South Park, Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers: Animated Series Locks Loom

With May 31 as the eligibility cutoff for the 78th Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards, voting set to open on June 11 and nominations arriving July 8, expectations for Outstanding Animated Series are coalescing around familiar names—while “Long Story Short

The clock is ticking for the Emmys, and animated series are feeling it.

May 31 is the cutoff date for shows to be considered for the 78th Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards this September. Voting opens on June 11, and nominations will be announced July 8—meaning this is the stretch where buzz, familiarity, and campaign momentum can all quietly decide who gets seen.

In the Best Animated Series race, the pattern the Television Academy has built over the years is hard to miss. Shows that land early tend to keep returning, even when the cultural temperature shifts. When a contender doesn’t get Emmy attention in its first year. it can be tough to break back in later—an effect fans have watched up close with shows like “Halt and Catch Fire” and “The Leftovers. ” which gained acclaim after rocky starts but never captured voter interest.

That dynamic can feel especially baked into animation, where long-running comedies can stay in orbit for years, even decades. And in this category, two long-time fixtures have become a familiar kind of wallpaper. Fox’s “The Simpsons” and “Bob’s Burgers” have been nominated every year since 2015. “The Simpsons” has won twice in that span, while “Bob’s Burgers” has won once.

The upside for both is simple: they’re still around, still finding ways to be funny. “Bob’s Burgers” remains a comfort-watch with steady quality, and recent seasons of “The Simpsons” have leaned into a more meta, wacky style of humor—an easy reason for viewers to keep showing up.

The downside is also straightforward. Each year, those nominations take up room that could go to newer voices. “The Simpsons” and “Bob’s Burgers” aren’t going anywhere this cycle—if anything. they look like they’re primed to return again. The bigger question is whether they’re the best use of five nomination slots.

Neither show, at least in one viewer’s view, seems to have a realistic shot at winning. The odds-on favorite, instead, is “South Park,” a long-running animated sitcom that hasn’t been a major Emmy factor since 2021.

“South Park” returned for two five-episode seasons in July and October last year. and the appetite around it has been unusually loud. One reason is the sharpness of what the 27th season did with the Trump administration—parodying the President as a psychopath in a sexual relationship with Satan. The episodes pulled the best ratings in 25 years. generated tons of online attention. and sparked active criticism from the President and his allies.

Even if some viewers don’t see these episodes as the sharpest in the show’s history, a campaign from Comedy Central could be exactly what pushes voters to reward it—especially when the material is already drawing a debate-sized spotlight.

Three spots feel secure as the race heads toward September: “South Park,” “The Simpsons,” “Bob’s Burgers,” and “Primal.”

“Primal,” Genndy Tartakovsky’s nearly silent Adult Swim action series, won for its first season and was nominated for its second. The third season premiered this January, and it has been thrilling in the same way the earlier seasons did—keeping it close to Emmy conversation rather than fading out.

After that, the remaining slot becomes the closest thing to the category’s real fight.

If “South Park” is the loudest lock, then two other titles are the ones people keep circling as plausible nomination contenders: “King of the Hill” and “Long Story Short.”

“Long Story Short” is the one that would be most satisfying to win in at least one fan’s mind. Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s animated dramedy follows a close-knit Jewish family across several decades in non-linear fashion. It has been acclaimed. but despite the long-run recognition Bob-Waksberg’s “Bojack Horseman” earned across its career. “Long Story Short” has not gotten much Emmy attention—only two nominations and zero wins.

This time, there’s a potential edge: “Long Story Short” may be more accessible than “Bojack,” staying serious without feeling as relentlessly depressing. Netflix has also been campaigning it as a central play with “Arcane” and “Blue-Eyed Samurai” not in contention.

Still, there’s a worry tucked underneath all the promise. The show arrived and moved on in a way that left less time for steady Emmy buzz to build. When voters skim, timing can matter.

