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WINNER: Widow’s Bay — outstanding comedy series

Adrian Horton Photograph: Chloe Kern/WireImage

No surprise here – Widow’s Bay, the breakout hit of the summer, completes its comedy sweep (sorry to the final season of Hacks) by winning the night’s final award, best comedy, for its truly outstanding freshman season.

Creator Katie Dippold, of Babadook Halloween tweet fame, speaks on behalf of the show starts with her mom, “for always making Halloween fun,” as well as Apple TV, “for letting us take this crazy creative swing. They truly just let us do this crazy weird show.” And last but not least, she thanks “the evil entity on the island that trusted us with its story.” And with that perfect note, that’s a wrap on awards!

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Updated at 23.02 EDT

Adrian Horton Photograph: Rich Polk/Variety/Getty Images

We are still waiting for the night’s final award, best comedy series, which is being held up by Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey doing a very extended bit about their respective dad and mom knowing each other in support of their new show Brothers. Get it? I’d like this to stop.

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WINNER: The Pitt – outstanding drama series

Adrian Horton Photograph: NBC/Getty Images

The Pitt came into this evening with the momentum, the most nominations and a sweep last year, and The Pitt emerges victorious again.

Creator R Scott Gemmill speaks on behalf of the PTMC team, who appear just as thrilled as last year, with a lengthy speech celebrating both the storytellers of Hollywood and the unsung staff of emergency rooms across the nation.

“We are so blessed to have the most talented and passionate cast and crew, and I know that it’s not just our show … the best part of this job are the people we get to work with every day,” he says, before turning attention to “the real life heroes in the emergency departments who are there for us day in and day out”:

double quotation markWhen I look around this room, I see something more important than the award and the ratings. I see a whole community that is still trying to do the right thing …

People need to know the truth, and people need to keep telling them that in whatever way they can.

On to season three!

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Updated at 22.54 EDT

Adrian Horton Photograph: Rich Polk/Variety/Getty Images

Still going with the in memoriam, still very heavy, as the pride of Vermont, Noah Kahan, sings Bridge Over Troubled Water in honor of the many, so many industry figures we lost this year. Among them: Dolly Parton, Catherine O’Hara, Hayden Panettiere, James Van Der Beek and Rob Reiner, who won a posthumous Emmy last weekend for his guest role on The Bear.

His win, a teary Jamie Lee Curtis tells us, set a record for the longest gap between Emmy awards – 48 years, breaking a feat set by none other than his father, Carl Reiner.

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Updated at 22.40 EDT

Adrian Horton Photograph: Rob Latour/Shutterstock

Back to the in memoriam with another tear-jerking tribute, this time by Macauley Culkin, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy to their collective on-screen mom, Catherine O’Hara.

The Canadian comedy icon “wasn’t just a wife and mother to Beau and Matthew and Luke, she was my mom, our mom, all of our moms,” said Culkin, appearing near tears. Murphy recalled how her laugh was “a perpetual yes” before detailing numerous humorous (and very Canadian) encounters with strangers also mourning her death, showing “how profoundly Catherine has impacted the world, and it’s because she brought us joy”.

The biggest lesson O’Hara taught Levy was to “always say yes … Say yes to her stories and her dinner invites and her wisdom and her stories.” Cue tears.

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Updated at 22.35 EDT

WINNER: DTF St Louis – limited or anthology series

Adrian Horton Photograph: NBC/Getty Images

I would’ve guessed Beef but HBO’s DTF St Louis, barely heard from this evening, has already won seven Emmys this season – though most of them, including acting awards for stars David Harbour and Linda Cardinelli, were handed out before the telecast.

The dark comedy’s creator, Steven Conrad, makes quick work of the acceptance speech, thanking all 175 people who worked on the show – “We are all grateful and we each send our appreciation, thank you” – just as the whole cast makes it on to the stage.

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Updated at 22.25 EDT

Adrian HortonReba McEntire performs onstage. Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Oh man, cue the tissues – we’re headed into the in memoriam segment of the evening, first with Dolly Parton. “If there are truly angels on earth, then we just lost one,” says her Steel Magnolias co-star Sally Field, who “adored her from day one – how could you not?”

