The 8 Biggest Emmy Snubs and Surprises

Widow’s Bay swept, Colbert continued his reign off the air, and Taylor Swift said a bunch of random words right at the camera.

If you’re having trouble viewing this email, view in browser The 8 Biggest Snubs and Surprises of the 2026 Emmys Some years, the 2026 Emmy Award winners feel like total shoo-ins. Noah Wyle for The Pitt? Easy choice. Jean Smart for Hacks. She wins every year. (And she should!) We even saw both of those award recipients repeat again this year. But every now and then, the Emmy voters surprise you. Nobody predicted Jeff Hiller winning Outstanding Supporting Actor for Somebody Somewhere last year over Harrison Ford and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, nor did Emmy pundits have DTF. St. Louis near-sweeping 2026’s Limited Series category.   But where last year’s lovefest for shows like The Studio and Adolescence was a no-brainer, this year’s Emmy Awards featured much stronger competition. The Drama category was split between anointing The Pitt as the new king of TV and celebrating Vince Gilligan’s return with Pluribus. The same goes for the Comedy field, where newcomer Widow’s Bay was up against the final season of Hacks—which set the record for the most nominations in a single year. So, between the shock of Jalen Brunson opening the show and Meg Stalter dressing as a giant Emmy statuette, we marked down where the 2026 Emmy Awards surprised us the most this year.   SURPRISE: Widow’s Bay Sweeps   Sure, I predicted the Widow’s Bay sweep in our Emmys predictions last week, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still surprised to see it! Widow’s Bay was one of our favorite shows of the year, and it’s amazing to see the wacky comedy-horror series recognized with so many awards. Widow’s Bay took home Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor (Matthew Rhys), Supporting Actress (Kate O’Flynn), Supporting Actor (Stephen Root), and Writing for a Comedy Series.   SNUB: The Women of The Pitt   Katherine LaNasa, Taylor Dearden, Sepideh Moafi, and Fiona Dourif were all nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama. So, you’d expect one of the four supporting stars to win, right? Well, they all lost to Allison Janney for The Diplomat. No shade to the Netflix political drama, but if the series is good enough to nominate over half of the category... I’ll just leave it at that. At least Noah Wyle won!   SURPRISE: Tom Pelphrey   I could say the same thing about the supporting men of The Pitt, but there was no one I wanted to see win more tonight than Tom Pelphrey. The Task actor had one of the best performances of the year as the conflicted garbage collector who turned to a life of crime just to support his family. And with the way The Pitt stars were nominated, I thought Task would end up as the most overlooked series of the night. Thankfully, the crime drama picked up some recognition with a win for Pelphrey. “To my favorite actor in this room, my love, my best friend, my partner, the very pregnant Kaley [Cuoco],” he said. “I love you more than anything, and our family is the crown jewel of my life.” Matthew Rhys won two Emmys on Monday night / photo: Kevin Mazur//Getty Images SURPRISE: Megan Stalter IS an Emmy   The Hacks actress may have lost her category after being nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy, but she isn’t going home without an award. Stalter painted her entire body gold and wore angel wings to become an Emmys statuette herself on the red carpet. She even lifted up a giant atom (like the statue), as her costar Paul W. Downs posed as if he had “won” her. Fun fact: It was also Stalter’s birthday at midnight.   SURPRISE: Taylor Swift Said a Bunch of Random Words Right at the Camera   In a cute Law & Order: SVU skit poking fun at articles titled “Why Taylor Swift Isn’t Attending the 2026 Emmy Awards,” the pop star showed up to join in on the fun and say a bunch of random words right into the camera. “Saccharine. Aries. From the Vineyard. North or South,” she said. Was that part of the joke? What does it mean?   SNUB: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms   It was a tough year at the Emmy Awards for a Game of Thrones comedy spinoff to win—especially after HBO decided to compete in the Drama category—but it’s a shame that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms went mostly unrecognized this year. The series was nominated for eight awards and only won for Outstanding Stunt Performance. But for a show that was the first to film jousting at night, I’d say it’s well deserved.   