4 min read
Some years, the 2026 Emmy Award winners feel like total shoo-ins. Noah Wyle for The Pitt? Easy choice. Jean Smart for Hacks. She wins every year. (And she should!) We may even see both of those award recipients repeat again this year. But every now and then, the Emmys voters surprise you. Nobody predicted Jeff Hiller winning Outstanding Supporting Actor for Somebody Somewhere last year over Harrison Ford and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, nor did Emmy pundits have DTF. St. Louis near-sweeping 2026’s Limited Series category.
But where last year’s lovefest for shows like The Studio and Adolescence was a no-brainer, this year’s Emmy Awards feature much stronger competition. The Drama category is split between anointing The Pitt as the new king of TV, and celebrating Vince Gilligan’s return with Pluribus. The same goes for the Comedy field, where newcomer Widow’s Bay is up against the final season of Hacks—which set the record for the most nominations in a single year. So, between the shock of Jalen Brunson opening the show and Meg Stalter dressing as a giant Emmy statuette, we marked down where the 2026 Emmy Awards surprised us the most this year.
Widow’s Bay took home the most awards of the night.
SURPRISE: Widow’s Bay Sweeps
Sure, I predicted the Widow’s Bay sweep in our Emmys predictions last week, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still surprised to see it! Widow’s Bay was one of our favorite shows of the year, and it’s amazing to see the wacky comedy-horror series recognized with so many awards. Widow’s Bay took home Outstanding Lead Actor (Matthew Rhys), Supporting Actress (Kate O’Flynn), Supporting Actor (Stephen Root), and Writing for a Comedy Series.
No award for Katherine LaNasa or Taylor Dearden?
SNUB: The Women of The Pitt
Katherine LaNasa, Taylor Dearden, Sepideh Moafi, and Fiona Dourif were all nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress (Drama). So, you’d expect one of the four supporting stars to win, right? Well, they all lost to Allison Janney for The Diplomat. No shade to the Netflix political drama, but if the series is good enough to nominate over half of the category… I’ll just leave it at that. At least Noah Wyle won!
Tom Pelphrey wins!
SURPRISE: Tom Pelphrey
I could say the same thing about the supporting men of The Pitt, but there was no one I wanted to see win more tonight than Tom Pelphrey. The Task actor had one of the best performances of the year as the conflicted garbage collector who turned to a life of crime just to support his family. And with the way The Pitt stars were nominated, I thought Task would end up as the most overlooked series of the night. Thankfully, the crime drama picked up some recognition with a win for Pelphrey. “To my favorite actor in this room, my love, my best friend, my partner, the very pregnant Kaley [Cuoco],” he said. “I love you more than anything, and our family is the crown jewel of my life.”
Meg Stalter (Hacks) dressed as a giant Emmy Award.
SURPRISE: Megan Stalter IS an Emmy
The Hacks actress may have lost her category after being nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress (Comedy), but she isn’t going home without an award. Stalter painted her entire body gold and wore angel wings to become an Emmys statuette herself on the red carpet. She even lifted up a giant atom (like the statue), as her costar Paul W. Downs posed as if he had “won” her. Fun fact: It’s also Stalter’s birthday at midnight.
What does it mean, Taylor?
SURPRISE: Taylor Swift Said A Bunch of Random Words Right at the Camera
In a cute Law & Order: SVU skit poking fun at articles titled “Why Taylor Swift Isn’t Attending the 2026 Emmy Awards,” the pop star showed up to join in on the fun and say a bunch of random words right into the camera. “Saccharine. Aries. From the Vineyard. North or South,” she said. Was that part of the joke? What does it mean?
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms didn’t win an Emmy.
SNUB: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
It was a tough year at the Emmy Awards for a Game of Thrones comedy spinoff to win—especially after HBO decided to compete in the Drama category—but it’s a shame that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms went mostly unrecognized this year. The series was nominated for eight awards and only won for Outstanding Stunt Performance. But for a show that was the first to film jousting at night, I’d say it’s well deserved.
SNUB: Late-Night Shows Still on the Air
Stephen Colbert had an amazing run on The Late Show. It’s a shame he was chased off the air by CBS, and I don’t have a doubt in my mind that the Trump administration’s crusade against late night is behind his exit. But it’s a bit strange to keep giving him awards when he isn’t even on TV anymore. As Colbert said on Instagram before the show, “I think we can all agree that Jimmy Kimmel deserves an Emmy.”
Mulaney should host every year.
SURPRISE: John Mulaney’s Still The Best At This
Quoting from Goodfellas star Frank Vincent’s autobiography, A Guy’s Guide to Being a Man’s Man, Mulaney proved that he was still the king of a good celebrity zinger. He presented Noah Wyle with the award for Outstanding Lead Actor (Drama) and joked: “I believe it was DJ Khaled who said ‘real men don’t go down on their wives,’ but these nominees know that that is B.S. They know there’s often less pressure on them if they do that first.” Maybe Mulaney should host every year.
