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The 78th Emmy Awards: Celebrating the Best in Television

Sofia Villajos

Sep 15, 2026

5 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.

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Best drama series

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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Reality competition series

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

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Variety series

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Writing for a limited or anthology series or movie

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

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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

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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

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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

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