The China Mail - 'The Pitt,' 'Hacks' lead Emmy nominations

"The Pitt" racked up 25 nominations including one for best drama, while the fifth and final season of "Hacks" earned 24 nominations including one for best comedy.

The one-two punch was a bright spot for HBO Max, the home of both programs.

Netflix's "Beef" topped the nominations among the limited series contenders with 16.

"The Pitt" -- a cross between "ER" and "24," and last year's winner for best drama -- follows the stressed-out workers in a Pittsburgh emergency room, with each episode unfolding in real time.

Tackling everything from abortion rights to immigration crackdowns to mass shootings, the show started slowly but became a word-of-mouth sensation.

Noah Wyle -- who rose to fame on "ER" -- has racked up prizes as star of "The Pitt," including an Emmy, and is again a nominee for best drama actor this time around.

Another top drama contender is "Pluribus" -- created by Vince Gilligan ("Breaking Bad") -- with 18 nominations.

The Apple TV show is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which most of humanity has been infected with an alien virus creating a peaceful hive mind, with only 13 outliers immune.

"Pluribus" star Rhea Seehorn, who won a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award earlier this year for the show, is an early favorite for the Emmy for best drama actress.

The other contenders for best drama include Keri Russell's political soap opera "The Diplomat," spy series "Slow Horses" and "Game of Thrones" prequel "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."

- 'Hacks' vs 'Widow's Bay' -

On the comedy side, after last year's big wins for Seth Rogen's Hollywood satire "The Studio," the competition looks set to feature an old favorite and a newcomer.

"Hacks," the tale of a stand-up comedian trying to revive her career and the dysfunctional millennial assistant who helps her, leads the way with 24 nominations.

The show's star Jean Smart has already won four Emmys for her portrayal of Deborah Vance and is nominated once again, as is co-star Hannah Einbinder, who won her first Emmy last year.

Apple TV's new horror-comedy series "Widow's Bay" has made a big splash, earning 19 nominations -- the third most overall.

It stars Matthew Rhys as a wacky New England mayor who is trying to boost tourism on his island, which residents believe is haunted.

The rest of the field is nevertheless strong, with Apple TV's "Shrinking" starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford as therapists, and the final season of "The Bear," a dark satire set in the Chicago restaurant world, in the mix.

"The Bear" has racked up 21 Emmys in past years, including two for star Jeremy Allen White, but he was left out of the proceedings this time.

Among the nominees for best limited series are social drama "Beef" and "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette."

"Love Story" drummed up controversy -- and viewers -- with its revisiting of the A-list couple's courtship and untimely deaths, but it only earned six nominations.

"Beef," a Netflix anthology, stars Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan in its second iteration, which focuses on the explosive dynamic between two couples.

The September 14 gala in Los Angeles will be hosted by veteran "Law and Order: SVU" star Mariska Hargitay.

F.Jackson--ThChM