The 78th Emmy Awards: Celebrating the Best in Television

Sofia Villajos

Sep 15, 2026

8 min read

The 78th Emmy Awards celebrated another standout year in television, with The Pitt taking home Outstanding Drama Series and Widow’s Bay emerging as one of the night’s biggest winners, collecting 14 awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series.

It was also a history-making night. Hacks’ Jean Smart tied the record for the most Emmy acting wins with eight, while Matthew Rhys became the first actor to win two lead acting categories in the same year. Stephen Root also made history at 74 as the oldest winner of Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Elsewhere, DTF St. Louis won Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, while The Traitors and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert took home major awards.

At Sohonet, we’re proud to support the storytellers, crews and creative teams who continue to bring extraordinary television to life. Congratulations to all this year’s winners and nominees, your creativity, craft and collaboration continue to inspire us.

Best drama series

• The Diplomat
• The Gilded Age
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
• Paradise
• The Pitt – WINNER
• Pluribus
• Slow Horses
• Your Friends & Neighbors

Best comedy series

• Abbott Elementary
• The Bear
• Hacks
• Margo’s Got Money Troubles
• Nobody Wants This
• Only Murders in the Building
• Shrinking
• Widow’s Bay – WINNER

Lead actor in a drama series

• Sterling K Brown – Paradise
• Gary Oldman – Slow Horses
• Mark Ruffalo – Task
• Rufus Sewell – The Diplomat
• Noah Wyle – The Pitt – WINNER

Lead actress in a drama series

• Carrie Coon – The Gilded Age
• Chase Infiniti – The Testaments
• Keri Russell – The Diplomat
• Rhea Seehorn – Pluribus – WINNER
• Zendaya – Euphoria

Supporting actor in a drama series

• Patrick Ball – The Pitt
• Billy Crudup – The Morning Show
• Shawn Hatosy – The Pitt
• Gerran Howell – The Pitt
• Jack Lowden – Slow Horses
• Tom Pelphrey – Task – WINNER
• Carlos-Manuel Vesga – Pluribus

Supporting actress in a drama series

• Taylor Dearden – The Pitt
• Fiona Dourif – The Pitt
• Allison Janney – The Diplomat – WINNER
• Katherine LaNasa – The Pitt
• Sepideh Moafi – The Pitt
• Julianne Nicholson – Paradise
• Karolina Wydra – Pluribus

Lead actor in a comedy series

• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – Wonder Man
• Steve Carell – Rooster
• Matthew Rhys – Widow’s Bay – WINNER
• Jason Segel – Shrinking
• Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building

Lead actress in a comedy series

• Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary
• Ayo Edebiri – The Bear
• Elle Fanning – Margo’s Got Money Troubles
• Lisa Kudrow – The Comeback
• Jean Smart – Hacks – WINNER

Supporting actor in a comedy series

• Colman Domingo – The Four Seasons
• Paul W Downs – Hacks
• Harrison Ford – Shrinking
• Nick Offerman – Margo’s Got Money Troubles
• Stephen Root – Widow’s Bay – WINNER
• Michael Urie – Shrinking
• Tyler James Williams – Abbott Elementary

Supporting actress in a comedy series

• Dale Dickey – Widow’s Bay
• Hannah Einbinder – Hacks
• Janelle James – Abbott Elementary
• Kate O’Flynn – Widow’s Bay – WINNER
• Michelle Pfeiffer – Margo’s Got Money Troubles
• Megan Stalter – Hacks
• Jessica Williams – Shrinking

Best limited or anthology series

• All Her Fault
• The Beast in Me
• Beef
• DTF St Louis – WINNER
• Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette

Lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

• Riz Ahmed – Bait
• Jason Bateman – Black Rabbit
• Charlie Hunnam – Monster: The Ed Gein Story
• Oscar Isaac – Beef
• Matthew Rhys – The Beast in Me – WINNER

Lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

• Claire Danes – The Beast in Me
• Sally Field – Remarkably Bright Creatures – WINNER
• Carey Mulligan – Beef
• Sarah Pidgeon – Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette
• Sarah Snook – All Her Fault

Directing for a drama series

• Salli Richardson Whitfield – The Gilded Age
• Hanelle M Culpepper – Paradise
• Noah Wyle – The Pitt
• Vince Gilligan – Pluribus
• Saul Metzstein – Slow Horses – WINNER
• Salli Richardson-Whitfield – Task

