The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards handed out its final verdicts on Monday, September 14, at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, and by the time the last statuette changed hands, one thing was obvious: this was Apple TV’s night. Widow’s Bay, the streamer’s freshman comedy, walked away as the most decorated first-season comedy in Emmy history, while HBO Max’s The Pitt held on to its best drama series crown and Matthew Rhys made history by winning lead acting honours in two different categories on the same night.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay hosted the ceremony, becoming only the fourth woman ever to host the Emmys and the first in fifteen years since Jane Lynch took the stage in 2011. The broadcast, which aired live on NBC and streamed on Peacock, also marked the 30th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the 50th anniversary of Charlie’s Angels, with cast members from both shows turning up as presenters. Michael J. Fox received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, and Noah Kahan closed out the night’s In Memoriam segment with a rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
Below is the complete rundown of winners across every major category, plus the storylines, records, and upsets that defined the night.
The Biggest Winners of the Night
Widow’s Bay went into the ceremony with 19 nominations and came out with the title of most-awarded first-season comedy series ever, finishing with 14 total wins once the Creative Arts ceremonies were folded in, one more than The Studio managed the previous year. The show swept both comedy supporting acting races, with Stephen Root and Kate O’Flynn taking the trophies, and also picked up directing, writing, and the night’s biggest prize: Outstanding Comedy Series.
The Pitt, which led all programs with 25 nominations, backed up last year’s breakthrough with another Outstanding Drama Series win and a second consecutive Lead Actor trophy for Noah Wyle.
DTF St. Louis pulled off one of the evening’s bigger surprises, beating out the heavily fancied Beef for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and picked up supporting acting wins for both David Harbour and Linda Cardellini along the way.
But the story of the night belonged to Matthew Rhys. The Welsh actor won Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay and, minutes later, Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for Netflix’s The Beast in Me, becoming the first performer in Emmy history to win lead acting awards in two different categories in the same year. It was also the first time any man has won two lead acting Emmys in a single ceremony. Rhys had already won a Drama Series acting award for The Americans back in 2018, meaning he has now claimed lead-performance Emmys across three separate categories over his career.
Jean Smart closed out her Hacks run in style, too. Her win for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, her fifth in a row for playing Deborah Vance, was also the eighth Emmy of her career, tying her with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman for the most acting Emmys ever won by a single performer.
Outstanding Drama Series and Acting Winners
| Category | Winner | Nominees |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Drama Series | The Pitt | The Diplomat, The Gilded Age, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Paradise, Pluribus, Slow Horses, Your Friends & Neighbors |
| Lead Actor, Drama | Noah Wyle, The Pitt | Sterling K. Brown (Paradise), Gary Oldman (Slow Horses), Mark Ruffalo (Task), Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat) |
| Lead Actress, Drama | Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus | Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age), Chase Infiniti (The Testaments), Keri Russell (The Diplomat), Zendaya (Euphoria) |
| Supporting Actor, Drama | Tom Pelphrey, Task | Patrick Ball, Shawn Hatosy, Gerran Howell (all The Pitt), Billy Crudup (The Morning Show), Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Carlos-Manuel Vesga (Pluribus) |
| Supporting Actress, Drama | Allison Janney, The Diplomat | Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif, Katherine LaNasa, Sepideh Moafi (all The Pitt), Julianne Nicholson (Paradise), Karolina Wydra (Pluribus) |
| Directing, Drama | Saul Metzstein, Slow Horses | Salli Richardson-Whitfield (The Gilded Age, Task), Hanelle M. Culpepper (Paradise), Noah Wyle (The Pitt), Vince Gilligan (Pluribus) |
| Writing, Drama | Vince Gilligan, Pluribus | Peter Ackerman & Debora Cahn (The Diplomat), Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman & R. Scott Gemmill and Valerie Chu (The Pitt), Will Smith (Slow Horses), Brad Ingelsby (Task) |
Rhea Seehorn’s win landed as one of the most emotional moments of the night. For years, she was cited as one of television’s most overlooked performers during her run on Better Call Saul, and her victory for Pluribus, creator Vince Gilligan’s first series since Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, finally closed that gap.
