The horror comedy series Widow's Bay from Apple TV set a new record for a comedy series in a single year by winning 14 awards at the 2026 Emmy Awards. This number of awards broke the previous record of 13 awards set last year by The Studio. Widow's Bay won the award for Best Comedy Series, and its star, Matthew Rhys, won the award for Best Comedy Actor.
Key Winners and Historic Awards
At the ceremony, Steven Root and Kate O'Flynn received the awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. The show's creator, Katie Dippold, also won the writing award, and Hiro Murai received an award for directing the series. Matthew Rhys also won the award for Best Actor in a Limited Series for his performance in The Beast in Me during his successful night.
Other Successes at the Emmy Awards
In the drama category, The Pitt won the award for Best Drama Series for the second consecutive year. Noah Wyle also received the award for Best Drama Actor for his role as an emergency doctor in the series. Jean Smart made history with her fifth Emmy award for Hacks, becoming the first actress to win the Best Comedy Actress award for every season of a series that has aired for more than three seasons.
Rhea Seehorn won the award for Best Drama Actress for her role in Pluribus from Apple TV, and Tom Pelphrey and Allison Janney also won the respective awards for Supporting Acting in Drama for their roles in Task and The Diplomat.
Mariska Hargitay, star of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, hosted the ceremony, breaking the recent tradition of having comedians host. She jokingly said, "This is a lot of pressure, but seeing familiar faces is very comforting for me, and I don't just mean the number of you I've arrested on SVU."
