Widow's Bay Breaks Comedy Record as The Pitt Repeats at Emmys
Widow's Bay set a comedy record with 14 Emmys, and The Pitt won best drama again, as Jean Smart and Noah Wyle led the night's acting honours.
The Apple TV horror comedy "Widow's Bay" dominated the Emmy Awards on Monday night, setting a record for a comedy series with 14 awards, including best comedy series and three acting wins.
The first-season show, created by Katie Dippold, follows a New England island community confronting a centuries-old curse. It had already collected eight Emmys at an earlier ceremony before adding four more, among them supporting actress for breakout star Kate O'Flynn and supporting actor for Stephen Root. Dippold won for comedy writing, and Matthew Rhys took best actor.
The haul overshadowed the farewell run of "Hacks," which had entered its fifth and final season with the most comedy nominations of any show. Jean Smart nevertheless won her fifth best actress award for the series, an unprecedented sweep. No performer had previously won an Emmy every year for a series lasting more than three seasons.
In the drama categories, HBO Max's "The Pitt" won best drama series for the second consecutive year, with star Noah Wyle taking best actor for his portrayal of Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch. The 24-hours-in-the-life-of-an-emergency-room series, created by R. Scott Gemmill, has now won in each of its first two seasons. Wyle, who found a career revival in the role after starring in "ER" in the 1990s, said in his acceptance speech that he grew up in Los Angeles as a "Hollywood kid" raised on television, and that acting was all he had ever wanted to do.
Rhys also won best actor in a limited series for "The Beast in Me," becoming the first man to win two leading actor categories in the same year. Tom Pelphrey won supporting actor in a drama for "Task," while Allison Janney took supporting actress in a drama for "The Diplomat" and Rhea Seehorn won lead actress in a drama for "Pluribus."
Sally Field, 79, became the oldest woman to win best actress in a limited or anthology series or TV movie, for "Remarkably Bright Creatures." Alan Cumming of "The Traitors" accepted the award for outstanding reality competition program.
The ceremony, held in Los Angeles, was broadcast live on NBC and streamed on Peacock. It also featured a parody of the AMC Theatres Nicole Kidman advertisement by Mariska Hargitay and a "Law & Order: SVU" sketch featuring Taylor Swift.