The Emmys Gave TV Fans Winners Worth Cherishing — and a Ceremony for Somebody Else

Kate O'Flynn, Rhea Seehorn, and Matthew Rhys (twice!) comprised a field of Emmy winners tailor-made to thrill die-hard TV fans, but the telecast meant to honor them had other priorities.

The 2026 Emmy Awards ended in unprecedented territory: with time to kill.

Even after host Mariska Hargitay offered an impromptu recap of the night’s “highlights,” the last presenters, Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, needed to “filibuster” for a few minutes — prefacing the Best Comedy Series announcement with some… peculiar banter about their parents getting “horizontal.” And even after Hargitay re-emerged to manufacture words meaningful enough to keep thousands of guests seated for another five minutes, the Emmys telecast had to rely on shots of celebrities standing up from their tables, offering congratulations, and saying their goodbyes. And even after all that, producers still needed a second recap of Emmy “highlights,” this time via a series of silent clips, as if viewers were supposed to remember Hargitay’s first verbal recap and plug it in as narration.

Then the credits finally rolled, and the broadcast mercifully ended.

The 78th Emmy Awards were not a total disaster. The winners were wonderful, including a handful of genuine surprises (Sally Field! Allison Janney!) and a number of highly anticipated frontrunners who lived up to the hype. (Rhea Seehorn! Matthew Rhys twice!) Hargitay put forth a good effort and even pulled in her pal, Taylor Swift. But the telecast, as produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment, wasn’t meant for them. In fact, it often worked against them, either by generally sullying their so-called honors with predominant advertising, half-assed writing, and a bewildering run of show — or by rushing them off stage before they had time to appreciate their 15 seconds in the spotlight.

An unbalanced show is one thing. Ending with tributes to deceased TV stars (including a song for Dolly Parton and speeches for Catherine O’Hara, Rob Reiner, and James Burrows) could, under different circumstances, elevate the heightened emotions of an awards show while putting the awards themselves in proper perspective. But after a wobbly start, a rushed middle, and way too much time left to wrap up, the 2026 Emmys felt frustrating and empty, which may be the ultimate disservice to a worthy group of winners.

Unlike the ceremony itself, Mariska Hargitay started a little rough and largely improved. The standalone joke about mispronouncing “finale” (because she’s never had one) was solid, but “Dick Wolf’s real name is… Richard Penis” should’ve never made it to air. Her closing bit with Nicole Kidman — reenacting her cult-favorite AMC Theaters speech, but for TV — showed she could do (rehearsed) crowd-work, and she kept it up later with an awkward joke about Nick Offerman painting houses with his nude body. But there weren’t enough of those moments to overcome slips (like the random, aborted “Game of Thrones” gag) and fragments. (Bringing in Andrew Rannells as accompaniment for a “Goodbye” to the year’s axed TV shows? OK! Wrapping it so quickly it’s hard to remember why it started or what it’s about? Bad!)

Fulfilling an unverified condition of the host contract — that the host must sing, and they must sing live — the “Law & Order” star’s opening rendition of “I Love TV Screens” (set to Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll”) could’ve used a few more passes to bolster the lyrics (and fewer product placements to dodge the spon-con allegations, although the “Law & Order” pop-up add for Peacock subscribers also spelled doom). Still, it looped in some of the night’s nominees (Jean Smart!) as well as New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson (I’ll forever wonder if he was asked to sing), so it can’t be considered a total loss.

Her very brief monologue made the fatal mistake, however, of invoking absent, beloved hosts (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler), and the producers made her pay for that error by bringing Poehler out to present immediately after Hargitay’s opening concluded. (Poehler, of course, killed — with a short run of jokes about how the ratio of winners to losers in the audience made the night’s victors “the weird ones.”)

Behind-the-scenes decisions undercutting the ceremony soon became the norm. In general, when an awards host doesn’t have a healthy background in stand-up comedy or live performance, the producers should surround them with affable elements (presenters, performers, pre-taped segments, even montages) that let their own cherished personality sparkle without drifting into uncomfortable territory — easy wins, in other words. Those elements were present Monday night (like a well-timed Taylor Swift cameo in a pre-taped “Law & Order” sketch), but they weren’t always carefully orchestrated (like the “Law & Order” sketch itself, which came nowhere close to earning a megastar cameo). And the best presenters were the ones who clearly wrote their own material. (John Mulaney strikes again.)

Really, though, Hargitay was working out of a hole all night because of decisions made before she ever stepped foot on stage. The run of show ensured all the acting winners — who are usually responsible for the most emotional, and thus memorable, speeches — were done 90 minutes into the three-hour production. There were fewer acting winners than usual, too, since producers relegated Best Supporting Actor and Actress in a Limited Series (along with four other categories) to last week’s Creative Arts awards, instead of Monday’s telecast. If you’re going to cut some of the most dramatic moments of an awards show — the moments fans tune in to see — then you need to fill that time with something important. Nothing that aired merited such a choice.

Instead, the best moments mainly reminded us that there weren’t enough of them. Rhea Seehorn thanked her kids — twice! Stephen Root said his son only cared about his dad’s nomination because he’s in the same category as Harrison Ford. (Cute!) Tom Pelphrey had a very sweet moment with his wife, Kaley Cuoco, who was in tears over his hard-earned win for “Task.” Kate O’Flynn’s jubilation proved infectious, even in a small dose. “Widow’s Bay” creator Katie Dippold’s sharp speech for Best Writing in a Comedy Series included cute jabs at her lead actor (“By the way, his Welsh accent is fake.”) and an exaggerated (but appropriate!) sense of pride for winning television’s highest honor. (She plans to create “a system of mirrors” in her home so the Emmy trophy can be viewed at all times.)

None of these folks are household names (not yet, anyway), and I’m sure producers would’ve loved to see bigger stars, like Ford, Oscar Isaac, or Carey Mulligan, share their own memorable speeches. But these are the actors that true TV fans are thrilled for, over the moon for, pounding their coffee tables in excitement for — they’re critics’ favorites, industry veterans, and undeniable discoveries. These are the kind of winners who viewers are behind 110 percent, because when you spend eight hours, or 80 hours, or hundreds more with an actor, seeing them win feels like a family member has taken the stage. That level of time-spent only happens with television, and the Emmys should cherish it accordingly.

Instead, they shuffled Seehorn away quickly, played Smart off before she could remark on the “ride [‘Hacks’] has been,” and rushed through all the actor honors so viewers could see… the host recap the show? Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson shill for “Brothers”? The original Charlie’s Angels reunite?

When “reunions” can mean anything from reviving the original series to watching a cast spend hours on a panel together answering questions in front of fans, Emmys producers should know better than to expect audience engagement from 60 seconds of Buffy standing next to Angel. They should know better than to blatantly advertise Apple TV’s next comedy right before they’re supposed to hand the top prize to its best comedy. They should know better than to overcompensate by cutting out the heart of the show — the speeches — considering you don’t have to be a doctor on “The Pitt” to realize that’s what gives every awards ceremony its pulse.

They should know better. But they didn’t. Looking back, they didn’t just kill time at the end of the show. They killed a good time from start to finish.

Grade: C-

The 78th Emmy Awards were held Monday, September 14 at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, CA. The ceremony aired on NBC and streamed on Peacock.