In the Hacks v Widow’s Bay Emmys battle, it’s us – the audience – who are the real winners

In the Hacks v Widow’s Bay Emmys battle, it’s us – the audience – who are the real winners | Rebecca Shaw

What’s exciting to me isn’t who took home the statue but what the creators behind these women-driven comedies will do nextEmmys 2026: Widow’s Bay dominates as Matthew Rhys and Jean Smart land historic winsEmmys 2026: red carpet looks and outfits at TV’s…

Originally published by The Guardian15 September 2026, 05:09Full licensed article

What’s exciting to me isn’t who took home the statue but what the creators behind these women-driven comedies will do next

There are three essential things to know about me: I love comedy, I love women and I love television. So as you can imagine, the centre of my world is women in TV comedies. Going into the 2026 Emmy awards, there was a big beautiful battle shaping up between two women-driven comedies: Hacks, a truly masterful hilarious show that just finished up with its fifth season, and Widow’s Bay, a truly original hilarious show that took us by storm with its first season. Conveniently for me, these were also my favourite two comedies of the year.

The two opening awards set the stage perfectly. Supporting actress in a comedy was a stacked category, won by Kate O’Flynn, and extremely deservedly, according to me. Patricia on Widow’s Bay was my favourite new character of the year. O’Flynn played her with incredible physicality, finely honed comedic skill, and a vulnerability that made me want to cry as often as I laughed.