Emmys 2026: Widow's Bay broke the record, Matthew Rhys broke the rules

The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards happened last night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, live on NBC and Peacock, and it was the rare awards show that actually produced things worth talking about the next morning. A record fell. A Welshman broke a rule nobody had broken in 78 years. Taylor Swift showed up without showing up. And the In Memoriam segment turned into the most affecting ten minutes of the night.

Here is what happened, and at the bottom, the full winners and nominees for every main category.

Mariska Hargitay hosted like someone who has run a precinct for 27 seasons

Handing the Emmys to Mariska Hargitay was the safest possible bet and it paid off exactly as expected. She has been on NBC since 1999. She knows every person in that room, and more to the point, every person in that room has watched her show in a hotel at 2am. There is no warmer credential in television.

She opened by singing and dancing her way through a number called “I Love TV Screens,” which is precisely the kind of bit that dies on arrival if the host is even slightly embarrassed to be doing it. Hargitay was not embarrassed. She then spent the night taking gentle shots at Dick Wolf, Martin Short and Nicole Kidman, none of which drew blood, all of which landed. The ceremony ran on time, the winners got to talk, and nobody had to sit through a musical medley explaining what television is.

The presenter bench did a lot of work too: Zendaya, Amy Poehler, Keke Palmer, Marcello Hernandez, Florence Pugh, Jon Hamm and Alan Cumming, who later went up to collect one himself.

My honest verdict: she was good. Not great, and nowhere near Neil Patrick Harris, who is still the high-water mark for hosting one of these and probably always will be. But she never tried to be him, which is exactly why it worked. Let us just say it was clean and proper. Warm, on time, never standing between a winner and their speech. After a few years of hosts who either oversold the room or looked frightened of it, clean and proper counts as a win.

Widow’s Bay won 14 Emmys and broke the all-time comedy record

The story of the night, and it was not especially close. Apple TV’s horror comedy Widow’s Bay finished with 14 Emmys: eight from the Creative Arts ceremonies the week before, six more on the telecast. The previous record for a comedy series in a single year was 13, set last year by The Studio. That record lasted twelve months.

If you missed the show, the premise is a small cursed island town in New England. Matthew Rhys plays Mayor Tom Loftis, who is trying to drag the place into the tourist economy despite no Wi-Fi, terrible cell reception and residents who insist the island is cursed. He starts succeeding. The old stories start coming true. It is Twin Peaks with better jokes, ten episodes, dropped between April and June.

The haul, in full:

• Outstanding Comedy Series, over Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building and Shrinking
• Matthew Rhys, Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
• Kate O’Flynn, Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
• Stephen Root, Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, at 74 the oldest winner the category has had
• Hiro Murai, Directing, the first Asian director to win the comedy directing Emmy
• Katie Dippold, Writing, for the premiere episode
• Betty Gilpin, Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, plus Creative Arts wins for production design, casting, cinematography, music composition, music supervision, sound editing and sound mixing

Dippold’s win deserves a sentence of its own. She was a first-time nominee and a first-time winner, and until roughly a year ago her widest internet fame was a viral tweet of herself dressed as the Babadook. Now she holds the writing Emmy for the most decorated comedy season in Emmy history.

Full disclosure, and it is a little embarrassing to type: I have not watched a single episode. Fourteen Emmys and all I have is a premise, a trailer and a lot of other people’s opinions. So I am asking you properly. Is it that good?? Tell me what you think in the comments. I want to know whether I start it tonight or whether this is one of those years where the Academy fell hard for a mood and the rest of us are left squinting at it.

Matthew Rhys won two lead actor Emmys in one night

Nobody had ever done this. Rhys won Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Beast in Me, and then, later in the same ceremony, Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay. Two lead acting Emmys, two different categories, one night, first man to manage it.

The second win got the response you would hope for. He walked up shaking his head at the floor while the room stood, which is the only correct way to accept a second trophy in ninety minutes. He thanked the “depraved and twisted mind” of Katie Dippold, which is both a compliment and an accurate review of the show.

Worth remembering that Rhys’s last Emmy was for The Americans in 2018, a performance built almost entirely out of stillness and dread. Winning again for a comedy about a haunted mayor, in the same year he won for a thriller, is a genuinely absurd range flex.

And then there is the love story, because we all love a long love story. Rhys met Keri Russell on The Americans, where they spent six seasons playing two Soviet spies pretending to be a married American couple, and the pretending clearly took: they have been together ever since and have a son. Both of them walked into the Peacock Theater nominated last night, him for lead actor, her for Lead Actress in a Drama Series for The Diplomat. He left with two. She left with none, beaten in her category by Rhea Seehorn for Pluribus. Somebody had to carry his trophies to the car.

