The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards delivered a night of sharp reversals and genuine Emmy history, with Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay emerging as the evening’s biggest winner and The Pitt successfully defending its Outstanding Drama Series crown. The horror-comedy took six major Primetime prizes, including Comedy Series, Lead Actor for Matthew Rhys, Supporting Actor for Stephen Root, Supporting Actress for Kate O’Flynn, Directing for Hiro Murai and Writing for Katie Dippold, adding to the eight trophies it had already collected at the Creative Arts Emmys. With a total of 14 wins, Widow’s Bay dominated the comedy categories, taking home six Primetime Emmys after leading the Creative Arts field with eight wins, and surpassing the 13 awards The Studio won a year ago for the most Emmys ever collected by a comedy series in a single year.
Apple TV also emerged as the night’s strongest platform, extending its early Creative Arts lead to 27 Emmy wins, according to the tally following the Primetime ceremony. The streamer had entered the final night with 19 Emmy-category wins, led by Widow’s Bay’s eight and Pluribus’ four, before adding eight major Primetime victories across Widow’s Bay and Pluribus. HBO/HBO Max followed with 20, while Netflix finished with 14. The result marks a substantial escalation for Apple, which had already set a platform record with 25 wins in 2025, when The Studio alone accounted for 13.
The evening’s most consequential individual achievement belonged to Matthew Rhys. After winning Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay, Rhys won Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series for Netflix’s The Beast in Me, becoming the first male performer to win two lead acting categories at the Emmys in the same year. The win this year has also made him the first male actor to grab an Emmy in all three lead acting categories, following his 2018 Drama Actor win for The Americans.
Matthew Rhys poses after winning the awards for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for ‘Widow’s Bay’, and Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series for Netflix’s ‘The Beast in Me’, becoming the first male performer to win two lead acting categories at the Emmys in the same year
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Jean Smart supplied the other defining record. Her Lead Actress victory for Hacks marked her fifth consecutive win in the category for the same series, making her the first performer to win an acting Emmy for every season of a show’s run. The award also brought Smart to eight acting Emmys, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cloris Leachman and fellow Emmy winner Allison Janney for the all-time record. Hacks, meanwhile, ended its five-season run with Smart’s perfect record intact despite losing Comedy Series to Widow’s Bay.
Jean Smart poses with the award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for ‘Hacks’, marking her fifth consecutive win in the category for the same series, making her the first performer to win an acting Emmy for every season of a show’s run
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
The Pitt retained its dramatic supremacy, winning Drama Series and giving Noah Wyle his second consecutive Lead Actor Emmy. Pluribus converted its nominations into major victories for Rhea Seehorn, who finally won Lead Actress after her acclaimed run on Better Call Saul, and Vince Gilligan, whose writing win added another major trophy to Apple’s haul. DTF St. Louis won Limited or Anthology Series after taking six Creative Arts awards, while Sally Field won Lead Actress for Remarkably Bright Creatures, securing her fourth Emmy and extending a career spanning more than six decades.
The ceremony also honoured Michael J. Fox with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his decades of Parkinson’s advocacy and research fundraising through the Michael J. Fox Foundation. The In Memoriam segment remembered figures including Catherine O’Hara and Dolly Parton, while Reba McEntire and Sally Field paid a separate onstage tribute to Parton, who died in August at 80.
Several heavily nominated contenders went home empty-handed. The Bear, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Beef failed to convert their major nominations into Primetime wins, while Shrinking also missed out despite multiple acting and comedy nominations. The Pitt, which led all shows with 25 nominations, managed two major wins, leaving several of its supporting cast without prizes. Hacks converted its record 24 nominations into a single major win for Jean Smart, while several pre-ceremony favourites fell to Widow’s Bay, Pluribus and DTF St. Louis as the night repeatedly defied prediction.
