2026 Emmy Awards Winners: ‘The Pitt,’ ‘Widow’s Bay’ and Matthew Rhys Have a Big Night

The 2026 Emmy Awards are officially in the books, and while there were plenty of familiar faces holding trophies by the end of the night, there were also a few wins that should keep television fans talking.

Hosted by Mariska Hargitay from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards handed out television’s biggest prizes Monday night. The Pitt walked away with Outstanding Drama Series, Widow’s Bay claimed Outstanding Comedy Series and DTF St. Louis was named Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

But Matthew Rhys may have pulled off the night's biggest individual feat. Rhys won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Beast in Me before returning to the stage to collect Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay. The double victory made him the first male performer to win two lead-acting Emmys in the same year.

‘Widow’s Bay’ Makes Its Mark

If there was one show that seemed to be everywhere this Emmy season, it was Widow’s Bay. In addition to Rhys’ comedy lead actor win, Kate O’Flynn won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Stephen Root took Outstanding Supporting Actor. Hiro Murai won for comedy directing, while Katie Dippold took the writing prize. Combined with its Creative Arts victories, Widow’s Bay finished with 13 Emmys, tying the record for the most wins by a comedy in a single season.

Jean Smart prevented a complete Widow’s Bay sweep of the comedy acting categories. Smart won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the fifth and final season of Hacks. It was her fifth consecutive win in the category for the series and her eighth Emmy overall, tying the performer record held by Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

‘The Pitt’ Takes Drama Series as Rhea Seehorn Gets Her Moment

The Pitt ended the night with the biggest drama prize, winning Outstanding Drama Series. Noah Wyle also continued his Emmy run, winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the second consecutive year.

Rhea Seehorn finally had her Emmy moment, taking Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Pluribus. Vince Gilligan also won Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the show, while Slow Horses director Saul Metzstein claimed the drama directing trophy.

Elsewhere in drama, Allison Janney won Outstanding Supporting Actress for The Diplomat, putting her alongside Smart, Leachman and Louis-Dreyfus with eight career Emmys. Tom Pelphrey won Outstanding Supporting Actor for Task.

Sally Field and Matthew Rhys Lead the Limited-Series Acting Winners

Sally Field added another major honor to an already legendary career with her win for Remarkably Bright Creatures, taking Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Rhys won the corresponding actor category for The Beast in Me, the first half of his history-making double victory.

DTF St. Louis ultimately walked away with Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. The show had already enjoyed a strong Creative Arts Emmys showing, where David Harbour and Linda Cardellini won the supporting limited-series acting categories.

Black Performers Were Shut Out of the Primetime Acting Wins

One result from the televised ceremony was particularly difficult to overlook: none of the Black performers nominated in the acting categories presented Monday night won.

That group included major contenders such as Sterling K. Brown for Paradise, Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary, Ayo Edebiri for The Bear, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for Wonder Man, Colman Domingo for The Four Seasons and Tyler James Williams for Abbott Elementary. Each ultimately lost in their respective category.

That doesn't take anything away from the performances that won Monday night, but the shutout is notable, particularly after diversity among this year's acting nominees had already fallen significantly compared with the previous year.

There is an important distinction when looking at the Emmys as a whole: the shutout applies to Monday night's Primetime telecast acting categories, not every acting award presented across the entire Emmy cycle. At the Creative Arts ceremony, Ernest Harden Jr. won Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for The Pitt.

2026 Emmy Awards: Major Winners

*The limited-series supporting acting awards were presented during the Creative Arts Emmys rather than Monday night's Primetime broadcast. Michael J. Fox was also presented with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award during the ceremony for his decades of advocacy surrounding Parkinson's disease.

With Matthew Rhys making history, Rhea Seehorn finally getting her Emmy moment, Jean Smart continuing her incredible run and The Pitt and Widow’s Bay taking home the night’s biggest prizes, the 2026 Emmys gave us plenty to talk about. But now we want to hear from you. Which wins had you cheering, which ones left you scratching your head, and who do you think was completely snubbed? Let us know your thoughts on this year’s Emmy Awards.