Emmy winners 2026: ‘Widow’s Bay’ and ‘The Pitt’ dominate

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles handed television’s highest honours to two breakout contenders: comedy-horror Widow’s Bay won best comedy series and emergency-room drama The Pitt took best drama series. Widow’s Bay, set in a cursed New England town, dethroned last year’s comedy winner Hacks, while The Pitt — set in a Pittsburgh emergency department — earned its second consecutive best drama series trophy.

Individual acting awards included a landmark achievement for Jean Smart, who collected her fifth Emmy for portraying Deborah Vance on Hacks. That win made Smart the first actress to secure the outstanding lead actress in a comedy award for every season of a single program; the piece notes she now has eight Emmys across her career. Matthew Rhys, a star of Widow’s Bay, made Emmy history as the first person to win two lead acting honours at the same ceremony.

Supporting and other acting prizes went to familiar and new faces. Stephen Root won outstanding supporting actor in a comedy for his work on Widow’s Bay, besting favourites such as Harrison Ford for Shrinking. Noah Wyle, who plays Dr. “Robby” Robinavitch on The Pitt, said it felt overwhelming to receive his second straight Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama. Rhea Seehorn won outstanding lead actress in a drama for Pluribus, a series in which she appears as the lone character, and Vince Gilligan took home the award for drama writing for Pluribus.

In variety programming, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earned the outstanding variety series award, ending its farewell season with a total of six Emmys. The show had been cancelled by CBS, which cited financial reasons; Colbert publicly accused network executives of yielding to pressure from President Donald Trump over the programme’s frequent satirical treatment of his administration.