The 2026 Emmy Awards big wins and moments: ‘Widow’s Bay’ dominance, Catherine O’Hara tribute - Toronto Star
Plus, Mariska Hargitay hosted, Taylor Swift appeared and Stephen Colbert showed CBS.
Host Mariska Hargitay, centre, performs during the 78th Emmy Awards.
Television’s biggest night, as the annual Emmy Awards are known, arrived Monday amid a backdrop of political turmoil, severe natural disasters, ruinous wars and mounting fears about artificial intelligence.
And while it might seem frivolous to watch celebrities in designer clothes pick up gold-plated statuettes for their work on TV shows, such entertainment can offer relief in these stressful times — particularly given you can consume it in your own home.
First-time Emmys host Mariska Hargitay, known for her long-running starring role in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” wasn’t expected to offer much in the way of political commentary or controversy, but it feels like anyone would be more interesting than last year’s host Nate Bargatze.
“The Pitt” went into the evening as the belle of the ball, with a leading 25 nominations and an expectation it would clean up in the drama categories, while newbie “Widow’s Bay” looked set to upset reigning champ “Hacks” in comedy.
Read on for how it all shook out at the 2026 Emmys.
ORANGE COUNTY OUT NO MAGAZINE SALES Mariska Hargitay during the 78th Emmy Awards ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
As host, Hargitay started the broadcast with a safe and somewhat saccharine opening in which she sang a song with the chorus “I love TV screens” to the tune of Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” while name-checking various series, including “Abbott Elementary,” “The Pitt” and “Hacks.” The bit ended with her riding a slow horse — get it? — into the theatre. The audience seemed to love it, giving Hargitay a standing ovation. But then a hilarious routine by presenter John Mulaney reminded us what we lose when award-show hosts aren’t comedians. Mulaney had the audience roaring with a monologue about how the nominees in the best drama actor category were “men being men … And what a crop of prom kings we have,” he said. “They’re not soft like the dad on ‘Bluey.’
“Some of the men in this category do method acting and some do regular, less annoying acting,” he added. “These men give it all in every single take unless the coverage is on the other actor and they might bounce early.”
Kate O’Flynn accepts the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for “Widow’s Bay” during the 78th Emmy Awards.
The upstart horror-comedy about a haunted island was expected to give showbiz satire “Hacks” a run for its money, especially after winning eight awards at what used to be called the Creative Arts Emmys. It went on to take a whopping 14 of its 19 nominations.
“Widow’s Bay” claimed the very first trophy of the night in something of an upset, with British actor Kate O’Flynn making good on her inaugural nomination for playing the delightfully awkward municipal assistant. O’Flynn thanked series creator Katie Dippold for “trusting this Lancashire lass to play a sassy broad like Patricia.”
Veteran actor Stephen Root continued the “Widow’s Bay” run with a win for best supporting comedy actor. He used much of his speech to thank fellow nominee Harrison Ford, a sentimental favourite for his role in “Shrinking,” for “all your many years of great, great, great acting.”
As the night wore on, “Widow’s Bay” seemed like an unstoppable comedy force, relegating previous comedy champ “Hacks” to an also-ran. After acting trophies were bestowed on Stephen Root and Matthew Rhys, “Widow’s Bay” also took writing for series creator Katie Dippold and directing for Hiro Murai.
Dippold joked that she’d always thought that if she ever won an Emmy, she’d keep it somewhere like the garage. “But standing here now, I promise all of you no one will ever step foot in my home without seeing this thing,” she said. “I will create a system of mirrors, so no matter where you stand in my home this is going to be in your direct eye line.”
And when the last trophy of the night was presented, outstanding comedy series, “Widow’s Bay” sealed its triumph. “This was such a great collaboration of the best wonderful weirdos and artists,” said Dippold.
Zendaya, right, presents the award for outstanding lead actress in comedy series to Jean Smart, left, for “Hacks” during the 78th Emmy Awards.
Still, the newcomer show couldn’t keep Jean Smart down. Smart won her fifth best actress Emmy for portraying aging comedian Deborah Vance in “Hacks,” setting a record as the first actress to win for every season of a show. “What a ride this has been!” she said in her acceptance speech.
Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Matthew Rhys did it. He became the first actor to triumph in all three lead acting categories, and the first actor to win two lead acting categories in the same year.
Up first was a victory for the limited series “The Beast in Me.” “Oh, good grief,” said Rhys, before referring to presenter Amy Poehler’s joke about how the Emmy losers should make fun of the Emmy winners, adding, “If you try and taunt me I’ll stab you in the eye with this.”
He also took the best comedy actor prize for the surging “Widow’s Bay.”
Rhys thanked his parents and his sister — although not his partner, fellow actor Keri Russell — as well as “the great and good people of Wales,” finishing with some words in Welsh.
Host Mariska Hargitay left, and Taylor Swift in a pre-filmed “Law and Order: SVU” skit during the 78th Emmy Awards.
The world’s most famous pop star made an Emmys appearance, but not at the live ceremony — in a pre-filmed sketch in which Hargitay and other members of the “L&O: SVU” cast gathered in the squad room to figure out if Taylor Swift would be at the Emmys. Swift played the part of a rookie detective. “I think what we’re gonna be looking for is hiding in plain sight,” she said. The somewhat silly sketch ended with the team concluding that Swift wouldn’t be there because she’d be watching her husband, Travis Kelce, play football instead. (Indeed, she was at the Monday night Kansas City NFL game, sitting next to Tom Cruise.)
Sally Field accepts the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Award for “Remarkably Bright Creatures” during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.
