Hollywood's Emmy awards produced a string of surprises, with the comedy Hacks suffering a stark reversal of fortune despite entering the ceremony with a record 24 nominations. Jean Smart won lead actress in a comedy for the fourth consecutive season of the show, making her the first woman to win an Emmy for every season of a programme's run, but it was the only major award Hacks took home, losing the remaining 22 categories it was nominated in. The night instead belonged overwhelmingly to comedy-horror Widow's Bay, which dominated across the board and underlined a broader shift in voters' tastes away from Hacks since The Studio's sweep the previous year.

Widow's Bay won 14 Emmys in total, taking six of the seven comedy awards handed out during the televised ceremony, including outstanding comedy series, lead actor and directing. Its star Matthew Rhys also picked up a second, unexpected award for lead actor in a limited series for The Beast in Me, beating favourite Oscar Isaac and becoming the first actor to win lead acting Emmys in comedy, drama and limited series categories. Other notable upsets included Allison Janney winning supporting actress in a drama for The Diplomat over The Pitt's Katherine LaNasa, Sally Field triumphing over Carey Mulligan, and Stephen Root's win meaning veteran actor Harrison Ford remains without an Emmy.