Emmy Awards 2026: 'Widow’s Bay' leads 8-win night as 'South Park' ends 13-year wait

Highlights

• 102 statuettes were handed out across two Creative Arts ceremonies at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
• Apple’s Widow’s Bay led the pack with eight wins.
• South Park won outstanding animated programme for the first time since 2013.
• Shailene Woodley took home her first-ever Emmy.

Apple’s Widow’s Bay was the biggest winner of the weekend, picking up trophies across acting, craft and technical categories.

• Guest acting: Betty Gilpin
• Casting
• Sound mixing
• Production design
• Cinematography
• Music supervision
• Music composition
• Sound editing

The eight wins made Widow’s Bay the most awarded show across the two Creative Arts ceremonies.

DTF St Louis sweeps its major limited series races

HBO Max’s DTF St Louis also had a strong showing, taking home major supporting acting, directing and writing prizes alongside craft awards.

• Supporting Actor: David Harbour
• Supporting Actress: Linda Cardellini
• Directing: Steven Conrad
• Writing: Steven Conrad
• Cinematography
• Picture editing

Harbour beat his own co-star Jason Bateman for supporting actor, while Cardellini won supporting actress.

Linda Cardellini and David Harbour, winners of Outstanding Supporting Actress and Actor for DTF St. LouisGetty Images

The four acting, writing and directing categories were among five moved off the main televised Primetime broadcast this year, a decision that has drawn criticism from Hollywood guilds.

Spider-Noir leads the technical and visual crafts

Prime Video’s Spider-Noir picked up five wins across technical and visual categories.

Hnedel Maximore, Brooke Noska, Adam Rothstein and the Spider-Noir visual effects team, winners of Outstanding Special Visual EffectsGetty Images

• Stunt coordination
• Title design
• Special visual effects
• Cinematography
• Sound editing

The biggest firsts and milestones from the ceremonies

Several wins stood out for their milestones, including South Park ending a long wait in the animated programme category and Shailene Woodley securing her first-ever Emmy.

The South Park team, winners of Outstanding Animated Programme for “Sermon On The ‘Mount”Getty Images

• South Park: Outstanding Animated Programme, its first win in the category since 2013
• Shailene Woodley: Guest Actor, Paradise, her first-ever Emmy
• Paradise: First win since launching
• Remarkably Bright Creatures: Outstanding Movie
• Palm Royale: Production design, choreography, costumes and makeup

Music and live TV shows dominate Saturday’s winners

Saturday’s ceremony was led by music and variety programming, with the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny taking the most wins.

• Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny: 7 wins
• The Traitors: 6 wins
• The Late Show With Stephen Colbert: 5 wins
• The Muppet Show: 4 wins, including Variety Special

Jimmy Kimmel: Best Game Show HostGetty Images

Individual wins that stood out

Alongside the major show-level victories, several individual winners delivered some of the weekend’s notable moments.

• Jimmy Kimmel: Best Game Show Host
• Octavia Spencer: Narrator, Lost Women of Alaska
• Mariska Hargitay: Best Documentary and Directing, My Mom Jayne

Hargitay is also set to host next week’s Primetime Emmys.

Maria Cuomo Cole, Kim A. Snyder, Jimmy Kimmel and the The Librarians team, winners at the 78th Emmy AwardsGetty Images

Full platform leaderboard after two Creative Arts nights

Apple TV leads the platform race after the two ceremonies, followed by HBO Max and Netflix.

• Apple TV: 19
• HBO Max: 16
• Netflix: 13
• NBC: 7
• Peacock: 6
• CBS: 5
• MGM+/Prime Video: 5
• Disney+: 4
• Prime Video: 4
• FX/Hulu: 3
• National Geographic: 3

What’s next for the Emmys?

Both Creative Arts ceremonies will be edited into a single broadcast airing on 12 September on FXX.

The live televised Primetime Emmys will air on 14 September on NBC and Peacock, where Apple TV will look to extend its lead.