The veteran actor was a surprise winner in the lead actress in a limited series or movie category with a statue for the Netflix flick “Remarkably Bright Creatures.” Four decades after Field became famous for her “You like me, you really like me” speech upon winning her second Oscar in 1985, she became the oldest woman to win her Emmy category at the age of 79.
Field had kind words for the cast and those involved in the film but also for Canada, where the movie was made.
“Bless Canada — our neighbour, our friends,” she said to applause.
She also expressed gratitude for her fellow artists, a community she said she had been part of “for 62 years or something. Our voices matter, our diversity, our unique storytelling matters. We can’t let those voices be silenced or compromised or merged.”
Stephen Colbert and crew accept the Outstanding Variety Series Award for “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Stephen Colbert, whose late-night talk show was cancelled by CBS in what some believe was a political decision to pacify Donald Trump, claimed the best variety show trophy. “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” had already won six nods at the previous weekend’s non-televised awards.
Colbert shouted out the people who helped make the show, including the young staff members. “Hire them!” he told the audience. He thanked all the people in the theatre who had been guests on his show and brought his wife to tears by saying hers was “the laugh that I want for the rest of my life.”
And “I want to say to the audience, thank you for watching. We hope you enjoyed the show.”
Michael J. Fox accepts the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.
The audience seemed genuinely moved when Canadian actor Michael J. Fox was wheeled onstage to accept the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his advocacy for a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
Fox, 65, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 29, talked about being inspired by Hope, who “was more than an entertainer; he was a selfless champion of soldiers and military families like mine for decades.”
He noted that Hope gave up holidays to visit troops “in Berlin, Saigon, with a turkey leg and a golf club, and maybe if you’re lucky, Lola Falana.”
Fox also thanked those in Hollywood who enabled him to keep acting despite his disease. “All of you made me feel like I could keep doing this.”
Harrison Ford, with whom Fox appeared in the most recent season of “Shrinking,” looked particularly moved.
Steven Conrad accepts the Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series Award for “DTF St. Louis” during the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.
The limited series category was underwhelming compared to previous years, but when push came to shove, it wasn’t acclaimed anthology series “Beef” that took the prize but the more modest “DTF St. Louis,” a comedy-drama hybrid about male friendship, infidelity and loneliness starring Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini and David Harbour.
The series had already won for writing, directing and supporting actor and actress at the previous weekend’s awards. Series creator Steven Conrad gave a particularly low-key acceptance speech. “We are all grateful and we each send our great appreciation,” he said.
Macaulay Culkin, from left, Annie Murphy, and Dan Levy pay tribute to Catherine O’Hara during the 78th Emmy Awards.
The late Canadian actor and comedian was given a special honour at the top of the in memoriam segment, with three of her co-stars coming onstage to pay tribute to her.
“She may have forgotten me, twice, but we will always remember her,” quipped Macaulay Culkin, who played the son she left behind in two “Home Alone” movies.
The most affecting tributes came from O’Hara’s “Schitt’s Creek” cast mates Annie Murphy and Dan Levy.
Murphy recounted being approached by people wanting to share their memories of O’Hara after she died in January at the age of 71. She said she was stopped on an Air Canada flight and in an LCBO, and “hugged by an extremely gruff gas station attendant.”
Macaulay Culkin, from left, Annie Murphy, and Dan Levy pay tribute to Catherine O’Hara during the 78th Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Levy said he learned to always say yes to O’Hara. “Say yes to that rewrite she emails you, sometimes the night before. It will always improve the story,” he said. “Say yes to the concept of a wig wall. Say yes to her asking to wear a wig as a hat. Say yes to her naming that wig.”
The in memoriam segment ended with Jamie Lee Curtis tearfully paying tribute to Rob Reiner, who was killed alongside his wife Michelle last December. “He was generous and kind and funny as hell,” Curtis said.
Reiner had posthumously won a guest acting Emmy for “The Bear.” Curtis noted the 48-year-gap between that and his previous acting win for “All in the Family” was the longest in Emmys history, eclipsing the 37-year record set by his father, Carl Reiner.
R. Scott Gemmill and “The Pitt” cast and crew accept the Outstanding Drama Series Award at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.
To no one’s surprise, buzzy medical drama “The Pitt” claimed its second outstanding drama trophy, while lead Noah Wyle took his second acting Emmy for playing the troubled but compassionate Dr. Robby Rabinovich.
But it wasn’t quite the romp that some were expecting.
Favourites Katherine LaNasa and Shawn Hatosy lost the supporting actress and actor trophies to a couple of surprise winners: Allison Janney for “The Diplomat” and Tom Pelphrey for “Task.”
The 73-year-old actor recently received his first ever Emmy at the 78th Emmy Awards for his work as alcoholic patient Louie on "The Pitt." (Sept. 6, 2026)
The drama directing statuette went to Saul Metzstein for spy show “Slow Horses” and writing was won by Vince Gilligan for “Pluribus,” the alien drama that had been seen as the main competition for “The Pitt.”
In perhaps the most satisfying non-”Pitt” win, “Pluribus” star Rhea Seehorn claimed her first Emmy for starring as a misanthropic author who must save the world, a balm to fans who felt she’d been robbed in previous nominations for “Better Call Saul.”
When “The Pitt” took the big prize, a Canadian got to accept the award: series creator R. Scott Gemmill, who said that what’s more important than awards and ratings is “a whole community that’s still trying to do the right thing.
“It’s so hard to tell what is real and what we can believe anymore, which makes telling honest stories about real human struggles more important than ever,” he said.
“People need to know the truth. We need to tell them that in whatever form we can.”
Debra Yeo is a freelance contributor to the Star’s Culture section. She is based in Toronto. Follow her on X: @realityeo.
