The 78th Emmy Awards have wrapped, and television’s biggest night belonged to one very strange little island. Apple TV‘s Widow’s Bay completed a monster Emmy run with six wins at the main ceremony, taking Outstanding Comedy Series and finishing the three-night awards with a record-breaking 14 trophies.
Elsewhere, Matthew Rhys pulled off something no performer had managed before, The Pitt held onto the drama crown, Rhea Seehorn finally became an Emmy winner, and Jean Smart and Allison Janney both joined a very exclusive eight-win club.
Hosted by Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater, the third and final night of the 78th Emmy Awards handed out 19 televised prizes following the two Creative Arts-heavy ceremonies earlier this month.
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We’ve also included the acceptance speeches for every televised category alongside the complete winners and nominees list below.
Widow’s Bay Completes a Huge Emmy Sweep
By the time the main ceremony arrived, Widow’s Bay was already the show to beat. It had picked up eight awards on Night Two, then proceeded to win every category it was nominated in on Night Three.
Outstanding Comedy Series was the headline prize, with Rhys taking Lead Actor, Kate O’Flynn winning Supporting Actress, Stephen Root claiming Supporting Actor, Katie Dippold winning for writing and Hiro Murai taking directing.
That six-from-six sweep pushed the series to 14 wins from 19 nominations, breaking the record for the most Emmys won by a comedy series in a single year. The Studio had set the previous benchmark with 13 in 2025.
Rhys credited the people behind the show’s particular brand of madness when accepting his comedy acting trophy, saying, “This is purely because of the depraved and twisted mind of Katie Dippold and my hero Hiro Murai.”
Murai also became the first Asian filmmaker to win Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.
Root, meanwhile, won his first Emmy and became the oldest winner in the history of the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category. O’Flynn also picked up her first Emmy, having scored her first nomination for playing Patricia.
Matthew Rhys Pulls Off an Emmy First
One acting Emmy apparently wasn’t enough. Before winning for Widow’s Bay, Rhys had already taken Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his much darker performance opposite Claire Danes in Netflix‘s The Beast in Me. That made Rhys the first performer in Emmy history to win two lead acting awards during the same ceremony.
Add his 2018 Lead Actor in a Drama Series victory for The Americans, and Rhys is also now the first male performer to have won the lead acting Emmy across drama, comedy and limited-series categories.
The Pitt Goes Back-to-Back as Rhea Seehorn Finally Wins
The comedy field may have been swallowed up by Widow’s Bay, but HBO Max‘s The Pitt remained on top of the drama race. The medical drama won Outstanding Drama Series for the second consecutive year, becoming the first series since Mad Men to take the category for each of its first two seasons.
Noah Wyle also repeated his Lead Actor victory for Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch. “This is all I’ve ever wanted to do, and this is the only club I’ve ever wanted to join. Thank you for accepting me,” Wyle said.
The biggest acting win outside The Pitt came from Rhea Seehorn, who took Outstanding Lead Actress for Pluribus. It was her first Primetime Emmy, years after her acclaimed work as Kim Wexler on Better Call Saul somehow never resulted in a victory.
“Thank you, Vince Gilligan, for giving me not only the role of a lifetime, but for creating sets where we all get to collaborate,” Seehorn said.
Gilligan followed with his own win, taking Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Pluribus. Despite the stack of Emmys he accumulated as a producer on Breaking Bad, this marked his first individual Emmy for writing.
Slow Horses stopped Pluribus from taking directing as well, with Saul Metzstein winning Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
Jean Smart Reaches Eight, Then Allison Janney Joins Her
Jean Smart capped the fifth and final season of Hacks exactly as she had each of the previous four: with another Emmy. Smart won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the fifth time for Deborah Vance, making her the first performer to win an Emmy for every season of a series. The victory was Smart’s eighth acting Emmy overall, putting her alongside Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus at the top of the all-time performer tally.
She had company before the night was over.
Allison Janney won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for The Diplomat, also reaching eight acting Emmys and joining Smart, Leachman and Louis-Dreyfus in that elite group.