Parton, she adds, was “blisteringly funny”, with a bawdy sense of humor that would send “any rude guy-looking for a place to hide”. But she also was a “real giant” – not just as an entertainer, but “as a human”. And if that didn’t have you crying, Reba McEntire enters with a stirring, appropriately smoky rendition of Parton’s nostalgic tribute to her home town, Appalachian Memories.

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Updated at 22.24 EDT

WINNER: Vince Gilligan (Pluribus) – writing for a drama series

Adrian Horton Photograph: NBC/Getty Images

The celebrated creator of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and now Pluribus quite charmingly opens his speech by shouting out fellow nominee Valerie Chu, a former writer’s room assistant on Better Call Saul now nominated for her work on The Pitt.

And he still quite charmingly manages to address the political moment, of sorts, by jokingly scoffing at Pluribus’s world “in which everybody gets along – that’s so sci-fi. But think about it: there’s nothing weirder than our current reality.”

“We will never agree on everything, but we can treat each other with respect,” he adds as two cents – and “We can stop listening to a relative few who think that is for suckers.”

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Updated at 22.22 EDT

Adrian Horton Photograph: Rich Polk/Variety/Getty Images

In perhaps the sweetest moment of the night so far, Julianna Margulies presents the Bob Hope humanitarian award to Michael J Fox, the beloved actor and advocate for people with Parkinson’s, for his tireless philanthropic work to eradicate the disease.

The love in the room for the 80s star is quite evident, especially as Fox thanks viewers for “this amazing and humbling honor” and his peers for not dropping him upon his diagnosis with the degenerative disease in his late 20s. He stayed in Hollywood “because you stood up for me, and I appreciate it”.

“Accepting Parkinson’s didn’t mean I had to surrender to it,” he continues, noting he’s “proud of the progress we’ve made” toward a cure for the disease and, most importantly, in patients’ lives. A very deserved standing ovation.

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Updated at 22.10 EDT

WINNER: Hiro Murai (Widow’s Bay) – directing for a comedy series

Adrian Horton Photograph: Rob Latour/Shutterstock

There’s just no stopping Widow’s Bay tonight – Hiro Murai, who directed much of the Apple TV show’s first season, is rightfully celebrated for his work making the show at once hilarious and deeply unsettling.

“I always say my job isn’t to make the show, it’s just to let the right people in the room,” the former director of Atlanta says, keeping it short and sweet. The cast and crew of Widow’s Bay, he adds, are “the kindest, most gifted people”.

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Updated at 21.58 EDT

WINNER: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – variety series

Adrian Horton Photograph: Rich Polk/Variety/Getty Images

Well, it probably couldn’t have been any other way. The Emmys honor the final season of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, which was cancelled by CBS amid the network’s acquisition by Paramount Skydance (owned, of course, by Trump ally David Ellison).

“I just want to point out that if you like the comedy tonight, my writers wrote it,” says a visibly jubilant Colbert, speaking on behalf of “the over 200 people” who put their best into the decade-plus late-show program.

Of that crew, so many of whom stood behind him on stage. He adds:

double quotation markI’ve got some great news. They are all tech avail. Hire them. They will make your day better and your lives easier.

After thanking his wife (and Covid producer) Evie – Colbert is forever a wife guy – the longtime host signs off by addressing his audience:

double quotation markThank you so much for watching. We hope you enjoyed the show. We had a great time doing it for you. That’s it!

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Updated at 21.56 EDT

WINNER: Saul Metzstein (Slow Horses) – directing for a drama series

Adrian Horton Photograph: NBC/Getty Images

A bit of a surprise win for Slow Horses! (I, once again, assumed The Pitt would sweep). Director Saul Metzstein, who has directed much of the show’s third and fourth seasons, keeps it brief and British:

double quotation markEveryone gets up here and says they have the best crew ever. Simply not true, because we have the best crew ever.