“King of the Hill. ” the Hulu reboot of the animated sitcom classic. comes with a different kind of credibility—especially in a market flooded with revivals that don’t always understand what made the original work. In this case. the reboot has been a pleasant surprise: it appears to recognize what made the original show beloved. while gently pushing the characters into the future in a way that feels honest to where they’d be in the 2020s.

The original “King of the Hill” earned a handful of nominations over its run but no wins. If Hulu campaigns carefully this time, “King of the Hill” could slide into that last nomination slot.

For now. one forecast puts that final spot slightly closer to “Long Story Short” than “King of the Hill.” But nominations don’t land until July 8. so there’s still room for something unexpected to slip in—like the offbeat animated series “Haha. You Clowns. ” which centers on a trio of slightly dim teen brothers with very big hearts.

In this same conversation, “Smiling Friends” is noted as a title that ended its run this year unexpectedly. Still, there’s a sense that both “Haha, You Clowns” and “Smiling Friends” may be too offbeat for the Television Academy’s tastes.

And “Rick and Morty” has its own roadblock. The series was last nominated in 2023 for its sixth season, but it has largely fallen out of favor since the Justin Roiland controversy. With its eighth season making fairly little noise, it doesn’t look positioned to change those odds.

For everyone hoping “Long Story Short” gets recognized, the race isn’t just about stats and slots. It’s about what the show does—and why it sticks.

Not long ago, there was an FYC event for “Long Story Short,” where a conversation took place with creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg and voice actor Lisa Edelstein, who plays Naomi, the show’s complicated mother figure. The talk circled around the way the series uses food like a language.

“Food is very interwoven into the narrative,” Bob-Waksberg said, framing it as something visceral—part of family, culture, history, and experience. He described food as a specific way to remember, and pointed to the show’s broader focus on different ways to remember things.

He also singled out an episode about Shira trying to perfect a family recipe and it not going to plan. tying it back to how traditions show up in the script. When asked how family traditions found their way into the story. Bob-Waksberg said. “Some of it is religious. ” but a lot of it is simply family stuff—family language. inside jokes. references. and turns of phrase that can’t really be explained to outsiders.

Edelstein connected that craft to the series’ time-jumping format. “It’s like building a pastry,” she said, describing the show’s jumps back and forth in time—how the scraps of family memory become something cohesive.

Playing Naomi comes with its own emotional burden, too. Edelstein was asked what it was like portraying a complex character who may not be the easiest to like. “I love Naomi,” she said. Edelstein described her as complicated. but coming from the right place and always meaning her best—even if it doesn’t translate that way to other people. Edelstein added that Naomi might not be self-aware, but she isn’t lacking in love or good intentions.

One favorite recording moment came early. Naomi meets the Shiksa girlfriend and can’t say her name because her name is Jen. Edelstein said that for several episodes—every actually—whenever her character says her character’s name. she has to pronounce it in a way that sounds like she’s struggling through the whole season. She explained it has to have a space before it and a space after it. because it’s “so profound that it exists as a name to her.”.

The conversation also touched on what comes next. The question was whether there is a Season 2 scheduled for this year, and what audiences can expect. Bob-Waksberg’s response was simple: he’s excited to go deeper with these characters and relationships. uncovering different parts of their past and different dynamics—how they play off each other and how they deal with each other. His only tease was that it’s “more of them,” and that learning more is the point.

It’s a reminder that the Emmys aren’t just a popularity contest. For “Long Story Short,” the campaign and the craft are both trying to reach the same place: voters who might otherwise miss a show that came or went quickly.

So as May 31 closes in. and voting opens on June 11. the Best Animated Series field looks like a mix of inevitability and opportunity—three near-locks that feel familiar. plus one final spot that could still reward a show with enough heart. enough craft. and enough momentum to break through the noise.

2026 Emmys nominations predictions Outstanding Animated Series South Park The Simpsons Bob’s Burgers Primal King of the Hill Long Story Short Raphael Bob-Waksberg Lisa Edelstein Netflix Adult Swim Hulu reboot