The 2026 Gotham TV Awards held their ceremony in New York, with honors spread across comedy, drama, nonfiction, and film categories. Big Mistakes and Death by Lightning entered the night with the most nominations, four each, while I Love LA, Beef, DTF St. Louis, Alien: Earth, and Pluribus each received three nominations, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
I Love LA took the first award of the night, winning breakthrough comedy series. The Chair Company's Tim Robinson won best lead performance in a comedy series, though he was not present to accept the trophy. Best supporting performance in comedy went to Laurie Metcalf for Big Mistakes.
In drama, Pluribus won breakthrough drama series. Best lead performance in drama went to The Testaments' Chase Infiniti, and best supporting performance went to Alien: Earth's Babou Ceesay, who was not in attendance. Infiniti and the Pluribus team were present and visibly excited. Presenter Rhea Seehorn said the team behind the show were "so excited they spilled their wine on me." She revealed that creator Vince Gilligan was absent because he is currently writing season two of the show.
Cory Michael Smith won best performance in an original film for his role in Mountainhead. Reflection in a Dead Diamond won best original film in the broadcast or streaming category. The film's team was not on hand to accept. Presenter 50 Cent, one of the executive producers of Sean Combs: The Reckoning, joked that since his show had not won best nonfiction series, he intended to take the best film trophy home. He told the room that if anyone was looking for it, it would be at his house.
Katrina: Come Hell or High Water won breakthrough nonfiction series.
Several tribute honors were presented during the evening. Greg Kinnear presented the Legend Tribute to Michelle Pfeiffer, calling her "the definition of cool; the gold standard." Pfeiffer accepted the honor by channeling her Catwoman character, licking the trophy. In her speech, she thanked Paramount+ and Apple TV for supporting her recent projects and "making room for complex and complicated women at the center of them."
Stranger Things executive producer Shawn Levy presented the Visionary Tribute to Matt and Ross Duffer, the showrunning brothers behind the Netflix series.
Kerry Washington received the Spotlight Tribute, presented by Lesli Linka Glatter, who also served as a director and executive producer on Washington's Apple TV series Imperfect Women. Glatter praised Washington for her "rare ability to stand in silence and command an entire scene." Washington used her acceptance speech to recall her first experience with the Gotham Awards and spoke to the importance of honoring work and sharing the spotlight with other performers.
