Hiro Murai makes directing history as Widow's Bay takes comedy crown
Hiro Murai became the first Asian director to win an Emmy for comedy directing on 14 September.
He took Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, the Academy's prize for directing a single comedy episode, for Apple's horror comedy Widow's Bay, according to Deadline. His winning entry was “Welcome To Widow’s Bay!”, listed in his Television Academy biography.
Murai directed five episodes of the show's first season. He is also credited as an executive producer on Widow's Bay, a role that covers creative oversight and day-to-day leadership of a series.
He beat a full field of comedy directors. The other nominees were Randall Einhorn for Abbott Elementary, Christopher Storer for The Bear, Andrew DeYoung for The Chair Company, Lucia Aniello for Hacks and Mary Lou Belli for The Ms. Pat Show.
The win puts Murai in a small group. He is the third Asian director to win a directing Emmy, joining Lee Sung Jin for Beef Season 1 and Hwang Dong-hyuk for Squid Game Season 1.
It was not his first time in the race. Murai had previously earned directing nominations for Atlanta, Station Eleven and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He also shares in The Bear's Outstanding Comedy Series win from the 2023 Emmys.
For Widow's Bay, the directing prize was part of a big night. The series, created by Katie Dippold, arrived with 19 Emmy nominations, including for Outstanding Comedy Series, as reported in Emmys coverage. It then won that top comedy prize.
Acting wins followed. Kate O'Flynn, Matthew Rhys and Stephen Root each won acting Emmys for the show. Dippold also won an Emmy for Widow's Bay.
The 2026 Emmy Awards aired live on NBC and Peacock on Monday, 14 September at 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET.
What makes this stand out is the scale behind it. A first-season directing job across five episodes means months with cast and crew, and an executive producer credit means staying with the edit until delivery. For Widow's Bay, that work ended with series, acting and directing trophies in one night.
