The 2026 Creative Arts Emmys are in the history books — and history was most definitely made across the two-night event. From 90-year-old Julie Andrews extending her Primetime Emmy record as the oldest woman to Pluribus finally breaking the Vince Gilligan curse that landed Better Call Saul with the dubious distinction of a 0-for-53 losing streak, there were plenty of notable moments for TV fans to celebrate.
But the results also offer a preview of sorts for what to expect when the Primetime Emmys are held on Sept. 14 with Mariska Hargitay — who picked up two statuettes herself from the Creative Arts Emmys — hosting. Here are five ways that the Creative Arts Emmys will impact the winners of Sunday’s ceremony.
Can’t stop the Bay
Since its April debut on Apple TV, Widow’s Bay has built a seriously devoted fanbase — as evidenced by all the love (and cosplay) that Gold Derby has spotted at San Diego Comic-Con, FYC events, and Televerse panels. But it remained an open question whether enough TV Academy voters were among that audience to help push the freshman supernatural comedy past an established Emmy favorite like Hacks.
Consider that question answered: Widow’s Bay dominated Night 2 of the Creative Arts Emmys with eight statuettes overall. And in the eight categories where it went head-to-head with Hacks, the series won five statuettes, while Hacks claimed one lone win. That’s a clear sign that the Bay‘s buzz convinced enough voters to sample the series ahead of filling out their ballots.
And now we approach the endgame. On Primetime Emmy night, the two shows will be matched up in five categories, including Best Comedy Series, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Writing, and Best Directing, and based on the weekend’s results, Widow’s Bay has the edge in each of those categories. But they will share the wealth in the lead acting categories with Matthew Rhys handily winning a Best Comedy Actor statuette to accompany his Best Drama Actor win for The Americans. Meanwhile, Jean Smart will complete her 5-for-5 run for her farewell season as Deborah Vance.
Comedy Series
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Only Murders in the Building
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Margo’s Got Money Troubles
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Meet us in St. Louis
Netflix’s Beef has been sitting atop Gold Derby’s Limited Series leaderboards for months now, but HBO’s DTF St. Louis has been carving into its commanding lead with some surprise precursor victories at events like the Gotham TV Awards. And DTF also outperformed Beef at the Creative Arts Emmys, winning a total of six statuettes to its rival’s three.
Two of those wins were in the closely-watched supporting actor races where David Harbour nabbed the Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actor win from Charles Melton, while Linda Cardellini took home the Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actress instead of Youn Yuh-jung. DTF also defeated Beef in the writing, directing, cinematography, and picture editing categories, suggesting that the race between the two shows for the Best Limited Series crown could be much closer than either our experts or our users are currently forecasting.
Beef can likely breath easier in the lead actor categories where DTF isn’t a competitor and they have a pair of much-loved A-listers, Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan, going for those statuettes. But don’t count out a surprise upset in either of those categories either. The Sally Field movie, Remarkably Bright Creatures, cruised to an easy Best Movie victory and voters could decide to honor that living legend. And Rhys could ride the Widow’s Bay love to a win for The Beast in Me, which would give a complete set of Best Actor statuettes. After all, good things come in threes.
We is The Pitt
Drama Series rivals The Pitt and Pluribus finished Night 2 of the Creative Arts Emmys evenly matched at 4 wins apiece. But make no mistake — the Primetime Emmys will be a Pitt-slide, with the HBO Max series certain to repeat its wins for Best Drama Series, Best Drama Actor, Best Drama Supporting Actress, and Best Drama Supporting Actress. The one statuette that Pluribus has on lock is Best Drama Actress, where Rhea Seehorn is on track for her first-ever Emmy win.
At the same time, Pluribus‘s evenly matched win record with The Pitt means that the Apple TV series could also pull out two other forecasted victories. The Gilligan-scripted and directed premiere, “We is Us,” maintains a No. 1 standing on the Best Drama Directing leaderboard over the “12:00 PM” hour of The Pitt’s sophomore season.
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Out Beyond Ideas of Wrongdoing and Rightdoing, There Is a River
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The Gilded Age
My Mind Is Made Up
The odds also favor “We is Us” over “12:00 PM” — and a second Pitt contender “1:00 PM” — in Best Drama Writing. The Emmy hive mind has to favor The Pitt, but Carol Sturka will not be completely ignored.
The Traitors tribe as spoken
With a commanding six victories at the Creative Arts Emmys, Peacock’s unstoppable reality hitis poised to vote the 50th season of Survivor off of Primetime Emmy Island. Sure, The Traitors has been leading the pack in Gold Derby’s predictions center for months now, but influential industry voices like Mike White — both an Emmy winner and a Survivor contestant — made persuasive cases for why TV Academy voters should vote for Jeff Probst and the gang for pulling off their landmark anniversary edition.
And the Top Chef contingent argued for their recognition as well, with Tom Colicchio telling Gold Derby: “Our show is much more difficult to shoot. You’re on the road, you’ve got to pick up and build kitchens and move a crew. I don’t know if the average voter understands how hard that is. I think they should take that into consideration.”
But those arguments apparently fell on deaf ears. The Traitors easily swept multiple reality categories, including Alan Cumming’s repeat win for Best Host and Best Directing for a Reality Program. Minus a last-minute bit of voter treachery, the series is going to glide to victory on Sept. 14.
Colbert goes out on top
Getting unceremoniously cancelled by CBS didn’t exactly endear Stephen Colbert to his former network — but it certainly endeared Emmy voters to Colbert. One year after the now-defunct Late Show franchise won its first-ever Best Talk Series statuette during Colbert’s tenure, the series posted five wins at the Creative Arts Emmys, including Best Writing for a Variety Series and Best Picture Editing for a Variety Series. In both of those categories, it topped perennial Emmy favorite, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
Colbert also won several head-to-head matchups against the other remaining network late night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which had its own near-cancellation drama late last year. After Kimmel campaigned on Colbert’s behalf last awards cycle, Colbert returned the favor this year, but that didn’t translate into any wins. (Although Kimmel did win Best Game Show Host for his work on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.)
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The good news for both hosts is that the Best Variety Series has been reconfigured this year, becoming a non-competitive area award that allows for multiple winners. Gold Derby’s experts-only odds are unsurprisingly forecasting a Colbert victory, and those expectations will be buffeted by these Creative Arts Emmy wins. While Kimmel isn’t currently predicted to win, maybe the Colbert bump will power him to a victory.
Will Jimmy Kimmel Win Best Variety Series?
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