The Emmy race already has winners — a lot of them — before television’s biggest night reaches NBC and Peacock on September 14.
Across two ceremonies at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on September 5 and 6, the Television Academy handed out the awards traditionally associated with the Creative Arts Emmys, covering the crafts, guest performances, reality television, nonfiction, variety and a growing number of acting categories. The result is not a preview in the sense of predictions. These trophies are already on shelves. But they do change the mood of the race heading into the final televised ceremony.
The biggest name on the scoreboard after the weekend is Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay.” The horror-comedy collected eight Emmys on the second night, more than any other program across the first two ceremonies. Its haul included casting, production design, cinematography, sound and music honors, while Betty Gilpin won guest actress in a comedy series.
That kind of sweep matters because the craft categories reveal how broadly a show is admired across the industry. “Widow’s Bay” still has major categories waiting for the September 14 telecast, but it now enters that night with a visible base of support.
Saturday belonged to a different kind of television spectacle. “The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny” won seven Emmys, including Outstanding Variety Special (Live), directing, choreography, music direction, sound mixing, lighting and technical direction/camerawork. It won every category in which it was nominated that night.
“The Traitors” followed with six wins, including another hosting Emmy for Alan Cumming. “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” earned five in its final season, while “The Muppet Show” collected four and “Love on the Spectrum” won three.
Mariska Hargitay had an unusually good warm-up for her hosting job. Before she takes the stage as host of the main Emmys on September 14, she won two awards for “My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay”: one for directing and another for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.
The second night also delivered several of the weekend’s most memorable acting results. Rob Reiner received a posthumous Emmy for his guest performance in “The Bear.” Ernest Harden Jr. won guest actor in a drama for “The Pitt,” and Shailene Woodley took guest actress in a drama for “Paradise.” David Harbour and Linda Cardellini both won supporting honors for the limited series “DTF St. Louis,” which finished the night with six Emmys overall.
“Spider-Noir” collected five awards despite having been canceled, while “The Pitt” and “Pluribus” each won four. Netflix’s “Remarkably Bright Creatures” took Outstanding Movie, and “South Park” won Outstanding Animated Program.
The platform totals underline how competitive the year has become. Variety counted 20 wins for Apple TV after the first two nights, 16 for HBO Max, 13 for Netflix and 10 for Amazon Prime Video including MGM+.
The Television Academy is framing September 5, 6 and 14 as three nights of the 78th Emmy Awards, although the edited broadcast of the first two nights will still air under the Creative Arts label. That special runs September 12 on FXX and reaches Hulu the following day.
Then comes the ceremony most viewers still think of as the Emmys: September 14, live from the same Peacock Theater. By then, the red carpet will look like the beginning of the celebration. In reality, “Widow’s Bay,” Bad Bunny, “The Traitors,” “DTF St. Louis” and dozens of craftspeople will arrive with the season’s first verdicts already written in gold.