The Catherine O’Hara tribute was the best thing on the broadcast

I should say up front that I am one of the biggest Schitt’s Creek fans you are likely to meet, so this was the part of the night that got me. Moira Rose is one of the great comic inventions of the last twenty years, and the fact that the person who built her is gone still has not landed properly for me.

Catherine O’Hara died in January at 71, and the In Memoriam segment opened with her rather than folding her into the montage, which was the right call.

Macaulay Culkin, who spent two Home Alone films being left behind by her, came out alongside her Schitt’s Creek co-stars Annie Murphy and Dan Levy. Culkin described her as encouraging, warm and funny, said “the word that I think of is mama,” and then landed the line of the night: “She may have forgotten me, twice, but we will always remember her.” He kept going, a little unsteadily, to say that “by extension, she’s all of our moms,” which is about as true as anything said on that stage.

Dan Levy, who both created Schitt’s Creek and acted opposite her in it, offered the lesson he took from her: “Say yes. It will amaze you on a daily basis and it will change your life.”

The night made room for two more. Dolly Parton, who died in August at 80, got a standalone segment of her own: Sally Field, her Steel Magnolias co-star, described her as “genuine and humble, supportive, and blisteringly funny, with a bawdy sense of humor that would send any rude guy looking for a place to hide,” and Reba McEntire sang “Appalachian Memories” backed by a string orchestra before signing off with “I love you Dolly. So much.” Noah Kahan performed under the In Memoriam roll itself.

And Rob Reiner, killed alongside his wife Michele Singer Reiner in December, had already won posthumously at the Creative Arts Emmys for his guest turn as restaurant consultant Albert Schurr on The Bear. Wendi McLendon-Covey accepted for him there and told the room “we all wish he was here,” to a standing ovation.

Taylor Swift crashed an SVU sketch from a football stadium

Midway through the telecast came a pre-taped bit that had no right to work as well as it did. Olivia Benson and the SVU squad open an investigation into a question of national importance: will Taylor Swift appear on the Emmys telecast?

Hargitay ran the room as Benson with Rollins (Kelli Giddish), Fin (Ice-T), Griff (Corey Cott), Capt. Renee Curry (Aimé Donna Kelly), Bruno (Kevin Kane) and ADA Carisi (Peter Scanavino) pinning clues to the board, arguing over evidence and eventually concluding that to crack the case they would have to think like a Swiftie. It spirals from there into exactly the kind of string-and-pushpin conspiracy diagram a fandom builds on a Tuesday. Swift herself turns up as a rookie detective. The cat named Olivia Benson makes an appearance, because of course she does.

The punchline is the honest one: Swift was not at the Emmys at all. She was at Chiefs vs Broncos with Travis Kelce, whose game was scheduled for the same night, a scheduling conflict the sketch treats as the central piece of evidence.

For the record, I am not a Swiftie. No horse in that race at all. And she was genuinely great in this: funny, relaxed, completely unbothered about playing the least competent person in the room, with none of the stiffness famous people usually bring to a comedy bit. She really did it well. Good job. Worth the watch even if you have never knowingly heard one of her songs.

The Television Academy posted the whole thing officially: watch the SVU sketch here.

The rest of the headlines

The Pitt did it again, winning Outstanding Drama Series for a second consecutive year, with Noah Wyle taking Lead Actor in a Drama Series. It arrived with 25 total nominations, more than any other show, and converted the ones that mattered.

Jean Smart won Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks, making it five wins across five seasons. A clean sweep of her own show.

Stephen Colbert collected Outstanding Variety Series for the final season of The Late Show and got the loudest ovation of the night. He used the speech to call late night an “incubator” for new talent and to openly tell the room to hire his writers, which is the most useful thing anyone has ever done with an acceptance speech.

Sally Field won Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Remarkably Bright Creatures at 79, the oldest winner the category has had. The film itself won Outstanding Television Movie.

DTF St. Louis took Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series along with both supporting acting awards in that field, for Linda Cardellini and David Harbour, finishing with seven Emmys overall. The Traitors also finished with seven, winning Reality Competition Program with Alan Cumming taking Reality Host.

The full 2026 Emmy winners and nominees

Winners in bold.