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Updated at 21.54 EDT

WINNER: Katie Dippold (Widow’s Bay) – writing for a comedy series

Adrian Horton Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

It’s shaping up to be a Widow’s Bay sweep for the comedy awards, with show creator and “twisted mind” – so says Matthew Rhys – taking the stage. Though Katie Dippold claims to have always planned to play it cool, she assures the audience: “No one will ever step foot in my home without seeing this thing.” In fact, she will build a system of mirrors “so that no matter where you stand in my home, this will be in your direct eyeline”. No notes.

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Updated at 21.57 EDT

WINNER: Matthew Rhys (Widow’s Bay) – lead actor in a comedy series

Adrian Horton Photograph: Rob Latour/Shutterstock

Emmys history! Matthew Rhys becomes the first actor to win two awards in one night for different series, for The Beast in Me and now for Widow’s Bay, the magnetic horror-comedy that exists “because of the depraved and twisted mind of Katie Dippold”

Speaking to a very, very warm room on their feet, the ever-delightful Welshman thanks “the crew of all crews [that] carry us,” his parents “who kicked me on to stage at a very early age”, his sister and “the great and good people of Wales”, the “small but mighty nation” that raised him. And with that triumph, he signs off in Welsh (to the cheers of a very happy Keri Russell).

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Updated at 21.57 EDT

WINNER: Sally Field (Remarkably Bright Creatures) – lead actress in a limited or anthology series

Adrian Horton Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Another surprise! I don’t think many people saw Sally Field walking away tonight with her fourth all-time Emmy win, and she looks as delighted as everyone else to witness it.

She speeds through many, many thanks, correctly noting that “the story of an old woman, a young man and an octopus doesn’t come around too much” before ending up, somehow, with Canada? “Blessed Canada, our neighbors, our friends!” and a nod to her many, many years in the arts – “62 years, or something,” she laughs:

double quotation markWe can’t let those voices be silenced, or compromised, or merged.

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Updated at 21.27 EDT

Sian Cain

​The Pitt came into this year’s Emmys with 25 nominations, up from 13 last year – but with such a talented cast, many of those nominees were in competition with each other in the supporting acting categories. It appears such dominance may have split the vote, with the supporting actor nominees (Patrick Ball, Shawn Hatosy and Gerran Howell) and supporting actress nominees (Sepideh Moafi, Fiona Dourif and Katherine LaNasa) all missing out.

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Updated at 21.28 EDT

Adrian Horton Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

Well, we got a brief reprieve from the onslaught of awards via another one of those “cool, pretaped segments in support of the host” – so says noted Law & Order: SVU fan Taylor Swift, pitching in at SVU headquarters to help Detective Olivia Benson (the character) solve the pressing question of “will Taylor Swift show up to the Emmys?” alongside Detective Olivia Benson (the cat).

The answer is no, alas, but the very conspiratorial way of getting there serves as a nice, if polite, send-up of Swiftie Easter-egging.

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Updated at 21.26 EDT

WINNER: Tom Pelphrey (Task) – supporting actor in a drama series

Adrian Horton Photograph: NBC/Getty Images

Another dramatic supporting actor surprise! It’s looking like the many Pitt nominees have split the vote but I’m happy for underdog Tom Pelphrey of Task. “I thank God for my life and my sobriety,” the first-time winner says, looking slightly overwhelmed, before shouting out his costal, “the beautiful Mark Ruffalo” and very pregnant (and sobbing) partner Kaley Cuoco.

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Updated at 21.12 EDT

WINNER: Noah Wyle (The Pitt) – lead actor in a drama series

Adrian Horton Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

First of all, we’ll be returning to John Mulaney’s presenting, which was easily the best bit of the evening so far. But this win is about Noah Wyle, now back-to-back best actor on what is looking like another big night for The Pitt.

The former ER star first thanks his fellow nominee Gary Oldman – “I don’t know if there’s an actor my age who didn’t look at your work in Sid and Nancy and think that’s the benchmark I want to hit in my career” – before turning to the cast and crew of PTMC.

double quotation markWe’re going to be back there hittin’ it hard tomorrow morning!

And finally, this self-described “Hollywood kid” addresses the whole room:

double quotation markThis is all I’ve ever wanted to do and this is the only club I’ve wanted to join. Thank you for accepting me.

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Updated at 21.00 EDT