Tom Pelphrey took the other drama supporting prize, earning his first Primetime Emmy for Task. During an emotional acceptance speech, Pelphrey thanked his family, friends and sobriety before paying tribute to his pregnant fiancée Kaley Cuoco and their growing family.
DTF St. Louis Takes Limited Series as Sally Field Wins at 79
After collecting six awards on Night Two, DTF St. Louis returned for one more major victory: Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.
That gave the HBO Max series seven Emmys across the three ceremonies, including earlier wins for supporting stars Linda Cardellini and David Harbour and for creator Steven Conrad’s writing and directing.
Sally Field provided one of Night Three’s bigger surprises, winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Netflix’s Remarkably Bright Creatures. At 79, Field became the oldest performer ever to win the category. It marked the fourth Emmy victory of her career.
Her speech turned towards the state of the industry. “With art, we matter. Our voices matter. Our diversity, our unique storytelling matters. We can’t let those voices be silenced or compromised or merged.”
Stephen Colbert Gets One Final Emmy Win
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ended its run with another piece of hardware, winning Outstanding Variety Series after its final episode aired earlier this year. The series had already collected five awards across the earlier Emmy ceremonies, including Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, bringing its final 2026 tally to six.
Colbert used part of his acceptance speech to put the spotlight on the crew now looking for their next jobs. “They are all tech avail. Hire them; they will make your show better, and they will make your day easier.”
Elsewhere, The Traitors claimed Outstanding Reality Competition Program for the third consecutive year. Combined with its Creative Arts victories, the Peacock hit finished this year’s Emmys with seven awards.
Michael J. Fox Receives a Standing Ovation
Michael J. Fox received one of the night’s biggest ovations when he was presented with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. Introduced by his former The Good Wife co-star Julianna Margulies, Fox was honoured for decades of advocacy and fundraising for Parkinson’s disease research through the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Fox reflected on initially keeping his diagnosis private before discovering the level of support waiting for him. “I understood that accepting Parkinson’s didn’t mean I had to surrender to it.”
The ceremony also included Reba McEntire performing Dolly Parton’s “Appalachian Memories” in tribute to the late music legend, while Noah Kahan performed during the In Memoriam segment.
The Final 2026 Emmy Leaderboard
After three ceremonies, nobody came close to Widow’s Bay. The Apple TV series finished with 14 Emmys, double the total of its nearest rivals:
- Widow’s Bay — 14 wins
- DTF St. Louis — 7 wins
- The Pitt — 7 wins
- The Traitors — 7 wins
- Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny — 7 wins
- Pluribus — 6 wins
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — 6 wins
- Spider-Noir — 5 wins
- The Muppet Show — 4 wins
- Beef — 3 wins
- Margo’s Got Money Troubles — 3 wins
- Palm Royale — 3 wins
Apple TV finished as the year’s most successful platform with 28 Emmys, ahead of HBO Max with 21 and Netflix with 16.
And with that, after three nights and well over 100 awards, the 78th Emmys are done.
