Television’s biggest stars gathered in Los Angeles on Monday night as the 78th Emmy Awards celebrated the shows, actors and creators that defined another rapidly changing year for television. Held at the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE on September 14, the main ceremony was hosted by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay and broadcast live on NBC, with streaming on Peacock.
By the end of the evening, The Pitt, Widow’s Bay and DTF St. Louis had taken television’s three biggest programme prizes, while Matthew Rhys made history with an extraordinary double acting victory. The awards recognised television programming and individual achievement from the 2025–26 season, with the main ceremony following two Creative Arts Emmy events held on September 5 and 6.
‘The Pitt’ Retains Its Drama Crown
HBO Max medical drama The Pitt won Outstanding Drama Series, successfully defending the award it won a year earlier. Set inside a busy Pittsburgh emergency department, the series had entered the Emmys with a leading 25 nominations. Its realistic depiction of healthcare workers dealing with emergencies, exhaustion and pressure has made it one of television’s most acclaimed dramas.
Noah Wyle also won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in The Pitt, adding another major victory for the show. However, The Pitt did not sweep every acting category. Rhea Seehorn won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Pluribus, while Allison Janney took supporting actress for The Diplomat. Tom Pelphrey won supporting actor for Task.
Seehorn’s victory was particularly notable after her acclaimed work over many years in Better Call Saul. Her Pluribus win placed her at the centre of one of the evening’s most prominent new dramas. In comedy, the night belonged to Apple TV’s horror-comedy Widow’s Bay. The series won Outstanding Comedy Series and six awards during the main telecast, including directing for Hiro Murai, writing for Katie Dippold and supporting acting awards for Stephen Root and Kate O’Flynn.
Across the entire Emmy programme, including the earlier Creative Arts ceremonies, Widow’s Bay accumulated 14 awards, setting a record for the most Emmy wins by a comedy series in a single year. Jean Smart, meanwhile, continued her remarkable awards success by winning Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks.
Matthew Rhys Makes Emmy History
One of the biggest individual stories of the evening belonged to Matthew Rhys, who managed something no performer had previously achieved. Rhys won Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay and Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Beast in Me, two lead acting Emmys on the same night. Combined with his previous drama Emmy, the victories made Rhys the first performer to have won lead acting Emmys across drama, comedy and limited-series categories.
Sally Field won Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Remarkably Bright Creatures, while DTF St. Louis took the award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. The ceremony also produced milestones for two television veterans. Jean Smart and Allison Janney each reached eight career acting Emmy wins, placing them alongside Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus among the most decorated performers in Emmy history. Elsewhere, The Traitors won Outstanding Reality Competition Series for a third consecutive year, while The Late Show with Stephen Colbert took Outstanding Variety Series for the second year running.
Michael J. Fox Honoured and Television Celebrated
Beyond competition, one of the night’s most emotional moments came when actor and activist Michael J. Fox received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. The Television Academy honoured Fox for his decades of advocacy and philanthropy, particularly through efforts supporting Parkinson’s disease research. The ceremony also reflected just how much television has changed.
Traditional broadcast networks now compete directly with streaming platforms including Netflix, HBO Max, Apple TV, Hulu and Peacock. Prestige television is no longer defined by where audiences watch it, but by the stories and performances capable of attracting attention in an increasingly crowded entertainment landscape.
The Creative Arts ceremonies earlier in September had already produced major winners. The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show starring Bad Bunny collected seven awards, while The Traitors earned six and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert won five. But the final night belonged largely to scripted television.
From the intense emergency room of The Pitt to the unusual world of Widow’s Bay, the winners demonstrated the extraordinary range of modern television. And while hundreds of nominees arrived hoping to take home the famous golden statuette, the 78th Emmys will particularly be remembered for three things: a medical drama successfully defending its crown, a new comedy breaking records and Matthew Rhys making Emmy history twice in a single night.
