Emmy Awards 2026 Winners: The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards took over Los Angeles on September 14, 2026, bringing together the biggest names in television for one very starry night of trophies, speeches, reunions, nostalgia and the winners.
Emmy Awards 2026 Winners
Hosted by Mariska Hargitay, the ceremony was held at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles and aired live on NBC and Peacock. While there were plenty of expected wins, the night belonged largely to Widow’s Bay, which emerged as the biggest winner of the telecast.
The Emmy Awards 2026 were not just about who took home the Emmy statuette but about records being broken, first-time winners finally getting their moment, and familiar faces proving that television is not done rewarding them yet.
Widow’s Bay Owned the Emmys
The show’s biggest winner of the night was definitely Widow’s Bay. The comedy-horror series bagged six awards during the September 14 awards telecast, the most of any programme that night.
The victories included Outstanding Comedy Series, alongside acting victories for Matthew Rhys, Kate O’Flynn and Stephen Root, while Katie Dippold won for comedy writing and Hiro Murai took home the comedy direction award.
The domination was not exclusive to the main ceremony. Across the Creative Arts and Primetime ceremonies, Widow’s Bay collected 14 Emmy awards, breaking the record set by The Studio in the previous year.
Outstanding Comedy Series
The biggest comedy prize went to Widow’s Bay, beating out the competition and ending the reign of Hacks at the top.
Considering the show’s supernatural comedy flavour, its Emmy sweep feels delicious.
Matthew Rhys Wins Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Matthew Rhys took home Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Mayor Tom Loftis in Widow’s Bay, but this was only half of his Emmy-night prowess.
Rhys also won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Beast in Me on Netflix. The awards made him the first to win two Emmy awards for lead performances in the same year. The 2026 Emmy wins also gave him Emmys across the lead categories for drama, comedy and limited series during his career.
Kate O’Flynn and Stephen Root Joined the Squad
Kate O’Flynn won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay, while Stephen Root won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for the show; both being first-time Emmy winners.
The Pitt Is Still in the Talks
The Emmy Awards may have belonged to Widow’s Bay overall, but The Pitt continued its domination arc. The HBO Max medical drama won Outstanding Drama Series, making it the first series since Mad Men to win the drama award for both of its first two seasons.
Noah Wyle Wins Best Drama Actor
Noah Wyle won the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as Dr Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch in The Pitt. This was his second consecutive win in the category.
He became the first actor since Bryan Cranston’s Breaking Bad to win Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for each of the first two seasons of a show.
Rhea Seehorn Finally Gets Her Emmy
Some Emmy wins feel like an “arrival”. Rhea Seehorn winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Pluribus is one such moment.
Seehorn won her Emmy for playing Carol Sturka in Vince Gilligan’s Apple TV series, earning her first and considering her years of work there is something wonderfully satisfying about finally seeing that name attached to Emmy winners.
Pluribus also received the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, with Vince Gilligan winning for the episode “We Is Us”.
Jean Smart Did It Again
Jean Smart won the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks, making it her fifth Emmy for the series; she has now won for every season of Hacks. Smart’s latest victory brought her acting Emmy total to eight.
Allison Janney Has Entered the Club
Allison Janney won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for The Diplomat, playing President Grace Penn.
The victory has brought Janney to eight acting Emmys, putting her with Jean Smart and Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the top of the particular leaderboard. Emmy Awards 2026 seem to have said: let us make this an evening for the women with impressive trophy shelves.
Sally Field Makes Emmy History
Sally Field walked in casually and reminded everyone that longevity in the industry is its own superpower. She won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Remarkably Bright Creatures.
The win made Field the oldest winner in the category. She turns 80 this November and is a few months older than Jessica Tandy was when Tandy won in 1988.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Wins Again
The late-night show had its own chapter read again. The Late Night Show With Stephen Colbert won Outstanding Variety Series for the second consecutive year.
Colbert also finished the overall Emmy cycle with three wins, according to the Television Academy’s tally of individuals with multiple awards.
The 2026 Emmys Felt Like a Love Letter to Television
Between Widow’s Bay rewriting the record book, The Pitt continuing to reign as the drama series, Matthew Rhys doing what no lead actor had done before, Jean Smart and Allison Janney reaching eight acting Emmy Awards, Sally Field making history and first-timers finally getting the bouquet, the 2026 Emmys had a lot going on.
Mariska Hargitay hosted the ceremony, becoming the first woman to host the Emmy Awards in 15 years. Reba McEntire also paid tribute to Dolly Parton, while Noah Kahan performed A Bridge Over Troubled Water during the Memorial segment.
Emmy Awards 2026 gave us winners, but they also gave us something much more fun: records, comebacks, firsts, nostalgia and enough television history to make every pop-culture nerd take notes, and this year’s Emmy Awards made it clear that television is capable of making and breaking records.
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