Series and program categories

Category	Winner	Other nominees
Drama Series	The Pitt	The Diplomat, The Gilded Age, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Paradise, Pluribus, Slow Horses, Your Friends & Neighbors
Comedy Series	Widow’s Bay	Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building, Shrinking
Limited or Anthology Series	DTF St. Louis	All Her Fault, The Beast in Me, Beef, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette
Television Movie	Remarkably Bright Creatures	Heads of State, Miss You Love You, People We Meet on Vacation, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War
Variety Series	The Late Show With Stephen Colbert	The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Saturday Night Live
Reality Competition Program	The Traitors	Dancing With the Stars, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Survivor, Top Chef
Reality Host	Alan Cumming, The Traitors	RuPaul Charles (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Kristen Kish (Top Chef), Ariana Madix (Love Island USA), Jeff Probst (Survivor)

Drama acting

Category	Winner	Other nominees
Lead Actor	Noah Wyle, The Pitt	Sterling K. Brown (Paradise), Gary Oldman (Slow Horses), Mark Ruffalo (Task), Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat)
Lead Actress	Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus	Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age), Chase Infiniti (The Testaments), Keri Russell (The Diplomat), Zendaya (Euphoria)
Supporting Actor	Tom Pelphrey, Task	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)
Supporting Actress	Allison Janney, The Diplomat	Taylor Dearden (The Pitt), Fiona Dourif (The Pitt), Katherine LaNasa (The Pitt), Sepideh Moafi (The Pitt), Julianne Nicholson (Paradise), Karolina Wydra (Pluribus)
Guest Actor	Ernest Harden Jr., The Pitt	Colman Domingo (Euphoria), Jeff Hiller (Pluribus), Jeff Kober (The Pitt), Jonathan Pryce (Slow Horses), Bradley Whitford (The Diplomat)
Guest Actress	Shailene Woodley, Paradise	Brittany Allen (The Pitt), Tal Anderson (The Pitt), Tina Ivlev (The Pitt), Miriam Shor (Pluribus), Merritt Wever (The Gilded Age)

Comedy acting

Category	Winner	Other nominees
Lead Actor	Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay	Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man), Steve Carell (Rooster), Jason Segel (Shrinking), Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building)
Lead Actress	Jean Smart, Hacks	Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), Elle Fanning (Margo’s Got Money Troubles), Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback)
Supporting Actor	Stephen Root, Widow’s Bay	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)
Supporting Actress	Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay	Dale Dickey (Widow’s Bay), Hannah Einbinder (Hacks), Janelle James (Abbott Elementary), Megan Stalter (Hacks), Jessica Williams (Shrinking)
Guest Actor	Rob Reiner, The Bear	Michael J. Fox (Shrinking), Brett Goldstein (Shrinking), Hamish Linklater (Widow’s Bay), Christopher McDonald (Hacks), Connor Storrie (Saturday Night Live)
Guest Actress	Betty Gilpin, Widow’s Bay	Leslie Bibb (Hacks), Jamie Lee Curtis (The Bear), Cherry Jones (Hacks), Laurie Metcalf (Hacks), Kaitlin Olson (Hacks), Lauren Weedman (Hacks)

Limited or anthology series acting

Category	Winner	Other nominees
Lead Actor	Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me	Riz Ahmed (Bait), Jason Bateman (Black Rabbit), Charlie Hunnam (Monster: The Ed Gein Story), Oscar Isaac (Beef)
Lead Actress	Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures	Claire Danes (The Beast in Me), Carey Mulligan (Beef), Sarah Pidgeon (Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette), Sarah Snook (All Her Fault)
Supporting Actor	David Harbour, DTF St. Louis	Jason Bateman (DTF St. Louis), Richard Gadd (Half Man), Richard Jenkins (DTF St. Louis), Charles Melton (Beef), Nick Offerman (Death by Lightning)
Supporting Actress	Linda Cardellini, DTF St. Louis	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)

Now let’s all go fix our watch list

The annual problem with the Emmys is that they hand you a homework list at 11pm on a Monday. Fourteen awards for a show you have not started. A limited series you meant to watch in March. A second season of The Pitt sitting there judging you.

Add them properly instead of writing them on a napkin. Open Seriesly, search Widow’s Bay, DTF St. Louis and The Beast in Me, and put them on the tracker so the next episode of anything still running lands on your calendar automatically. When you finish an episode, mark it off and the comment thread for that exact episode unlocks, so you can find out whether the rest of us think Widow’s Bay earned all 14 without anyone from the finale wandering in and wrecking it.

Then rate as you go. I want to see what the season graph looks like for a comedy that just rewrote the record book. My bet is episode 7 is the spike.

Sandy