SNUB: Late-Night Shows Still on the Air   Stephen Colbert had an amazing run on The Late Show. It’s a shame he was chased off the air by CBS, and I don’t have a doubt in my mind that the Trump administration’s crusade against late night is behind his exit. But it’s a bit strange to keep giving him awards when he isn’t even on TV anymore. As Colbert said on Instagram before the show, “I think we can all agree that Jimmy Kimmel deserves an Emmy.”   SURPRISE: John Mulaney Is Still the Best At This   Quoting from Goodfellas star Frank Vincent’s autobiography, A Guy’s Guide to Being a Man’s Man, Mulaney proved that he was still the king of a good celebrity zinger. He presented Noah Wyle with the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama and joked: "I believe it was DJ Khaled who said 'real men don't go down on their wives,' but these nominees know that that is B.S. They know there's often less pressure on them if they do that first." Maybe Mulaney should host every year. John Mulaney / photo by: Rich Polk//Getty Images Mailbag!  What did you make of the Emmys this year? Let me know what you thought by sending me a note at josh.rosenberg@hearst.com.    Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here. The Continuing Adventures of the Esquire Entertainment Desk Diablo V, the next installment in Blizzard’s popular role-playing video game series, will arrive in 2029. Senior game director Joe Shely and narrative designer Jennifer Hepler told Eric Francisco all about how Diablo V plans to take the franchise to another level. “We wanted to make a world that’s darker than ever but give you a reason to fight for it,” they said. Read the exclusive first look here.   Na Hong-jin’s Hope is a South Korean monster thriller that is hoping to become the next Avatar. Yet, the movie—out now in theaters—polarized audiences when it premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival earlier this summer. Check out our review of the film here. Noah Wyle won for The Pitt two years in a row / photo: Kevin Winter//Getty Images The Cliff-Hanger's Winners and Losers of the Week Winner: Monday Night Football   The TV Academy choosing to air the Emmys on a Monday night was a very nice decision for the entertainment journalists (like us!) who work during the show. But by competing with the audiences for Monday Night Football, I sadly don’t predict high ratings for this year’s awards show. Still, if Taylor Swift can figure out how to appear in two places at once, maybe audiences did too!   Loser: #OscarsSoWhite   It’s been over a decade since #OscarsSoWhite first trended on social media. How have things changed since? Not much, apparently. Despite a night of celebratory wins for much-beloved actors and TV shows, the 2026 Emmy Awards didn’t award a single major honor to a person of color. Ernest Harden Jr., who won Outstanding Guest Acting in a Drama for his role as “Louie” on The Pitt, earned his award earlier in the week alongside most of the craft awards not shown during the NBC broadcast on Monday night.    Winner: Law & Order: SVU   Mariska Hargitay might have been an unconventional choice to host the Emmys, but it made a bit more sense once NBC started plastering promotional material for Law & Order over the entire broadcast. Did you know that season 28 is starting soon? Or that Hargitay’s Olivia Benson is the longest-running character on primetime TV? Well, I’m sure you do now.   Loser: Women Not Named “Jean Smart”   The seventy-five-year-old actress took home the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy five years in a row, with her potential reign over the category ending last night as she accepted the award once again for the final season of Hacks. “You’re in your Spanx, and your corset, and your tape, and your shoes that are cutting your toes off, and you’re going ‘Oh my god, she’s not that good. We just stood up because she’s old.’” Smart joked onstage. I’d love to see her immediately start a new show and take the record to six years. Don’t stop now!   Winner: Star Wars Becoming a Reality   While everyone was having a great time watching the Emmy Awards, Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink revealed during a press conference at the Pentagon that “the United States has on-orbit space control weapons” now. He didn’t elaborate any further, but… are we building a Death Star? Con: The slim chance of being vaporized by space weapons just increased. Pro: Real lightsabers soon, maybe. All the Big Emmys Winners Have This One Thing in Common Oh My God! Ted Lasso Killed Jamie Tartt! How Lanterns Sets Up—and We’re Not Kidding—Superman What’s Left for Lioness Season 3 After Episode 7? Follow Us Unsubscribe | Manage Preferences | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2026 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779

Officially, the Perfect Fall Whiskey

For this year’s limited edition release, Booker’s went all out on the autumn vibes. Just don’t immediately dump this rye whiskey in your hot apple cider.