Directing for a comedy series

• Randall Einhorn – Abbott Elementary
• Christopher Storer – The Bear
• Andrew DeYoung – The Chair Company
• Lucia Aniello – Hacks
• Mary Lou Belli – The Ms Pat Show
• Hiro Murai – Widow’s Bay – WINNER

Writing for a drama series

• Peter Ackerman and Debora Cahn – The Diplomat (Amagansett)
• Valerie Chu – The Pitt (12:00PM)
• Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman and R Scott Gemmill – The Pitt (1:00PM)
• Vince Gilligan – Pluribus (We Is Us) – WINNER
• Will Smith – Slow Horses (Scars)
• Brad Ingelsby – Task (A Still Small Voice)

Writing for a comedy series

• Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary (Team Building)
• Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin – The Chair Company (Life Goes By Too F*king Fast, It Really Does)
• Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow – The Comeback (Valerie Does It All)
• Lucia Aniello, Paul W Downs and Jen Statsky – Hacks (Hacks)
• Anthony King – Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat (Mergers And Acquisitions)
• Katie Dippold – Widow’s Bay (Welcome To Widow’s Bay!) – WINNER

Reality competition series

• Dancing with the Stars
• RuPaul’s Drag Race
• Survivor
• Top Chef
• The Traitors – WINNER

Variety series

• The Daily Show
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – WINNER
• Saturday Night Live

Supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

• Jason Bateman – DTF St Louis
• Richard Gadd – Half Man
• David Harbour – DTF St Louis – WINNER
• Richard Jenkins – DTF St Louis
• Charles Melton – Beef
• Nick Offerman – Death by Lightning

Supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

• Linda Cardellini – DTF St Louis – WINNER
• Dakota Fanning – All Her Fault
• Laurie Metcalf – Monster: The Ed Gein Story
• Joy Sunday – DTF St Louis
• Youn Yuh-jung – Beef
• Constance Zimmer – Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette

Guest actress in a drama series

• Brittany Allen – The Pitt
• Tal Anderson – The Pitt
• Tina Ivlev – The Pitt
• Miriam Shor – Pluribus
• Merritt Wever – The Gilded Age
• Shailene Woodley – Paradise – WINNER

Guest actor in a drama series

• Colman Domingo – Euphoria
• Ernest Harden Jr – The Pitt – WINNER
• Jeff Hiller – Pluribus
• Jeff Kober – The Pitt
• Jonathan Pryce – Slow Horses
• Bradley Whitford – The Diplomat

Guest actress in a comedy series

• Leslie Bibb – Hacks
• Jamie Lee Curtis – The Bear
• Betty Gilpin – Widow’s Bay – WINNER
• Cherry Jones – Hacks
• Laurie Metcalf – Hacks
• Kaitlin Olson – Hacks
• Lauren Weedman – Hacks

Guest actor in a comedy series

• Michael J Fox – Shrinking
• Brett Goldstein – Shrinking
• Hamish Linklater – Widow’s Bay
• Christopher McDonald – Hacks
• Rob Reiner – The Bear – WINNER
• Connor Storrie – Saturday Night Live

Directing for a limited or anthology series or movie

• Beef (season 2, episode 4)
• Beef (season 2, episode 8)
• Black Rabbit
• DTF St Louis – WINNER

Writing for a limited or anthology series or movie

• All Her Fault
• The Beast in Me
• Beef
• Death by Lightning
• DTF St Louis – WINNER

Television movie

• Heads of State
• Miss You, Love You
• People We Meet on Vacation
• Remarkably Bright Creatures – WINNER
• Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War

Variety special (live)

• The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny – WINNER
• 83rd Annual Golden Globes
• 68th Annual Grammy awards
• The 97th Academy Awards
• 78th Annual Tony awards

Variety special (pre-recorded)

• Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable …
• The Muppet Show – WINNER
• Nikki Glaser: Good Girl
• Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show
• Wicked: One Wonderful Night

Writing for a variety series

• Jimmy Kimmel Live!
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – WINNER

Outstanding animated program

• Bob’s Burgers
• Rick and Morty
• The Simpsons
• Smiling Friends
• South Park – WINNER