The 78th Annual Primetime Emmy’s Awards was held on Monday September 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It aired live on NBC and was hosted by “Law and Order SVU” star Mariska Hargitay.
The Emmys have two award ceremonies: The Primetime Creative Arts and the Primetime Emmys. The Creative Arts ceremony encompasses 100 categories over 2 days focusing on editing, music, makeup, casting, among others. The Primetime telecast, however, is the one that makes the headlines and covers the more well-known categories such as Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Lead and Supporting Actors and Actresses, Directing, and others.
Hargitay is first the non-comedian host of the Primetime Emmys since 2008 as well as the first female host in 15 years. It was a stark and unwelcome departure, in my opinion, from what viewers came to be accustomed to with late night hosts and standup comedians. As a host, Hargitay was remarkably mediocre and forgettable. She felt more like a background host often overshadowed by guest presenters and brought down by cringey musical numbers. The ratings speak for themselves: according to the Associated Press, the ratings for the Emmys were down 10% compared to the 2025 Emmys.
The night’s largest winner Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay” won all 6 its Primetime nominations including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Directing and Writing for a Comedy series.
HBO’s highly acclaimed medical drama “The Pitt” was the deserving winner of the night’s two biggest awards: Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor. The show was awarded 13 Primetime nominations winning two awards for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Lead actor Noah Wyle has won the Outstanding Lead Actor award for two consecutive years now.
Apple TV’s show “Pluribus” won two of the eight awards it was nominated for, including Best Lead Actress for Actress Rhea Seehorn and director Vince Gilligan won the long overdue award for Outstanding Writing. Gilligan is best known for creating the TV shows “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.” Gilligan and Seehorn worked together on “Better Call Saul” which never won an Emmy despite being nominated 53 times and being one of the most critically acclaimed shows of all time.
One of the most surprising moments of the night was when Netflix’s “The Diplomat” actress Allison Janney won the Outstanding Supporting Actress Award. Janney herself told ExtraTV that she recalled looking on websites prior to the ceremony and seeing her chances of winning at 2%. Janney is now in a four-way tie for the performer with the most acting Emmy awards with eight awards.
“Widow’s Bay” lead actor Mathew Rhys made Emmy history being the first male actor by winning both Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy series and in a Limited/Anthology Series for Netflix’s thriller “The Beast in Me.” Rhys also being an executive producer of “Widow’s Bay” allowed him to take home three Emmys.
Apple TV was the night’s largest studio winner with eight Primetime wins, with HBO and Netflix winning five and three awards respectively.
CBS’s recently canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” won a well-deserved victory taking home the Outstanding Variety Series award. CBS canceled the then number one rated late night talk show in May citing the reason as “purely financial.” Due to its end, this was the final award the show could win. Colbert and his team received a standing ovation from the audience as they walked onto the stage to receive the award. In his acceptance speech, Colbert took the opportunity to promote his recently jobless former production staff to the various executives and showrunners in attendance.
The 78th Primetime Emmys was overall not remarkably memorable with a lower viewer turnout at 6.7 million. Nevertheless, records were broken and history was made with upsets and surprises throughout the night.
