Widow’s Bay won Outstanding Comedy Series at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14, one of six awards it collected on the night, including lead actor for Matthew Rhys. Pluribus won two more for Apple TV, and Slow Horses took the drama directing award for its episode “Scars.”
That makes nine ceremony wins for Apple TV, on top of the 20 Apple announced after the first two nights of the Creative Arts Emmys. Every winner below is marked as a winner on the Television Academy’s category pages.
| Category | Winner | Show |
|---|---|---|
| Comedy Series | Series award | Widow’s Bay |
| Lead Actor, Comedy | Matthew Rhys, as Mayor Tom Loftis | Widow’s Bay |
| Supporting Actor, Comedy | Stephen Root, as Wyck | Widow’s Bay |
| Supporting Actress, Comedy | Kate O’Flynn, as Patricia | Widow’s Bay |
| Directing, Comedy | Hiro Murai, “Welcome To Widow’s Bay!” | Widow’s Bay |
| Writing, Comedy | Katie Dippold, “Welcome To Widow’s Bay!” | Widow’s Bay |
| Lead Actress, Drama | Rhea Seehorn, as Carol Sturka | Pluribus |
| Writing, Drama | Vince Gilligan, “We Is Us” | Pluribus |
| Directing, Drama | Saul Metzstein, “Scars” | Slow Horses |
Widow’s Bay swept its comedy categories
Widow’s Bay, Apple’s comedy about a cursed island that trades on tourism, beat a field that included Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Hacks and two other Apple TV shows, Shrinking and Margo’s Got Money Troubles, for the top comedy prize. It also won every comedy acting, directing and writing award it was nominated for at the ceremony.
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Rhys beat Apple’s own Jason Segel of Shrinking for lead actor. Root topped three more Apple TV nominees, Harrison Ford and Michael Urie of Shrinking and Nick Offerman of Margo’s Got Money Troubles. O’Flynn won over a field that included her castmate Dale Dickey, Michelle Pfeiffer of Margo’s Got Money Troubles and Jessica Williams of Shrinking. Murai and Dippold won for the same episode.
Add the eight Creative Arts wins, among them Betty Gilpin for guest actress, and Widow’s Bay finishes the year with 14 Emmys from 19 nominations. The rest of that haul covered casting, half-hour cinematography, music composition, music supervision, half-hour production design, sound editing and sound mixing.
Slow Horses and Pluribus split the drama awards
Saul Metzstein won the drama directing award for the Slow Horses episode “Scars,” beating Vince Gilligan of Pluribus among others. It was the only win of the year for Slow Horses from nine nominations. For what comes next, see our guide to the season 6 release date and cast.
Rhea Seehorn won lead actress in a drama for playing Carol Sturka in Pluribus, beating Carrie Coon, Chase Infiniti, Keri Russell and Zendaya. Gilligan took the drama writing award for “We Is Us,” the episode that also won picture editing and one-hour sound mixing at the Creative Arts ceremonies. With four Creative Arts wins, Pluribus ends the 2026 Emmys with six.
Where Apple came up short
- Drama Series: The Pitt won, ahead of Apple’s Pluribus, Slow Horses and Your Friends & Neighbors.
- Lead Actor, Drama: Noah Wyle won for The Pitt. Apple’s nominee was Gary Oldman for Slow Horses.
- Lead Actress, Comedy: Jean Smart won for Hacks, ahead of Elle Fanning for Margo’s Got Money Troubles.
- Supporting Actor, Drama: Tom Pelphrey won for Task. Apple TV’s nominees were Billy Crudup of The Morning Show, Jack Lowden of Slow Horses and Carlos-Manuel Vesga of Pluribus.
- Supporting Actress, Drama: Allison Janney won for The Diplomat, ahead of Karolina Wydra of Pluribus.
Apple’s 2026 Emmy count
By the Television Academy’s category pages, Apple TV programs won 28 Emmys this year, and Apple’s “I’m Not Remarkable” ad won Outstanding Commercial. Apple counted that commercial in its own Creative Arts total of 20, so on the same basis its 2026 tally is 29: 14 for Widow’s Bay, six for Pluribus, three each for Margo’s Got Money Troubles and Palm Royale, and one each for Slow Horses, Mr. Scorsese and the commercial.
That is our count from the Academy’s pages, not an Apple figure. Apple went into the night with a company record of 89 nominations across 15 originals, announced in July.