Here’s a full list of winners at the Emmys 2026:
Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Hacks
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders in the Building
Shrinking
Widow’s Bay WINNER
Lead Actor – Comedy
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man)
Steve Carell (Rooster)
Matthew Rhys (Widow’s Bay) WINNER
Jason Segel (Shrinking)
Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building)
Lead Actress – Comedy
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary)
Ayo Edebiri (The Bear)
Elle Fanning (Margo’s Got Money Troubles)
Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback)
Jean Smart (Hacks) WINNER
Directing – Comedy
Abbott Elementary: “Ballgame” – Randall Einhorn
The Bear: “Bears” – Christopher Storer
The Chair Company: “Life Goes By Too F**king Fast, It Really Does.” – Andrew DeYoung
Hacks: “Hacks (Finale)” – Lucia Aniello
The Ms. Pat Show: “Give It Arrest” – Mary Lou Belli
Widow’s Bay: “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!” – Hiro Murai WINNER
Writing – Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary: “Team Building” – Quinta Brunson
The Chair Company: “Life Goes By Too F**king Fast, It Really Does.” – Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin
The Comeback: “Valerie Does It All” – Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow
Hacks: “Hacks (Finale)” – Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky
Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat: “Mergers and Acquisitions” – Anthony King
Widow’s Bay: “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!” – Katie Dippold WINNER
Supporting Actor – Comedy
Colman Domingo (The Four Seasons)
Paul W. Downs (Hacks)
Harrison Ford (Shrinking)
Nick Offerman (Margo’s Got Money Troubles)
Stephen Root (Widow’s Bay) WINNER
Michael Urie (Shrinking)
Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary)
Supporting Actress – Comedy
Dale Dickey (Widow’s Bay)
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks)
Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)
Kate O’Flynn (Widow’s Bay) WINNER
Michelle Pfeiffer (Margo’s Got Money Troubles)
Megan Stalter (Hacks)
Jessica Williams (Shrinking)
Drama Series
The Diplomat
The Gilded Age
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Paradise
The Pitt WINNER
Pluribus
Slow Horses
Your Friends & Neighbors
Lead Actor – Drama
Sterling K. Brown (Paradise)
Gary Oldman (Slow Horses)
Mark Ruffalo (Task)
Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat)
Noah Wyle (The Pitt) WINNER
Lead Actress – Drama
Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age)
Chase Infiniti (The Testaments)
Keri Russell (The Diplomat)
Rhea Seehorn (Pluribus) WINNER
Zendaya (Euphoria)
Directing – Drama
The Gilded Age: “My Mind Is Made Up” – Salli Richardson Whitfield
Paradise: “Exodus” – Hanelle M. Culpepper
The Pitt: “12:00 P.M.” – Noah Wyle
Pluribus: “We Is Us” – Vince Gilligan
Slow Horses: “Scars” – Saul Metzstein WINNER
Task: “Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, There Is a River” – Salli Richardson Whitfield
Writing – Drama
The Diplomat: “Amagansett” – Peter Ackerman and Debora Cahn
The Pitt: “1:00 P.M.” – Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman and R. Scott Gemmill
The Pitt: “12:00 P.M.” – Valerie Chu
Pluribus: “We Is Us” – Vince Gilligan WINNER
Slow Horses: “Scars” – Will Smith
Task: “A Still Small Voice” – Brad Ingelsby
Supporting Actor – Drama
Patrick Ball (The Pitt)
Billy Crudup (The Morning Show)
Shawn Hatosy (The Pitt)
Gerran Howell (The Pitt)
Jack Lowden (Slow Horses)
Tom Pelphrey (Task) WINNER
Carlos-Manuel Vesga (Pluribus)
Supporting Actress – Drama
Taylor Dearden (The Pitt)
Fiona Dourif (The Pitt)
Allison Janney (The Diplomat) WINNER
Katherine LaNasa (The Pitt)
Sepideh Moafi (The Pitt)
Julianne Nicholson (Paradise)
Karolina Wydra (Pluribus)
Limited Series
All Her Fault
The Beast in Me
Beef
DTF St. Louis WINNER
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette
Lead Actor – Limited/Movie
Riz Ahmed (Bait)
Jason Bateman (Black Rabbit)
Charlie Hunnam (Monster: The Ed Gein Story)
Oscar Isaac (Beef)
Matthew Rhys (The Beast in Me) WINNER
Lead Actress – Limited/Movie
Claire Danes (The Beast in Me)
Sally Field (Remarkably Bright Creatures) WINNER
Carey Mulligan (Beef)
Sarah Pidgeon (Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette)
Sarah Snook (All Her Fault)
Variety Series
The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert WINNER
Saturday Night Live
Bob Hope Humanitarian Award
Michael J. Fox has been honoured with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2026 Emmys for his decades of advocacy and fundraising for Parkinson’s disease research through the Michael J. Fox Foundation. The award recognises his sustained humanitarian work and impact beyond the screen.
