Apple TV has taken an early lead at the Creative Arts category of the 78th Emmy Awards, winning 20 trophies across the first two nights of the ceremony. The awards were presented on September 5 and 6, ahead of the main Primetime Emmy telecast on September 14. Apple TV collected 19 program awards and one commercial award, giving the streaming platform a record-breaking early total.
Much of its success came from its new horror-comedy series "Widow’s Bay", which won eight awards on Night 2, the most of any program so far. "Widow’s Bay" entered this year’s Emmys with 19 nominations, the highest total among freshman series. Its eight wins included a major acting prize for Betty Gilpin, who won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for playing the 18th-century character Sarah Westcott Warren in the flashback episode “Our History.” It was Gilpin’s first career Emmy.
The series also dominated technical categories, winning awards for comedy casting, cinematography, music composition, music supervision, production design, sound editing and sound mixing. Toko Nagata received the music supervision award for the episode “Beach Reads.”
The show still has a chance to add more trophies during the main ceremony. It remains eligible in six categories, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Matthew Rhys, as well as the supporting acting, writing and directing awards.
Other Apple TV+ programs also performed strongly. Vince Gilligan’s drama "Pluribus" won four awards, while "Margo’s Got Money Troubles" and "Palm Royale" each collected three. "Pluribus" took home Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More), and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour). "Margo's Got Money Troubles" won Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Series, Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling, and Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic). "Palm Royale" was acknowledged for Outstanding Period Costumes, along with Outstanding Period or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) and Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming.
HBO/HBO Max currently sits second with 16 wins, led by "DTF: St. Louis" with six. Netflix follows with 13 wins, with "Beef" performing particularly well in limited-series categories.
The first two nights will be combined into a special airing on FXX on September 12 and streaming on Hulu the following day. The Emmy race will reach its final stage on September 14, when the main Primetime ceremony, hosted by Mariska Hargitay, determines whether Apple TV+ can hold its lead over HBO/HBO Max.
