The Pitt, Widow’s Bay and DTF St. Louis won the top series prizes at the 78th Emmy Awards, closing a 19-category main ceremony in Los Angeles. Widow’s Bay was the night’s largest story: its Outstanding Comedy Series win completed a 14-Emmy season and broke the single-season comedy record set by The Studio one year earlier.
The complete main-ceremony list also includes two lead-actor wins for Matthew Rhys, first career Emmys for Rhea Seehorn, Tom Pelphrey and Kate O’Flynn, and record eighth performer wins for Jean Smart and Allison Janney. These are the winners announced during the September 14 telecast, separate from the Creative Arts results presented September 5 and 6.
Comedy winners
- Outstanding Comedy Series — Widow’s Bay
- Lead Actor in a Comedy Series — Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay
- Lead Actress in a Comedy Series — Jean Smart, Hacks
- Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series — Stephen Root, Widow’s Bay
- Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series — Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay
- Directing for a Comedy Series — Hiro Murai, Widow’s Bay
- Writing for a Comedy Series — Katie Dippold, Widow’s Bay
Widow’s Bay took six of the seven comedy awards on the telecast. Smart’s fifth Hacks victory was the only result that kept it from taking every main-ceremony comedy category. The series had already won eight Creative Arts awards, so the top program prize raised its full-season total to 14 from 19 nominations.
Drama winners
- Outstanding Drama Series — The Pitt
- Lead Actor in a Drama Series — Noah Wyle, The Pitt
- Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
- Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — Tom Pelphrey, Task
- Supporting Actress in a Drama Series — Allison Janney, The Diplomat
- Directing for a Drama Series — Saul Metzstein, Slow Horses
- Writing for a Drama Series — Vince Gilligan, Pluribus
The drama field divided its seven awards among five shows. The Pitt repeated as Outstanding Drama Series and Wyle won lead actor for a second straight year. Pluribus paired Seehorn’s first career Emmy with Gilligan’s writing win, while Slow Horses, Task and The Diplomat each claimed one category.
Limited series, reality and variety winners
- Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series — DTF St. Louis
- 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
- Outstanding Reality Competition Program — The Traitors
- Outstanding Variety Series — The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
DTF St. Louis added the limited-series prize to six earlier awards and finished the full competition with seven. Rhys’s win for The Beast in Me came in a different field from his Widow’s Bay victory, making him the first performer to win two lead-actor categories on the same Emmy telecast. Field earned her fourth Primetime Emmy, while The Late Show won the first Outstanding Variety Series Emmy of its final season.
Widow’s Bay led a night of records and firsts
The comedy-series result was Widow’s Bay’s record-breaking 14th Emmy. The total combines six main-ceremony wins with eight earlier awards and moves the show past The Studio’s 13-win record from 2025.
Rhys made separate history by winning two lead-actor Emmys in one night. O’Flynn’s supporting-comedy result was her first career Emmy.
Smart and Janney each reached eight acting Emmys, creating a four-way tie for the women’s performer record with Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
The Pitt and DTF St. Louis closed with the other top prizes
The Pitt’s repeat drama-series victory completed a six-Emmy 2026 run and raised its two-season total to 11. Noah Wyle won his second straight lead-actor Emmy before receiving another trophy as one of the winning series producers.
The acting milestones extended across the drama field. Rhea Seehorn won her first Emmy for Pluribus, while Tom Pelphrey earned his first Primetime Emmy for Task.
In limited series, DTF St. Louis finished with seven Emmys, and Sally Field returned to the Emmy winners list after 19 years.
The telecast also honored Michael J. Fox
The September 14 ceremony was hosted by Mariska Hargitay at the Peacock Theater and completed an Emmy program spread across three nights. The Academy said the telecast presented 19 competitive categories. Michael J. Fox also received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his work supporting Parkinson’s disease research and advocacy; that special honor is not part of the 19-category winner list above.
The Creative Arts ceremonies account for many of the season totals cited in this recap, including the eight earlier wins for Widow’s Bay, five for The Pitt and six for DTF St. Louis. The list above is intentionally limited to the categories presented during the main NBC and Peacock telecast.
More from Pixel Twelve’s Emmy coverage
Read how The Late Show won Outstanding Variety Series in its final season.
For the full ceremony setup, eligibility window and viewing details, use our complete 2026 Emmys guide.
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