1990 American television programming awards
- September 16, 1990
(Ceremony) - September 15, 1990
(Creative Arts Awards)
Location | Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California |
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Presented by | Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |
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Hosted by | Candice Bergen Jay Leno Jane Pauley |
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Highlights |
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Most awards | L.A. Law (3) |
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Most nominations | L.A. Law (11) |
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Outstanding Comedy Series | Murphy Brown |
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Outstanding Drama Series | L.A. Law |
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Outstanding Miniseries | Drug Wars: The Camarena Story |
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Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series | In Living Color |
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Television/radio coverage |
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Network | Fox |
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The 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 16, 1990. The ceremony was broadcast on Fox from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. Two networks, The Family Channel and The Disney Channel, received their first major nominations.
For its second season, Murphy Brown won Outstanding Comedy Series and one other major award. Defending champion Cheers received the most major nominations for a comedy series with 9 and Newhart finished its series run with 21 major nominations, but not a single win. On the drama side, L.A. Law won Outstanding Drama Series for the third time in four years and also won three major awards, receiving the most major nominations for a drama series with 11. This became the first year that every cast member of The Golden Girls wasn't nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
This ceremony was remembered for the circumstance that three major categories resulted in ties, the most ever for one ceremony.
A clip of The Simpsons presenting the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series can be seen on the DVD boxset of the second season as a special feature.
Winners and nominees
[1]
Programs
Programs | |
| Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special - Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration (ABC)
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| - Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (NBC)
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Acting
Lead performances
Acting | - Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown in Murphy Brown (CBS) (Episode: "Brown Like Me")
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| - Patricia Wettig as Nancy Krieger Weston in Thirtysomething (ABC) (Episode: "The Other Shoe")
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Supporting performances
- Alex Rocco as Al Floss in The Famous Teddy Z (CBS) (Episodes: "Pilot" + "Teddy Sells His House" + "Agent of the Year")
- Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane in Cheers (NBC) (Episodes: "The Stork Brings a Crane" + "Severe Crane Damage" + "The Ghost and Mrs. Lebec")
- Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd in Cheers (NBC) (Episodes: "Woody or Won't He" + "50–50 Carla" + "Loverboyd")
- Charles Kimbrough as Jim Dial in Murphy Brown (CBS) (Episodes: "Anchors Away" + "Roasted" + "On the Road Again")
- Jerry Van Dyke as Luther Van Dam in Coach (ABC) (Episodes: "If a Coach Falls in the Woods" + "Coaches Conference" + "Homewreckers")
| - Bebe Neuwirth as Lilith Crane in Cheers (NBC) (Episodes: "The Stork Brings a Crane" + "Severe Crane Damage" + "The Ghost and Mrs. Lebec")
- Julia Duffy as Stephanie Vanderkellen in Newhart (CBS) (Episodes: "Cupcake in a Cage" + "Lights, Camera, Contractions!" + "Seein' Double")
- Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood in Murphy Brown (CBS) (Episodes: "And the Whiner Is..." + "Bad Girls" + "Going to the Chapel")
- Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo in The Golden Girls (NBC) (Episodes: "Sick and Tired" + "Not Another Monday" + "Clinton Avenue Memoirs")
- Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli in Cheers (NBC) (Episodes: "Death Takes a Holiday on Ice" + "50–50 Carla" + "The Ghost and Mrs. Lebec")
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- Jimmy Smits as Victor Sifuentes in L.A. Law (NBC) (Episodes: "The Unsterile Cuckoo" + "Blood, Sweat and Fears")
| - Marg Helgenberger as KC Kolowski in China Beach (ABC) (Episodes: "The Unquiet Earth" + "Skin Deep" + "Nightfall")
- Sherilyn Fenn as Audrey Horne in Twin Peaks (ABC) (Episodes: "Pilot" + "Episode 2" + "Episode 6")
- Melanie Mayron as Melissa Steadman in Thirtysomething (ABC) (Episodes: "Mr. Right" + "Strangers" + "Good Sex, Bad Sex, What Sex, No Sex")
- Diana Muldaur as Rosalind Shays in L.A. Law (NBC) (Episodes: "The Pay's Lousy, But the Tips Are Great" + "Whatever Happened to Hannah?" + "Watts a Matter?")
