The 78th Emmy Awards began with major wins for Mariska Hargitay, Octavia Spencer and Bad Bunny during the first ceremony on September 5 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Hargitay won two awards for her documentary My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay, while Spencer and Bad Bunny collected their first Emmy Awards.
Hargitay won Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program for My Mom Jayne, which examines the life of her mother, actress Jayne Mansfield. The two victories came 20 years after Hargitay won her first Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
My Mom Jayne marks Hargitay’s directorial debut and focuses on Mansfield’s life and legacy through family material, photographs and home videos. Hargitay is also set to host the main Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on September 14.
Octavia Spencer earns her first Emmy
Octavia Spencer won Outstanding Narrator for Lost Women of Alaska: The Missing. The victory gave the Oscar-winning actress her first Emmy after she entered the ceremony with two nominations in the category.
Spencer competed against established narrators including David Attenborough, Werner Herzog and Jodie Foster. Her winning program examines the disappearances of women in Alaska and the circumstances surrounding their cases.
Bad Bunny takes seven awards
Bad Bunny’s Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show was the biggest winner of the first night, taking seven Emmy Awards from seven nominations. The wins included Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Music Direction and Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming.
The production also won for sound mixing, lighting design or lighting direction for a special, and technical direction and camerawork for a special. The Outstanding Variety Special (Live) victory made the halftime show only the third Super Bowl halftime production to win that category.
The awards mark Bad Bunny’s first Emmy recognition. The Puerto Rican performer, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, headlined the Super Bowl LX halftime show earlier in 2026.
Jay-Z, who served as an executive producer on the halftime production, also added another Emmy to his record. He previously won for his work on Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime performance.
Other major Night One winners
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert collected five awards during the opening ceremony, including Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, lighting design or lighting direction for a series, and technical direction and camerawork for a series.
The Traitors also had a strong night with six wins. Alan Cumming received his third consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program.
The Muppet Show won four awards, including Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded). The revival also featured Sabrina Carpenter, who received her first Emmy for her work on the program.
Love on the Spectrum won Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program, along with awards for casting and picture editing. Jimmy Kimmel won Outstanding Host for a Game Show for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Emmy ceremonies continue in September
The 78th Emmy Awards are being presented across three nights at the Peacock Theater. The first two ceremonies cover Creative Arts categories, with awards across variety, reality, documentary, nonfiction and technical fields.
The first two nights will be combined into an edited Creative Arts Emmys broadcast scheduled for September 12 on FXX, with streaming availability on Hulu the following day.
The main Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is scheduled for September 14 at 8 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock, with Mariska Hargitay serving as host. The remaining major drama, comedy and limited-series awards will be presented during that televised ceremony.