Updated September 12, 2026: the biggest Primetime Emmy categories have not been awarded yet. The 78th Emmy Awards main telecast is scheduled for Monday, September 14, at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock. That matters because any page calling its current list the “full 2026 Emmy winners” before the telecast is mixing confirmed Creative Arts results with predictions. This reference guide keeps those two things separate.
The useful way to follow Emmy weekend is simple: first check what has already been won, then look at nomination strength and Creative Arts momentum, and only then make predictions for the remaining televised races. The Television Academy says the 2026 telecast will feature 19 award categories, while the September 5 and 6 ceremonies already handed out dozens of craft, guest-performance, limited-series supporting, nonfiction, reality and variety awards. You can verify live status on the Academy's official nominees and winners database.
| Item | What to know |
|---|---|
| Main telecast | Monday, September 14, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT |
| Where to watch | NBC live coast-to-coast; Peacock live and on demand |
| Host | Mariska Hargitay |
| Creative Arts ceremonies | Held September 5 and 6; edited broadcast airs September 12 on FXX and streams on Hulu the next day |
| Main telecast award categories | 19 |
| Status of this article | Confirmed winners + predictions, not a final winner list |
The timing and viewing details come from the Television Academy's official watch page, and the category breakdown is listed in the Academy's 2026 ceremony category schedule.
The strongest prediction signal this year is unusually concrete because two Emmy nights have already happened. On September 6, Widow's Bay led the second ceremony with eight wins, while DTF St. Louis collected six. The Pitt and Pluribus earned four each, and Beef and Margo's Got Money Troubles were among the programs with three wins. The Academy's Night Two recap also confirms David Harbour and Linda Cardellini as the supporting actor and supporting actress winners in the limited or anthology field.
Night One produced another useful set of clues. The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny was the top winner that evening with seven awards, while The Traitors and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert were among the other leading programs. Mariska Hargitay also won two Emmys for My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay. The official Night One recap is the cleanest source for those already-set results.
One more result is worth separating from the September 14 races: Remarkably Bright Creatures has already won Outstanding Movie. That does not make Sally Field the automatic choice for lead actress in a limited series or movie, but it does show that voters responded to the project.
These are editorial predictions, not reported results. The ranking weighs four things: nomination volume, wins from the September 5-6 ceremonies, the chance of vote-splitting when one show has several nominees in the same acting category, and the strength of the submitted episode or season. The Television Academy's July 8 announcement says The Pitt led drama with 25 nominations, while Hacks set a comedy record with 24 nominations. See the official nomination announcement for the verified totals.
| Category | Prediction | Strongest challenger | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outstanding Comedy Series | Hacks | Widow's Bay | Medium |
| Directing for a Comedy Series | Lucia Aniello — Hacks, “Hacks (Finale)” | Hiro Murai — Widow's Bay | Medium |
| Directing for a Drama Series | Noah Wyle — The Pitt, “12:00 P.M.” | Vince Gilligan — Pluribus, “We Is Us” | Medium |
| Outstanding Drama Series | The Pitt | Pluribus | High |
| Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | Matthew Rhys — Widow's Bay | Steve Carell — Rooster | Medium |
| Lead Actor in a Drama Series | Noah Wyle — The Pitt | Gary Oldman — Slow Horses | High |
| Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Oscar Isaac — Beef | Matthew Rhys — The Beast in Me | Medium |
| Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Jean Smart — Hacks | Elle Fanning — Margo's Got Money Troubles | High |
| Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Rhea Seehorn — Pluribus | Keri Russell — The Diplomat | Medium |
| Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Carey Mulligan — Beef | Sarah Snook — All Her Fault | Medium |
| Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series | DTF St. Louis | Beef | High |
| Outstanding Reality Competition Program | The Traitors | RuPaul's Drag Race | High |
| Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | Harrison Ford — Shrinking | Paul W. Downs — Hacks | Medium |
| Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Jack Lowden — Slow Horses | Patrick Ball — The Pitt | Low-Medium |
| Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Hannah Einbinder — Hacks | Michelle Pfeiffer — Margo's Got Money Troubles | High |
| Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Katherine LaNasa — The Pitt | Allison Janney — The Diplomat | Medium |
| Outstanding Variety Series | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | High |
| Writing for a Comedy Series | Hacks — “Hacks (Finale)” | Abbott Elementary — “Team Building” | High |
| Writing for a Drama Series | Pluribus — “We Is Us” | The Pitt — “1:00 P.M.” | Medium |
The Pitt has the broadest combination of nomination volume and already-proven craft support. Its 25 nominations were the most of any drama series, and it left the September 6 ceremony with four wins. That is a stronger foundation than simply saying the show is popular. It also explains why Noah Wyle appears twice in the prediction table: he is nominated both as lead actor and director. The caution is vote concentration. The Pitt has several supporting nominees, which creates a genuine risk that voters divide among cast members while a single contender from another show slips through.
Widow's Bay is the biggest reason this is not an easy race. Eight Creative Arts wins show exceptional support across crafts, and Matthew Rhys, Dale Dickey, Kate O'Flynn and Stephen Root give the show a strong acting footprint. Still, Hacks entered the season with a record-setting 24 comedy nominations and has a finale nominated in both writing and directing. That makes it the slightly safer series prediction. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder are also proven Emmy performers, giving Hacks multiple paths to a major-night haul.
The limited-series race changed materially on September 6. DTF St. Louis won six Emmys, including both supporting acting awards, which is the kind of cross-branch support that often accompanies a series win. Beef also had a strong night with three wins and remains a serious alternative, especially in the lead acting categories. Because the supporting races are already settled, the Monday telecast will show whether DTF St. Louis can convert its early momentum into the top series prize.
“Red carpet prediction” can easily turn into unsupported designer guessing, so the more useful approach is to predict the people and storylines most likely to dominate arrival coverage without pretending an unconfirmed gown, suit or jewelry choice is known in advance.
The first presenter list also includes Florence Pugh, Keke Palmer, Amy Poehler, Jon Hamm, Sally Field, Alan Cumming, Niecy Nash-Betts, Dan Levy, Annie Murphy and others. Check the Television Academy's official presenter announcement rather than assuming every nominee or celebrity rumored online will attend.
The Academy has confirmed several elements that will shape the evening beyond the awards themselves. Noah Kahan is scheduled to perform “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during the In Memoriam segment. The broadcast will also include the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charlie's Angels anniversary celebrations mentioned above. These are confirmed programming elements, not predictions, and they are detailed in the Academy's September 10 creative-elements announcement.
As of September 12, the 2026 Emmys have a split status: many winners are already official, but the 19 categories most viewers associate with the Primetime telecast are still pending. The strongest pre-show calls are The Pitt for drama series, Hacks for comedy series, DTF St. Louis for limited series, The Traitors for reality competition and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for variety series. The acting races are less uniform, with Noah Wyle and Jean Smart looking safer than several tightly contested supporting and limited-series fields.
The decisive point is timing: the final 2026 Emmy winner list will not be complete until the September 14 telecast finishes. Until then, the most accurate article is one that labels confirmed winners as confirmed, predictions as predictions, and red carpet expectations as expectations.
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