2026 Emmy Winners and Nominees — Night Three
Outstanding Drama Series
- The Pitt — HBO Max — WINNER
- The Diplomat — Netflix
- The Gilded Age — HBO Max
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — HBO Max
- Paradise — Hulu
- Pluribus — Apple TV
- Slow Horses — Apple TV
- Your Friends & Neighbors — Apple TV
Outstanding Comedy Series
- Widow’s Bay — Apple TV — WINNER
- Abbott Elementary — ABC
- The Bear — FX
- Hacks — HBO Max
- Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Apple TV
- Nobody Wants This — Netflix
- Only Murders in the Building — Hulu
- Shrinking — Apple TV
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
- DTF St. Louis — HBO Max — WINNER
- All Her Fault — Peacock
- The Beast in Me — Netflix
- Beef — Netflix
- Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette — FX
Outstanding Reality Competition Program
- The Traitors — Peacock — WINNER
- Dancing with the Stars — ABC
- RuPaul’s Drag Race — MTV
- Survivor — CBS
- Top Chef — Bravo
Outstanding Variety Series
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — CBS — WINNER
- The Daily Show — Comedy Central
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! — ABC
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — HBO Max
- Saturday Night Live — NBC
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
- Noah Wyle — The Pitt — WINNER
- Sterling K. Brown — Paradise
- Gary Oldman — Slow Horses
- Mark Ruffalo — Task
- Rufus Sewell — The Diplomat
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
- Rhea Seehorn — Pluribus — WINNER
- Carrie Coon — The Gilded Age
- Chase Infiniti — The Testaments
- Keri Russell — The Diplomat
- Zendaya — Euphoria
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
- Matthew Rhys — Widow’s Bay — WINNER
- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II — Wonder Man
- Steve Carell — Rooster
- Jason Segel — Shrinking
- Martin Short — Only Murders in the Building
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
- Jean Smart — Hacks — WINNER
- Quinta Brunson — Abbott Elementary
- Ayo Edebiri — The Bear
- Elle Fanning — Margo’s Got Money Troubles
- Lisa Kudrow — The Comeback
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
- Matthew Rhys — The Beast in Me — WINNER
- Riz Ahmed — Bait
- Jason Bateman — Black Rabbit
- Charlie Hunnam — Monster: The Ed Gein Story
- Oscar Isaac — Beef
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
- Sally Field — Remarkably Bright Creatures — WINNER
- Claire Danes — The Beast in Me
- Carey Mulligan — Beef
- Sarah Pidgeon — Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette
- Sarah Snook — All Her Fault
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
- Stephen Root — Widow’s Bay — WINNER
- Colman Domingo — The Four Seasons
- Paul W. Downs — Hacks
- Harrison Ford — Shrinking
- Nick Offerman — Margo’s Got Money Troubles
- Michael Urie — Shrinking
- Tyler James Williams — Abbott Elementary
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
- Kate O’Flynn — Widow’s Bay — WINNER
- Dale Dickey — Widow’s Bay
- Hannah Einbinder — Hacks
- Janelle James — Abbott Elementary
- Michelle Pfeiffer — Margo’s Got Money Troubles
- Megan Stalter — Hacks
- Jessica Williams — Shrinking
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
- Tom Pelphrey — Task — WINNER
- Patrick Ball — The Pitt
- Billy Crudup — The Morning Show
- Shawn Hatosy — The Pitt
- Gerran Howell — The Pitt
- Jack Lowden — Slow Horses
- Carlos-Manuel Vesga — Pluribus
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
- Allison Janney — The Diplomat — WINNER
- Taylor Dearden — The Pitt
- Fiona Dourif — The Pitt
- Katherine LaNasa — The Pitt
- Sepideh Moafi — The Pitt
- Julianne Nicholson — Paradise
- Karolina Wydra — Pluribus
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
- Hiro Murai — Widow’s Bay — WINNER
- Randall Einhorn — Abbott Elementary
- Christopher Storer — The Bear
- Andrew DeYoung — The Chair Company
- Lucia Aniello — Hacks
- Mary Lou Belli — The Ms. Pat Show
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
- Saul Metzstein — Slow Horses — WINNER
- Salli Richardson-Whitfield — The Gilded Age
- Hanelle M. Culpepper — Paradise
- Noah Wyle — The Pitt
- Vince Gilligan — Pluribus
- Salli Richardson-Whitfield — Task
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
- Katie Dippold — Widow’s Bay — WINNER
- Quinta Brunson — Abbott Elementary
- Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin — The Chair Company
- Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow — The Comeback
- Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky — Hacks
- Anthony King — Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
- Vince Gilligan — Pluribus — WINNER
- Peter Ackerman and Debora Cahn — The Diplomat
- Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman and R. Scott Gemmill — The Pitt
- Valerie Chu — The Pitt
- Will Smith — Slow Horses
- Brad Ingelsby — Task
