Emmy winners 2026: ‘Widow’s Bay’ and ‘The Pitt’ dominate

Jean Smart earns fifth Emmy for “Hacks,” becoming the first to win lead comedy actress for every show season.Emergency room drama “The Pitt” and comedy-horror “Widow’s Bay” have won television’s highest honours, the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards, presented in Los Angeles.Set in a cursed New England town, “Widow’s Bay” won the best comedy series prize on Monday, overcoming last season’s winner, “Hacks”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Artists speak out for Palestine at Emmy Awardslist 2 of 3Al Jazeera journalist’s emotional speech after winning Emmylist 3 of 3Tim Curry, star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, dies at age 80end of listMatthew Rhys, starring in “Widow’s Bay”, made history by becoming the first person to win two lead acting honours at the same ceremony. Fellow actor in the TV series, Stephen Root, won best supporting actor in a comedy, beating favourite Harrison Ford of “Shrinking”.“Thank you, sir, for all your many years of great, great, great acting,” Root told Ford during his acceptance speech.“Hacks” actress Jean Smart won her fifth Emmy for portraying stand-up comic Deborah Vance, making her the first actress to win the award for best lead comedy actress for every season of a show’s run. Smart has won eight Emmys overall in her acting career.“What a ride this has been,” Smart said after receiving a standing ovation.Jean Smart accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for “Hacks” during the 78th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 14, 2026 [Chris Pizzello/AP]Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the only performer to come close to Smart’s comedy lead actress sweep, having won the award for six of the seven seasons of the political satire “Veep”.Noah Wyle, who starred as Dr “Robby” Robinavitch on “The Pitt”, told the Emmy audience it felt overwhelming to win his second straight Emmy for best lead drama actor.