Los Angeles, Sept. 14, 2026 — The Television Academy handed out its 78th Emmy Awards last night in a telecast hosted by Mariska Hargitay at the Peacock Theater. The top prizes mostly went to non-genre comedies and dramas — Widow’s Bay set an all-time record with 14 total wins for a comedy series — but a close look at every nominee slate shows sci-fi, fantasy and comic-book talent threaded through nearly every category this year, led by Vince Gilligan’s sci-fi thriller Pluribus and a genre-heavy Best Drama Series field.

The two best awards Pluribus took home were:

  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: RHEA SEEHORN, Pluribus (Apple TV)
  • Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: VINCE GILLIGAN, Pluribus (Apple TV)

Below is every category from the Sept. 14 telecast, full nominee slate included, with genre-relevant names and shows marked in bold and a note on why they made our list.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

  • Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
  • Dale Dickey, Widow’s Bay
  • WINNER: Kate O’Flynn, Widow’s Bay
  • Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
  • Megan Stalter, Hacks
  • Jessica Williams, Shrinking
  • Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Marvel’s Janet van Dyne/the Wasp, and Catwoman in Batman Returns

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

  • Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
  • Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
  • Elle Fanning, Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Disney’s Maleficent films
  • Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
  • WINNER: Jean Smart, Hacks — Melanie Bird on FX’s Legion

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

  • Dancing with the Stars
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race
  • Survivor
  • Top Chef
  • WINNER: The Traitors

No genre connection in this field.

Outstanding Variety Series

  • The Daily Show
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live!
  • Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
  • WINNER: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
  • Saturday Night Live

No genre connection in this field.

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

  • The Beast in Me
  • All Her Fault
  • Beef
  • WINNER: DTF St. Louis
  • Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette

No genre connection in this field.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

  • Oscar Isaac, Beef — Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Marvel’s Moon Knight
  • WINNER: Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me
  • Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story — Pacific Rim
  • Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit
  • Riz Ahmed, Bait — Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

  • Carey Mulligan, Beef
  • Claire Danes, The Beast in Me
  • WINNER: Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures — fantasy-adjacent (a psychic octopus narrator)
  • Sarah Pidgeon, Love Story
  • Sarah Snook, All Her Fault — the time-travel thriller Predestination

Outstanding Comedy Series

  • Abbott Elementary
  • The Bear
  • Hacks
  • Margo’s Got Money Troubles
  • Nobody Wants This
  • Only Murders in the Building
  • Shrinking
  • WINNER: Widow’s Bay

No genre connection in this field.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

  • Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Wonder Man — a Marvel Disney+ series, and he’s played Black Manta in Aquaman and Cal Abar/Dr. Manhattan in HBO’s Watchmen
  • WINNER: Matthew Rhys, Widow’s Bay
  • Steve Carell, Rooster
  • Jason Segel, Shrinking
  • Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

  • Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons
  • Paul W. Downs, Hacks
  • Harrison Ford, Shrinking — Star Wars, Blade Runner, Indiana Jones
  • Michael Urie, Shrinking
  • Nick Offerman, Margo’s Got Money Troubles — HBO’s The Last of Us
  • WINNER: Stephen Root, Widow’s Bay
  • Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

  • Randall Einhorn, Abbott Elementary
  • Christopher Storer, The Bear
  • Andrew DeYoung, The Chair Company
  • Lucia Aniello, Hacks
  • Mary Lou Belli, The Ms. Pat Show
  • WINNER: Hiro Murai, Widow’s Bay — directed much of Station Eleven and FX’s Legion

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

  • Abbott Elementary
  • The Chair Company
  • The Comeback
  • Hacks
  • Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat
  • WINNER: Widow’s Bay (Katie Dippold)

No genre connection in this field.

Outstanding Drama Series

  • The Diplomat
  • The Gilded Age
  • A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — fantasy, set in the Game of Thrones universe
  • Paradise
  • WINNER: The Pitt
  • Pluribus — sci-fi
  • Slow Horses
  • Your Friends & Neighbors

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

  • Salli Richardson-Whitfield, The Gilded Age / Task — directed episodes of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and starred in Syfy’s Eureka
  • Hanelle M. Culpepper, Paradise — directed Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery
  • Noah Wyle, The Pitt
  • Vince Gilligan, Pluribus — sci-fi
  • WINNER: Saul Metzstein, Slow Horses — directed multiple Doctor Who episodes

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

  • The Diplomat
  • The Pitt
  • WINNER: Pluribus (Vince Gilligan) — sci-fi
  • Slow Horses
  • Task

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

  • Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
  • Gary Oldman, Slow Horses — Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films, Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy
  • Mark Ruffalo, Task — the Hulk in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe
  • Rufus Sewell, The Diplomat
  • WINNER: Noah Wyle, The Pitt — Falling Skies, TNT’s The Librarians

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

  • Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age — Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
  • Chase Infiniti, The Testaments — dystopian sequel series to The Handmaid’s Tale
  • Keri Russell, The Diplomat — Zorii Bliss in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
  • WINNER: Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus — sci-fi
  • Zendaya, Euphoria — MJ in Marvel’s Spider-Man films, Chani in Dune and Dune: Part Two

Easily the most genre-studded field of the night — every nominee here has a foot in sci-fi or fantasy somewhere on their resume.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

  • Taylor Dearden, The Pitt
  • Fiona Dourif, The Pitt — Nica Pierce in the Chucky franchise
  • Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt
  • Sepideh Moafi, The Pitt
  • Julianne Nicholson, Paradise
  • Karolina Wydra, Pluribus — sci-fi
  • WINNER: Allison Janney, The Diplomat

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

  • Patrick Ball, The Pitt
  • Shawn Hatosy, The Pitt
  • Gerran Howell, The Pitt
  • Billy Crudup, The Morning Show — Dr. Manhattan in the 2009 Watchmen film
  • Jack Lowden, Slow Horses
  • WINNER: Tom Pelphrey, Task
  • Carlos-Manuel Vesga, Pluribus — sci-fi

Beyond the Telecast: Genre Shows That Racked Up Statues at the Creative Arts Ceremonies

The Television Academy release doesn’t break out individual Creative Arts winners, but the tally of total wins per show (combined across all three nights) tells its own story:

  • Pluribus — 6 awards
  • Spider-Noir — 5 awards, the night’s best showing for a comic-book adaptation
  • The Muppet Show — 4 awards
  • Fallout — 2 awards
  • Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal — 2 awards
  • Remarkably Bright Creatures — 2 awards

OUR OPERATING FUNDS ARE LOW. WE NEED YOUR HELP.

SCIFI.radio is the world’s only sci-fi, fantasy fandom radio station.
We live or die on your donations alone. Be the 1%.
Click here to visit our Patreon page and pledge your support.
SCIFI.radio

SCIFI.radio is listener supported sci-fi geek culture radio, and operates almost exclusively via the generous contributions of our fans via our Patreon campaign. If you like, you can also use our tip jar and send us a little something to help support the many fine creatives that make this station possible.