33rd Primetime Emmy Awards

The 33rd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 13, 1981. The ceremony was broadcast on CBS. It was hosted by Shirley MacLaine and Edward Asner.

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Taxi
  • Barney Miller
  • M*A*S*H
  • Soap
  • WKRP in Cincinnati

Outstanding Drama Series

• Hill Street Blues
  • Dallas
  • Lou Grant
  • Quincy, M.E.
  • The White Shadow

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

• Judd Hirsch for playing “Alex Reiger” on Taxi
  • Richard Mulligan for playing “Burt Campbell” on Soap
  • Hal Linden for playing “Capt. Barney Miller” on Barney Miller
  • Alan Alda for playing “Capt. Benjamin Franklin Pierce” on M*A*S*H
  • John Ritter for playing “Jack Tripper” on Three's Company

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

• Daniel J. Travanti for playing "Frank Furillo" on Hill Street Blues
  • Edward Asner for playing "Lou Grant" on Lou Grant
  • Larry Hagman for playing "J. R. Ewing" on Dallas
  • Jim Davis for playing "Jock Ewing" on Dallas
  • Louis Gossett, Jr. for playing "Bessie's Father" in Palmerstown, U.S.A'
  • Pernell Roberts for playing "Dr. John 'Trapper' McIntyre" on Trapper John, M.D.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

• Isabel Sanford for playing “Louise Jefferson” on The Jeffersons
  • Cathryn Damon for playing “Mary Campbell” on Soap
  • Katherine Helmond for playing “Jessica Tate” on Soap
  • Lynn Redgrave for playing “Ann Atkinson” in House Calls
  • Eileen Brennan for playing “Mrs. McKenzie” in Taxi

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

• Barbara Babcock for playing “Grace Gardner“ on Hill Street Blues
  • Barbara Bel Geddes for playing “Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Southworth Ewing Farlow“ on Dallas
  • Linda Gray for playing “Sue Ellen Ewing“ on Dallas
  • Stefanie Powers for playing “Jennifer Hart“ on Hart to Hart
  • Veronica Hamel for playing “Joyce Davenport“ on Hill Street Blues
  • Michael Learned for playing “Mary Benjamin“ on Nurse

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

• Danny DeVito for playing "Louie De Palma" on Taxi
  • Steve Landesberg for playing "Arthur Dietrich" in Barney Miller
  • Harry Morgan for playing "Sherman T. Potter" on M*A*S*H
  • David Ogden Stiers for playing "Charles Emerson Winchester III" on M*A*S*H
  • Howard Hesseman for playing "Dr. Johnny Fever" on WKRP in Cincinnati

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

• Michael Conrad for playing "Phil Esterhaus" on Hill Street Blues
  • Charles Haid for playing "Andy Renko" on Hill Street Blues
  • Bruce Weitz for playing "Michael "Mick" Belker" on Hill Street Blues
  • Mason Adams for playing "Charlie Hume" in Lou Grant
  • Robert Walden for playing "Joe Rossi" in Lou Grant

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

• Eileen Brennan for playing "Doreen Lewis" on Private Benjamin
  • Anne Meara for playing "Veronica Rooney" in Archie Bunker's Place
  • Loretta Swit for playing "Margaret Houlihan" on M*A*S*H
  • Marla Gibbs for playing "Florence Johnston" on The Jeffersons
  • Loni Anderson for playing "Jennifer Marlowe" on WKRP in Cincinnati

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

• Nancy Marchand for playing "Margaret Pynchon" in Lou Grant
  • Barbara Barrie for playing "Evelyn Stoller" in Breaking Away
  • Barbara Bosson for playing "Fay Furillo" on Hill Street Blues
  • Betty Thomas for playing "Lucille Bates" on Hill Street Blues
  • Linda Kelsey for playing "Billie Newman" in Lou Grant

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series

• Hill Street Blues
  • Lou Grant
  • American Dream

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series

• Hill Street Blues
  • Lou Grant
  • American Dream

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series

• Taxi
  • M*A*S*H
  • The Greatest American Hero

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series

• Taxi
  • M*A*S*H
  • Archie Bunker's Place
  • Happy Days
  • WKRP in Cincinnati