View in Browser  Tuesday, September 15, 2026 When the weather cools down, my grain spirits pendulum swings towards rye and its cinnamon, baking spice, and heat. But during fall—when it’s cool, not cold—I still want a bit of fruit, crucially I want apple. Esquire’s Chris Hatler got his hands on the new expression from Booker’s and its Reserves program, which he says hits that apple note to perfection. It sounds so good that I’m swinging by the liquor store on the way home to ask my guy to put in an order. —Luke Guillory, commerce editor Plus: Brad Pitt just wore one of Patek Philippe’s most important vintage watches at the US Open The 11 most sophisticated colognes a man could wear Catching up with KAT before Tommy Hilfiger’s NYFW show The Perfect Fall Whiskey Finally Exists For this year’s limited edition release, Booker’s went all out on the autumn vibes. Just don’t immediately dump this rye whiskey in your hot apple cider. I hate to be that millennial, but like many of my generational brethren, I’m an absolute sucker for autumn. The summer heat tapers off. We can wear sweaters again. Greens are out; oranges and reds and yellows are in. And apple picking—I’m one of the few proud early-30s dudes without kids who’s totally down to pay to pick his own produce. All that’s to say, I love fall, and the absolute best part about it is that it’s the official start of whiskey season. You can certainly enjoy whiskey year-round, but to me, it’s more appealing to sip a warming oak-forward spirit on a cool, breezy night than on a sweaty summer day. Which is why I was excited to find out that one of my favorite whiskey brands, Booker’s, has released a special-edition rye whiskey that’s engineered for autumn. READ THE STORY The Supreme Court put an end to the president’s cockamamie scheme to have the USPS make mail-in voting a nightmare. Charles P. Pierce thinks the tantrums are just beginning. >> Upgrade your oral health with a smart electric toothbrush that maps your mouth to show which teeth you’ve thoroughly cleaned. Bellamy Richardson picks out the best ones on the market.  >> The Best-Dressed Men of the 2026 Emmy Awards It’s television’s big night—a chance for the stars of our favorite shows to honor their fellow actors and remind everyone why we gather around the big glowing screen in the family room in the first place. But the carpet is not red. It’s blue. This isn’t really a big deal, but if you ask me, it’s worth noting. So, which guys really turned it out tonight and displayed their sartorial bona fides on the blue carpet? Well, a lot of them, as it turns out. Some of then went classic, rocking a tux and knowing that for an awards show, you really can’t go wrong by making that move. Others—Colman Domingo, I’m looking at you—forged their own path. The Emmys might not be the most adventurous event, fashion-wise, but the choice to play it a little differently than the rest of the attendees seems to have paid off. Here are the men who really delivered, whether they’re wearing traditional black tie or something a little different. By Jonathan Evans READ THE STORY All the Big Emmys Winners Have This One Thing in Common The Emmys sent a single, clear message last night, and it was a call for help: We need more good guys. The Emmys, just like the Oscars, don’t necessarily celebrate what will be timeless. They are a guide to what matters right now, in this time and place. The recurring theme during Monday’s TV honors was to honor unlikely heroes who step up when the going gets weird. It’s a hairpin turn from last year, when the awards were a spotlight on monsters, psychopaths, and egomaniacs. Severance, Adolescence, and The Studio were the recurring winners last time, each a repository for despair, darkness, mania. That was what voters and viewers wanted to get off their chests and out of their system. The rare counterexample was Noah Wyle’s win for best actor in a drama for The Pitt’s valiant Dr. Robby. By Anthony Breznican READ THE STORY Follow Us Unsubscribe | Manage Preferences | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2026 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779