Outstanding Comedy Series and Acting Winners
| Category | Winner | Nominees |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Comedy Series | Widow’s Bay | Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building, Shrinking |
| Lead Actor, Comedy | Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay | Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man), Steve Carell (Rooster), Jason Segel (Shrinking), Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building) |
| Lead Actress, Comedy | Jean Smart, Hacks | Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), Elle Fanning (Margo’s Got Money Troubles), Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback) |
| Supporting Actor, Comedy | Stephen Root, Widow’s Bay | Colman Domingo (The Four Seasons), Paul W. Downs (Hacks), Harrison Ford & Michael Urie (Shrinking), Nick Offerman (Margo’s Got Money Troubles), Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary) |
| Supporting Actress, Comedy | Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay | Dale Dickey (Widow’s Bay), Hannah Einbinder & Megan Stalter (Hacks), Janelle James (Abbott Elementary), Michelle Pfeiffer (Margo’s Got Money Troubles), Jessica Williams (Shrinking) |
| Directing, Comedy | Hiro Murai, Widow’s Bay | Randall Einhorn (Abbott Elementary), Christopher Storer (The Bear), Andrew DeYoung (The Chair Company), Lucia Aniello (Hacks), Mary Lou Belli (The Ms. Pat Show) |
| Writing, Comedy | Katie Dippold, Widow’s Bay | Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Tim Robinson & Zach Kanin (The Chair Company), Michael Patrick King & Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback), Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs & Jen Statsky (Hacks) |
Harrison Ford’s nomination for Shrinking was one of the night’s quieter talking points, it marked another notch in a late-career pivot to television for the veteran movie star, though the win ultimately went to his co-star’s Widow’s Bay rival, Stephen Root.
Limited Series, TV Movie, and Guest Acting Winners
| Category | Winner | Nominees |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series | DTF St. Louis | All Her Fault, The Beast in Me, Beef, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette |
| Outstanding Television Movie | Remarkably Bright Creatures | Head of State, Miss You, Love You, People We Meet on Vacation, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War |
| Lead Actor, Limited Series or Movie | Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me | Riz Ahmed (Bait), Jason Bateman (Black Rabbit), Charlie Hunnam (Monster: The Ed Gein Story), Oscar Isaac (Beef) |
| Lead Actress, Limited Series or Movie | Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures | Claire Danes (The Beast in Me), Carey Mulligan (Beef), Sarah Pidgeon (Love Story), Sarah Snook (All Her Fault) |
| Supporting Actor, Limited Series or Movie | David Harbour, DTF St. Louis | Jason Bateman & Richard Jenkins (DTF St. Louis), Richard Gadd (Half Man), Charles Melton (Beef), Nick Offerman (Death by Lightning) |
| Supporting Actress, Limited Series or Movie | Linda Cardellini, DTF St. Louis | Dakota Fanning (All Her Fault), Joy Sunday (DTF St. Louis), Youn Yuh-jung (Beef), Constance Zimmer (Love Story), Christine Tremarco (Adolescence) |
| Guest Actor, Drama | Ernest Harden Jr., The Pitt | Colman Domingo (Euphoria), Jeff Hiller & Jeff Kober (Pluribus/The Pitt), Jonathan Pryce (Slow Horses), Bradley Whitford (The Diplomat) |
| Guest Actress, Drama | Shailene Woodley, Paradise | Brittany Allen, Tal Anderson, Tina Ivlev (The Pitt), Miriam Shor (Pluribus), Merritt Wever (The Gilded Age) |
| Guest Actor, Comedy | Rob Reiner, The Bear | Michael J. Fox & Brett Goldstein (Shrinking), Hamish Linklater (Widow’s Bay), Christopher McDonald (Hacks) |
| Guest Actress, Comedy | Betty Gilpin, Widow’s Bay | Leslie Bibb, Cherry Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Kaitlin Olson, Lauren Weedman (Hacks), Jamie Lee Curtis (The Bear) |
Rob Reiner’s win for The Bear was one of the more bittersweet moments of the ceremony, arriving posthumously and earning a long standing ovation from the room.
Reality, Variety, and Other Program Categories
| Category | Winner | Nominees |
|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Reality Competition Program | The Traitors | Dancing with the Stars, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Survivor, Top Chef |
| Outstanding Variety Series | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Saturday Night Live |
The Traitors took the reality competition prize with its “Let the Cards Fall as They Will” episode submission, beating out long-running staples like Survivor and Top Chef. On the variety side, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert closed out its run with a win, arriving in the same year the show wrapped production, giving the category’s win an unmistakable farewell-tour feel.
Beyond the trophies, this year’s ceremony will likely be remembered for a handful of historic firsts. Matthew Rhys’s double win puts him in territory no other actor has occupied, having now collected Emmys in three separate lead acting categories across his career. Jean Smart’s eighth trophy places her alongside two of the most decorated performers in the show’s history. And Widow’s Bay announced itself as appointment television almost immediately, turning a debut season into the biggest comedy haul the Emmys have ever handed a freshman show.
For The Pitt, the repeat win for Outstanding Drama Series confirms that the medical drama’s breakout success last year was no fluke, while DTF St. Louis‘s upset over Beef in the limited series race is likely to be one of the more debated outcomes once the dust settles. Whichever way you look at it, the 2026 Emmys delivered a night with plenty of new names, several overdue wins, and a handful of records that will take some beating.
