The Television Academy's second annual Televerse festival opened Thursday in Downtown Los Angeles with a Hall of Fame induction ceremony honoring Jean Smart, Ted Danson, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Ed Bradley, Ted Sarandos and Sheila Nevins. The three-day event, which runs through Sunday at the JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE, brings together Emmy-nominated programs, television stars, creators and industry innovators for panels, screenings, interactive exhibits and other events.
Televerse 26 is presented by the Television Academy, the organization behind the Emmy Awards, according to MyNewsLA.com. The opening-night Hall of Fame ceremony also saw Ted Danson receive the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award alongside his wife, Mary Steenburgen, as reported by iHeartRadio. The Television Academy Hall of Fame was established in 1984 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to television, per that same report.
A Bigger Second Year for the Academy's Flagship Festival
Televerse debuted in August 2025 as the Television Academy's first multi-day fan and industry festival, drawing more than 2,500 attendees to its inaugural run at L.A. LIVE, according to TheWrap. That first edition featured over 40 interactive workshops and cast reunions for shows including Bones and Hacks. This year's lineup expands on that formula with reunions, retrospectives and hands-on exhibits spread across the festival's three days.
The event also functions as a hub for Emmy campaigning season. The Television Academy has integrated official second-round Emmy For Your Consideration panels into Televerse 26 and prohibits studios and networks from hosting competing official FYC member events at other venues during the festival window, per the Television Academy. Those panels target voting members across categories including Comedy, Drama, Limited/Anthology and Reality programming. One example on this year's schedule is a panel for Apple TV+'s drama series nominee Your Friends & Neighbors, featuring showrunner Jonathan Tropper and actor Hoon Lee, according to the festival's own lineup listing.
Reunions Span Decades, From Band of Brothers to Revenge
Nostalgia runs heavy through this year's schedule. Televerse 26 hosted a 25th-anniversary reunion panel for HBO's World War II miniseries Band of Brothers, bringing together cast members Michael Cudlitz, Ron Livingston, Scott Grimes and Rick Gomez. Band of Brothers originally premiered on HBO on September 9, 2001.
The 2026 programming also brought multi-cast reunions for ABC's 2011 drama Revenge, featuring Emily VanCamp, Josh Bowman and Gabriel Mann, along with a reunion tied to creator Winnie Holzman's 1990s teen drama My So-Called Life. Revenge debuted 15 years ago in 2011, while My So-Called Life became a cult classic despite running for only 19 episodes. Organizers curated a separate 60th-anniversary panel for the Star Trek franchise, bringing together craftspeople to examine the evolution of visual effects and virtual production in television; Star Trek debuted on network television 60 years ago in September 1966.
Closer to home for reality fans, a Big Brother panel marked the show's 1,000th episode, with participants Taylor Hale, Allison Grodner, Rich Meehan and Julie Chen Moonves, per MyNewsLA.com. A separate Modern Family panel featuring Michael Spiller and James R. Bagdonas dug into the show's mockumentary style and other production details.
I Love Lucy Gets a 75th-Anniversary Script Reading
One of the festival's marquee classic-television events is a live script reading marking the 75th anniversary of I Love Lucy, the sitcom originally starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. This year's reading casts Constance Zimmer as Lucy Ricardo, Wilson Cruz as Ricky Ricardo and Justina Machado as Ethel Mertz, followed by a discussion about the sitcom's legacy. The script used for the reading was provided courtesy of the Jess Oppenheimer Collection at the Writers Guild Foundation Library, according to Televerse. I Love Lucy earned four Emmy Awards across six seasons and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1991.
Also on the schedule is an advance screening of an episode of FX's The Shards, executive produced by Ryan Murphy and based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis. A discussion following the screening focuses on the series' depiction of 1980s Los Angeles.
AI, Costume Design and Immersive Exhibits Round Out the Weekend
Beyond the star-driven panels, Televerse 26 programming also focuses on artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry, the growing role of digital creators in nonfiction programming, and costume and character design, per organizers. The festival's exhibit hall features immersive experiences tied to the Fallout franchise, Blumhouse films and Uncanny Alley: A New Day.
Passes for this year's event ranged from a 1-Day Pass at $125, or $75 for students, to 3-Day General Admission passes for $300, or $175 for Television Academy members, with VIP Televerse Insider Passes priced at $400, per the festival's pricing page. Single-day pass options were introduced this year following feedback from the inaugural festival. Televerse 26 continues through Sunday at the JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE in Downtown Los Angeles.
