Emmys 2026: Noah Wyle repeats, Jean Smart wins again, Rhea Seehorn finally wins her first

"The Pitt" walked away with another outstanding drama award Monday at the 78th annual Primetime Emmys. The HBO Max hospital drama's second consecutive win placed it in rarefied company — both "Succession" and "Game of Thrones" also had consecutive wins during their celebrated runs, but the last time any drama won for its first and second seasons was back in 2008, when "Mad Men" went back to back.

"The Pitt's" lead Noah Wyle also made it two in a row on Monday, as best actor in a drama. He won at last year's show too — his first in a long, celebrated career, much of that at "ER."

"Widow's Bay," the Apple horror/comedy about a cursed New England island, won for best comedy.

Monday was an especially good night for at least one other multiple Emmy winner: Jean Smart landed her third straight Emmy as lead actress in a comedy for "Hacks," her fifth for the show (which wrapped last May) and eighth overall.

“What a ride this has been," she said, and what a ride indeed.

For lead actress in a drama, Rhea Seehorn finally won the Emmy so long denied her on "Better Call Saul," the great "Breaking Bad" spinoff that ended in 2022. Her win for the Apple TV alien contagion drama, "Pluribus," is her first.

"DTF St. Louis" — HBO Max's suburban love-triangle murder-mystery — won for best anthology.

Meanwhile, comedy winner "Widow's Bay" certainly had a night to remember, as expected. Matthew Rhys, its lead, entered the night with three nominations for two shows — "The Beast in Me" and for "Bay." The Welsh-born actor went on to win for supporting actor in an anthology (for "The Beast in Me"), then a few minutes later won for best actor in a comedy for "Widow's Bay. That marked the first time a male actor has won both major awards in one ceremony.

"Late Show with Stephen Colbert" — which ended its decade-long run last May — won for outstanding variety series for its final season (and was also a winner last year too.)

Then, there were the tributes. Among many, there was one (during the "In Memoriam") to Rob Reiner, and another to Dolly Parton who died Aug. 25 (she was a 2021 Emmy winner for Netflix's "Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square.")

The most memorable part of Monday night — of many Emmy nights, really — belonged to Michael J. Fox, who was honored with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his foundation's work with Parkinson's disease. Brought out in a wheel chair to a standing ovation — easiest the longest of several Monday — then struggling through his brief remarks, Fox's appearance was a uniquely poignant moment in the long history of the Emmys. He celebrated Hope as " a selfless champion of soldiers and military families like mine," then added "I couldn't have known how these lessons resonated in my own life."

Since its founding in 2000, the Michael J. Fox Foundation has funded more than $3 billion in Parkinson's research, according to Foundation figures. Or as Fox explained last night, "accepting Parkison's didn't mean I had to surrender to it."

These 78th annual Emmys had other preoccupations besides handing out awards. With Mariska Hargitay as first-time host — and the first female host in 15 years — they were designed to celebrate those glory days, and not just NBC's, but broadcast TV in general. The first network broadcast of the Emmys was in 1955, but that 71-year run may all be coming to an end by tomorrow, when the Emmys are free to choose whether they'll continue to air on TV, or move to a streaming service (or a combination of both.) Ratings have declined dramatically in the wake of the streaming revolution, so a decision about future carriage also lies with the four networks themselves, who have shared coverage of the events since 1967, as part of a so-called "wheel deal."

As such, there was just the slightest hint of nostalgia Monday, and an almost-wistful sense that this 77-year-old broadcast tradition may either be coming to an end, or at the outset of some grand new adventure, wherever that will be.

The show celebrated a few anniversaries, including "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (launched 30 years ago) and "Charlie's Angels" (50 years ago.) "Bay Watch" (37 years old) got a shoutout too, along with the cast of the Fox/Prime reboot expected to launch in 2027.

Then there was Hargitay, now about to enter her 28th year as "Law & Order: SVU's" Det. Olivia Benson, whose extraordinary run is the longest tenure of any lead character on a primetime series. Her presence on the stage was enough to remind everyone at the Peacock Theater, and the audience at home, there still is a tradition on network TV — even if she's one of the few major TV stars who actually embodies what's left of it.

But Hargitay refused to lean too far into nostalgia. "The Emmys are celebrating their 78th year and NBC is celebrating its hundredth," she told the crowd. "And I have been on 'SVU' for all of them."

She did point out that she was the first woman in 15 years to host, which means "Amy [Poehler] and Tina [Fey] said no." A joke but she may have been right.

Her cold open featured her pal, and Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, after which she launched into a lip sync of Joan Jett's "I love Rock n' Roll" (substituted by the words "I love TV screens...") Later in the show, she also starred in a clever "SVU" pre-taped sketch on whether her other pal, Taylor Swift, might turn up at the Emmys. Surprise! She did turn up, but only in this pre-taped bit.