Highlights
- Widow’s Bay was the biggest winner at the 2026 Emmy Awards
- Matthew Rhys made history with two lead acting wins on the same night
- The Pitt took home Outstanding Drama Series, while Rhea Seehorn won for Pluribus
The 78th Emmy Awards delivered a night of big wins, surprises and history-making moments, with Widow’s Bay emerging as the comedy series to beat.
The Apple TV+ series won Outstanding Comedy Series, while Matthew Rhys, Stephen Root and Kate O’Flynn also picked up acting prizes. Rhys had an especially memorable evening after winning two lead acting awards.
Widow’s Bay takes over the comedy categories
Widow’s Bay won Outstanding Comedy Series, beating Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders In The Building and Shrinking.
The show also collected the awards for Lead Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Writing and Directing.
Rhys won Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay, while Stephen Root won Supporting Actor and Kate O’Flynn took Supporting Actress.
Katie Dippold won Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, while Hiro Murai won Outstanding Directing for the show.
Matthew Rhys makes Emmy history
Rhys became one of the night's biggest stories after winning two lead acting prizes.
He was named Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay and also won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Beast In Me.
The double victory made him the first actor to win two lead acting Emmys on the same night.
The Pitt took home Outstanding Drama Series, continuing its successful run at the Emmys.
Noah Wyle won Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the show, while the other major acting drama prizes went to Rhea Seehorn for Pluribus and Allison Janney for The Diplomat.
Tom Pelphrey won Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Task.
More major winners
DTF St. Louis won Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, while Sally Field was named Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Remarkably Bright Creatures.
Jean Smart won Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks.
Elsewhere, The Traitors won Reality Competition Programme and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert took the Variety Series prize.
Full list of major Emmy Awards 2026 winners
Drama series: The Pitt
Comedy series: Widow’s Bay
Limited or anthology series: DTF St. Louis
Lead actor in a drama series: Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Lead actress in a drama series: Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
Lead actor in a comedy series: Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay
Lead actress in a comedy series: Jean Smart, Hacks
Lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie: Matthew Rhys, The Beast In Me
Lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie: Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures
Supporting actor in a drama series: Tom Pelphrey, Task
Supporting actress in a drama series: Allison Janney, The Diplomat
Supporting actor in a comedy series: Stephen Root, Widow’s Bay
Supporting actress in a comedy series: Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay
Reality competition programme: The Traitors
Variety series: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Writing for a drama series: Vince Gilligan, Pluribus
Writing for a comedy series: Katie Dippold, Widow’s Bay
Directing for a drama series: Saul Metzstein, Slow Horses
Directing for a comedy series: Hiro Murai, Widow’s Bay