- Susan Ruttan as Roxanne Melman in L.A. Law (NBC) (Episodes: "The Good Human Bar" + "Bang... Zoom... Zap" + "Forgive Me Father, For I Have Sued")
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Individual performances
Directing
Directing - The Wonder Years (ABC): "Good-bye" — Michael Dinner
- Cheers (NBC): "The Improbable Dream, Part I" — James Burrows
- Designing Women (CBS): "They Shoot Fat Women, Don't They?" — Harry Thomason
- The Famous Teddy Z (CBS): "Pilot" — Hugh Wilson
- The Golden Girls (NBC): "Triple Play" — Terry Hughes
- Murphy Brown (CBS): "Brown Like Me" — Barnet Kellman
| - Equal Justice (ABC): "Promises to Keep" — Thomas Carter
- Thirtysomething (ABC): "The Go-Between" — Scott Winant
- L.A. Law (NBC): "The Last Gasp" — Rick Wallace
- L.A. Law (NBC): "Noah's Bark" — Win Phelps
- Twin Peaks (ABC): "Pilot" — David Lynch
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Writing
Writing - The Wonder Years (ABC): "Good-bye" — Bob Brush
- Cheers (NBC): "Death Takes a Holiday on Ice" — Ken Levine and David Isaacs
- The Famous Teddy Z (CBS): "Pilot" — Hugh Wilson
- Murphy Brown (CBS): "Brown Like Me" — Diane English
- Newhart (CBS): "The Last Newhart" — Mark Egan, Mark Solomon and Bob Bendetson
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- Billy Crystal: Midnight Train to Moscow (HBO)
- The Tracey Ullman Show (Fox): "I Hate Paris"
- In Living Color (Fox): "Pilot"
- Late Night with David Letterman: "8th Anniversary Special" (NBC)
- Saturday Night Live (NBC)
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Most major nominations
Networks with multiple major nominations[note 1] Network | Number of Nominations |
NBC | 47 |
ABC |
CBS | 35 |
HBO | 11 |
Programs with multiple major nominations Program | Category | Network | Number of Nominations |
L.A. Law | Drama | NBC | 11 |
Cheers | Comedy | 9 |
Twin Peaks | Drama | ABC | 7 |
Murphy Brown | Comedy | CBS | 6 |
Thirtysomething | Drama | ABC |
Billy Crystal: Midnight Train to Moscow | Variety | HBO | 4 |
The Golden Girls | Comedy | NBC |
The Kennedys of Massachusetts | Miniseries | ABC |
A Killing in a Small Town | Special | CBS |
The Wonder Years | Comedy | ABC |
Caroline? | Special | CBS | 3 |
China Beach | Drama | ABC |
Designing Women | Comedy | CBS |
The Famous Teddy Z |
The Final Days | Special | ABC |
Quantum Leap | Drama | NBC |
Saturday Night Live | Variety |
The Tracey Ullman Show | Fox |
The 43rd Annual Tony Awards | CBS | 2 |
The 62nd Academy Awards | ABC |
Age-Old Friends | Special | HBO |
The Best of 'The Tracey Ullman Show' | Variety | Fox |
Coach | Comedy | ABC |
Family of Spies | Miniseries | CBS |
The Image | Special | HBO |
In Living Color | Variety | Fox |
The Incident | Special | CBS |
Murder in Mississippi | NBC |
Newhart | Comedy | CBS |
Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration | Variety | ABC |
Small Sacrifices | Miniseries |
Most major awards
Networks with multiple major awards[note 1] Network | Number of Awards |
ABC | 10 |
CBS | 9 |
NBC | 8 |
HBO | 3 |
Fox | 2 |
Programs with multiple major awards Program | Category | Network | Number of Awards |
L.A. Law | Drama | NBC | 3 |
Age-Old Friends | Special | HBO | 2 |
Caroline? | CBS |
Cheers | Comedy | NBC |
Murphy Brown | CBS |
Thirtysomething | Drama | ABC |
The Wonder Years | Comedy |
- Notes
- ^ a b "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories.
References
- ^ Emmys.com list of 1990 Nominees & Winners
External links
- Emmys.com list of 1990 Nominees & Winners
- 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards at IMDb