama set during a tense shift at an inner-city Pittsburgh hospital, has emerged as a strong challenger. Inspired by the award-winning ER, it addresses contemporary issues like abortion rights and mass shootings, quickly becoming a word-of-mouth hit.

Veteran actor Noah Wyle, known for his ER tenure, is favored to win best drama actor for his role as the hospital’s haunted leader, potentially edging out Adam Scott of Severance.

In a politically charged era, the Television Academy aims to focus on celebrating television without controversy. Ceremony producer Jesse Collins told Deadline, “We want everybody to just have fun for three hours.”

Host Nate Bargatze has introduced a unique twist to keep speeches concise, pledging to donate US$100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America but deducting US$1,000 for every second a winner exceeds their 45-second speech limit.