Television’s night of nights delivered an extraordinary parade of historic milestones, emotional tributes, and unexpected turns as the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards took over the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. With Law & Order: SVU icon Mariska Hargitay making her effortless hosting debut, the ceremony struck a vibrant balance between celebrating small-screen royalty and cementing a new era of streaming dominant forces.
Going into the evening, HBO Max’s medical drama The Pitt and Apple TV+’s high-concept dark comedy Widow’s Baypaced the field with 25 and 19 nominations respectively. The Pitt held its ground in the drama categories, securing its second consecutive trophy for Outstanding Drama Series, while leading man Noah Wyle repeated his victory for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
Yet, the true juggernaut of the night was Widow’s Bay. After converting eight categories at the previous weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys, the show swept all six of its primetime categories on Monday—including Outstanding Comedy Series—bringing its single-year total to 14 Emmys. That mark officially broke the single-season comedy record set just last year by Apple TV+ stablemate The Studio (13 wins).
At the center of that sweep was Matthew Rhys, who authored an unprecedented chapter in Television Academy history.Rhys took home Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay, capping off a double-header evening after earlier winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his haunting turn in The Beast in Me. The dual victory made Rhys the first performer ever to win two lead acting Emmys in a single night. Combined with his 2018 lead drama win for The Americans, he also becomes the first actor to achieve lead victories across all three major genres: Drama, Comedy, and Limited Series.
Comedy royalty Jean Smart extended her remarkable dominance, winning Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks. The triumph marked her fifth consecutive win for playing Deborah Vance and her eighth career Emmy overall, tying her with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman for the most performance Emmys in Television Academy history. (Allison Janney would later join that exclusive eight-win club during the broadcast, taking home Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama for The Diplomat).
“What a ride this has been,” Smart reflected on stage to a roaring standing ovation.
The drama lead category yielded a thrilling triumph for Pluribus star Rhea Seehorn, who claimed Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series over a competitive field that included Euphoria’s Zendaya. In the comedy fields, Steve Carell made a triumphant return to the Emmy race for Rooster, while Lisa Kudrow picked up dual nominations for the third installment of The Comeback (in both Lead Actress and Writing, the latter alongside series creator Katie Dippold, who ultimately won writing for Widow’s Bay).
The broadcast’s poignant In Memoriam segment offered a solemn moment of reflection, honoring legendary figures including Dolly Parton, Catherine O’Hara, and Tim Curry, alongside a special tribute to the late Rob Reiner, who earned a posthumous Creative Arts Emmy the previous week for his guest performance on Widow’s Bay.
Outstanding Drama
The Diplomat
The Gilded Age
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Paradise
WINNER: The Pitt
Pluribus
Slow Horses
Your Friends & Neighbors
Lead Actress in a Drama
Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age
Chase Infiniti, The Testaments
Keri Russell, The Diplomat
WINNER: Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
Zendaya, Euphoria
Lead Actor in a Drama
Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Mark Ruffalo, Task
Rufus Sewell, The Diplomat
WINNER: Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Supporting Actress in a Drama
Taylor Dearden, The Pitt
Fiona Dourif, The Pitt
WINNER: Allison Janney, The Diplomat
Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt
Sepideh Moafi, The Pitt
Julianne Nicholson, Paradise
Karolina Wydra, Pluribus
Supporting Actor in a Drama
Patrick Ball, The Pitt
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Shawn Hatosy, The Pitt
Gerran Howell, The Pitt
Jack Lowden, Slow Horses
WINNER: Tom Pelphrey, Task
Carlos-Manuel Vesga, Pluribus
Outstanding Comedy
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Hacks
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders in the Building
Shrinking
WINNER: Widow’s Bay
Lead Actress in a Comedy
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Elle Fanning, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
WINNER: Jean Smart, Hacks
Lead Actor in a Comedy
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Wonder Man
Steve Carell, Rooster
WINNER: Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay
Jason Segel, Shrinking
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Dale Dickey, Widow’s Bay
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
WINNER: Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay
Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Megan Stalter, Hacks
Jessica Williams, Shrinking
Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons
Paul W. Downs, Hacks
Harrison Ford, Shrinking
Nick Offerman, Margo’s Got Money Troubles
WINNER: Stephen Root, Widow’s Bay
Michael Urie, Shrinking
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary
Outstanding Reality Competition Program
Dancing With the Stars
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Survivor
Top Chef
WINNER: The Traitors
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
All Her Fault
The Beast in Me
Beef
WINNER: DTF St. Louis
Love Story
Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Claire Danes, The Beast in Me
WINNER: Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures
Carey Mulligan, Beef
Sarah Pidgeon, Love Story
Sarah Snook, All Her Fault
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
WINNER: Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me
Outstanding Scripted Variety Series
The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
WINNER: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary (Quinta Brunson for “Team Building”)
The Chair Company (Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin for “Life goes by too f**king fast, it really does”)
The Comeback (Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow for “Valerie Does It All”)
Hacks (Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky for “Hacks”)
Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat (Anthony King for “Mergers and Acquisitions”)
WINNER: Widow’s Bay (Katie Dippold for “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!”)
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary (Randall Einhorn for “Ballgame”)
The Bear (Christopher Storer for “Bears”)
The Chair Company (Andrew DeYoung for “Life goes by too f**king fast, it really does”)
Hacks (Lucia Aniello for “Hacks”)
The Ms. Pat Show (Mary Lou Belli for “Give It Arrest”)
WINNER: Widow’s Bay (Hiro Murai for “Welcome to Widow’s Bay!”)
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
The Diplomat (Peter Akerman and Debora Cahn for “Amagansett”)
The Pitt (Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman & R. Scott Gemmill for “1:00 PM”)
The Pitt (Valerie Chu for “12:00 PM”)
Industry (Mickey Down and Konrad Kay for “Dear Henry”)
WINNER: Pluribus (Vince Gilligan for “We Is Us”)
Slow Horses (Will Smith for “Scars”)
Task (Brad Ingelsby for “A Still Small Voice”)
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
The Gilded Age (Salli Richardson-Whitfield for “My Mind Is Made Up”)
Paradise (Hanelle M. Culpepper for “Exodus”)
The Pitt (Noah Wyle for “12:00 PM”)
Pluribus (Vince Gilligan for “We Is Us”)
WINNER: Slow Horses (Saul Metzstein for “Scars”)
Task (Salli Richardson-Whitfield for “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a river”)
