Emmy Awards Snubs and Surprises: Harrison Ford’s Shocking Loss, Allison Janney’s Upset Win, and Matthew Rhys’ Record-Breaking Night

“Widow’s Bay” and “The Pitt” won big at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. Their victories were widely expected, but there were plenty of unpredictable victories and shocking losses in a telecast that had some legitimately unexpected twists and turns. From Stephen Root triumphing over sentimental favorite Harrison Ford to Matthew Rhys’ record-breaking evening, here are eight snubs and surprises that may have cost you in your Emmy predictions pool. SURPRISE: Allison Janney, “The Diplomat“ The women of “The Pitt” may have canceled each other out as Janney, who wasn’t even nominated for the last season of the Netflix political drama, rolled to an unexpected victory in the Best Supporting Actress in a Drama category. Janney’s open-jawed look of shock showed just how unexpected her win truly was. Yet, her turn as a conniving U.S. president was so irresistible, so deliciously Machiavellian, that Emmy voters had to cast their ballot for Janney. That meant that last year’s winner, Katherine LaNasa, and the other members of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center’s emergency room (Taylor Dearden, Fiona Dourif, and Sepideh Moafi) were left cheering Janney on from the audience. Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan in ‘Beef’Courtesy of Netflix SNUB: “Beef” Season 2 Acting Leads Usually, when actors with the kinds of CVs that Oscar Isaac and Carrie Mulligan have choose to make a detour into television, they pick up an Emmy on their way out like a magnet from the gift shop. But “Beef” Season 2 came up empty in all of its lead actor awards, despite boasting Isaac and Mulligan as leads nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie; the show fared no better in Supporting Actor and Actress, where it had both nominees in Charles Melton and Youn Yuh-jung, who lost out in their respective categories. Add in Cailee Spaeny, who starred alongside Melton but didn’t make the final list of Emmy nominees, and “Beef” Season 2 remained stuck in Samsara and underperformed limited/anthology series winners like “The Beast In Me” and “DTF St. Louis.” SURPRISE: Tom Pelphrey, “Task“ OK, file this under “light surprise.” As Robbie Prendergast, a family man and crook who robs a drug-dealing biker gang, Pelphrey was heartbreakingly effective. He stole the show from no less an actor than Mark Ruffalo. And yet “Task” didn’t capture a nomination for Best Drama Series, a snub that suggested Tony voters were lukewarm on the HBO procedural. Instead, one of “The Pitt” doctors, such as Shawn Hatosy or Patrick Ball, or “Pluribus’s” Carlos-Manuel Vesga seemed like they might have the inside track to capture the Best Supporting Actor in a Drama trophy. But Pelphrey couldn’t and wouldn’t be denied. Harrison Ford attends Apple TV‘s ‘Shrinking’ Emmy FYC Event Screening at DGA Theater Complex on June 06, 2026 in Los Angeles, CaliforniaGetty Images SNUB: Harrison Ford, “Shrinking“ What does an 84-year-old acting legend have to do to win an Emmy? As a therapist dealing with Parkinson’s disease, Ford, best known for playing cocksure heroes, showed a funny and vulnerable side. He seemed on track to finally win his first Emmy… at least until “Widow’s Bay” became the breakout hit of the summer. Its popularity helped lift Stephen Root, who played a crusty sea dog on the supernatural series, over Ford. In a classy touch, Root spent a large part of his Emmy acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy toasting the man behind Indiana Jones and Han Solo. SURPRISE: Saul Metzstein, “Slow Horses” “Pluribus” creator Vince Gilligan, who created a scrupulously detailed alternate reality, was the favorite to capture the statue for directing a drama series. And the episode he was nominated for, “We Is Us,” was a master-class of auteurism. But the gritty, propulsive charms of “Slow Horses” were impossible to overlook; so enter Saul Metzstein, whose steady hand directing the season finale, “Scars,” which contained both a foiled terrorist attack and a glimpse into Jackson Lamb’s backstory, scored him an upset win for the last season of the show helmed by its original showrunner Will Sharpe. ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’Courtesy of Randy Holmes / Disney SNUB: Jimmy Kimmel and John OliverThe Variety Series category had a seismic rule change this year, with the category reclassified as an “area award,” meaning that instead of voting for just one nominee, you could vote for multiple shows to win that could be deemed Emmy-worthy, and multiple nominees could win if a show received 90% of the vote. But you wouldn’t know that watching the Emmys broadcast, because only “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” won. Jimmy Kimmel was on point after being preempted this year in his own fight with the FCC; likewise, for the past few years this award has belonged to John Oliver and “Last Week Tonight,” which has always been great (Oliver also deserves recognition for all the soap opera acting he did). Given the strength of the category, we’re shocked there weren’t multiple winners. SURPRISE: Sally Field, “Remarkably Bright Creatures”“This was not supposed to happen, I have to talk really, really quick,” the two-time Oscar winner and now 4-time Emmy winner said upon winning in the Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie category. “Remarkably Bright Creatures” may be about “an old woman, a young man, and an octopus,” as Field said, but it’s a charming and sweet film about family, home, and grief — and Field is excellent in it as an impatient, guarded, yet compassionate woman. Sally Field can clearly do anything, including being the perfect scene partner for that octopus. ‘Widow’s Bay’ ©Apple TV/Courtesy Everett Collection SURPRISE: Matthew Rhys, For Everything Matthew Rhys was widely expected to have a good night — just not this good. The “Widow’s Bay” star performed as expected in the Comedy categories, taking home Best Actor and Best Comedy Series (as an executive producer). But he also won Best Actor in a Limited Series for “The Beast in Me,” topping the odds-on favorite Oscar Isaac (in “Beef”). The two acting wins make Rhys the first person to win two Lead Actor trophies in the same night, and paired with his Best Actor in a Drama Series win in 2018, he’s now also the first man to win a Lead Actor Emmy in all three categories (Comedy, Drama, and Limited Series). Sometimes, Emmy voters rally around a show, honoring it in so many categories it’s fair to wonder if they watched anything else. This year, they were watching Rhys — and it showed. Ben Travers contributed to this report.