Primetime Emmy Awards

Primetime Emmy Award
61st Primetime Emmy Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in primetime television
Presented by	ATAS
Country	United States
First awarded	1949
Official Website	http://www.emmys.org/

The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming. First awarded in 1949, they were originally referred to as just the "Emmy Awards" until the first Daytime Emmy Award ceremonies were held in the 1970s, and the word "primetime" was added to disambiguate between the two.

The Primetime Emmys generally air in mid-September, on the Sunday before the official start of the fall television season. They are currently seen in rotation among the four major networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX). However, the 2006 Primetime Emmys (broadcast on NBC) aired a few weeks early, on Sunday, August 27, 2006, in order to accommodate NBC's coverage of Sunday Night NFL Football beginning in September.

Emmys are considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards (for film), Grammy Awards (for music) and Tony Awards (for stage).^[1][2]

Award categories

Current awards

Primetime Emmys are currently awarded in the following categories:

Creative Arts Primetime Emmys

The Creative Arts Emmy Award are awarded in the following categories (some of which separately recognize work based on whether a single-camera and multi-camera setup was used):

Retired awards

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

A number of awards have been retired throughout the years, including some that have been replaced by similar award categories in the Daytime Emmys, Sports Emmys, and other areas of recognition.

• Actor of the Year
• Actress of the Year
• Best Kinescope Show
• Best Live Show
• Best New Program
• Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personality
• Most Outstanding Live Personality
• Outstanding Live Sports Special †
• Outstanding Sports Personality †
• Outstanding Program Achievement by Individuals in Daytime Drama ‡
• Outstanding Program Achievement in Daytime Drama ‡
• Program of the Year
• Best Sports Coverage†
• Best Western Series (1958-1959 only)
• Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program

_{† Replaced by a similar category in the Sports Emmy Awards}

^{‡ Replaced by a similar category in the Daytime Emmy Awards}

Leading nominees

Most Emmy nominations for an individual

• Jac Venza: 57 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a television program

• ER: 124 nominations
• Cheers: 117 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a comedy series in a single year

• 30 Rock (2009): 22 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a drama series in a single year

• NYPD Blue (1994): 27 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for an animated series in a single year

• The Simpsons (1992): 7 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a miniseries

• Roots (1977): 37 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a television movie

• Eleanor and Franklin (1976); Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977); and Grey Gardens (HBO film) (2009): 17 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for a variety series in a single year

• Saturday Night Live (2009): 13 nominations

Most Emmy nominations for an individual without a win

• Angela Lansbury (1983-2005): 18 nominations

Leading winners

Most Emmy wins by individuals

• James L. Brooks: 20
• Edward J. Greene: 19
• Sheila Nevins: 19

Most Emmy wins for a television program

• Frasier: 37
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show: 29

Most Emmy wins in the comedy series category

• Frasier: 5

Most Emmy wins in the drama series category

• Hill Street Blues: 4
• L.A. Law: 4
• The West Wing: 4

Most Emmy wins for an animated series

• The Simpsons: 24

Most Emmy wins for a miniseries

• John Adams (2008): 13

Most Emmy wins for a television movie

• Eleanor and Franklin (1976): 11

Most Emmy wins in a single year for a network

• CBS (1974): 44

Most performing Emmys wins

• Cloris Leachman: 8

Most Emmy wins for the same character in the same series

• Don Knotts of The Andy Griffith Show: 5
• Candice Bergen of Murphy Brown: 5

Most Emmy wins for the same character in different series

• Ed Asner of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant: 5

Performers with the most Primetime Emmys

• Carl Reiner won a total of nine Primetime Emmy Awards, five of which were for his work on The Dick Van Dyke Show (Outstanding Comedy Series, Program Achievement, Writing in a Comedy series and Writing in a Comedy/Variety/Music series). He also won the award for Outstanding Guest Actor for his performance on Mad About You, and two Emmys for his performance on Caesar's Hour. In 1967, he won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy/Variety/Music series, for The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special.
• Cloris Leachman's eighth Emmy made her the "winningest" female performer in Emmy history. Previously, she had been tied with Mary Tyler Moore and Tracey Ullman (although afterward, in the press room, Leachman correctly pointed that not all of Ullman's Emmys are for performing).
• Edward Asner has won 5 Emmys for the same character (Lou Grant) but on two different series and genres. He won 3 in the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and two more in the Lead Actor in a Drama Series category for Lou Grant. Asner also has three additional Emmys, making him the most awarded male performer in Emmy history.
• Tyne Daly has won six performing Emmy Awards; four Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Mary Beth Lacey in Cagney & Lacey in 1983-1985 and 1988. Also, two wins in the Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category for Christy in 1996 and Judging Amy in 2003.
• Don Knotts and Candice Bergen share the distinction of being the only actors to have won five Emmy Awards for their respective performances on their respective series. Knotts won for his role as Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show (1961-1963, 1966-1967). Bergen won for her portrayal of Murphy Brown on Murphy Brown (1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995).
• Kelsey Grammer has won five Emmy Awards: four for his portrayal of Frasier Crane on Frasier (1994-1995, 1998, 2004) and one for his voice-over work as Sideshow Bob on the series The Simpsons (2006). He has several other nominations as Frasier on that series as well as on Cheers and Wings (for a 1992 guest appearance). This makes him the only actor to earn Emmy nominations for portraying the same character on three different programs.
• John Laroquette also won five Emmy Awards; four (in a row) for his portrayal of Dan Fielding on Night Court and one for his guest role on The Practice.
• Carroll O'Connor of All in the Family, Nancy Marchand of Lou Grant, Rhea Perlman of Cheers, Dennis Franz of NYPD Blue, Helen Hunt of Mad About You, David Hyde Pierce of Frasier, Allison Janney of The West Wing, and Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond have all won four Emmys for playing their respective characters on their respective TV shows. Valerie Harper also have 4 Emmys for the same character of Rhoda but on two different shows. Harper has three Emmys for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and one for Rhoda.
• Carroll O'Connor is the only male or female actor to have won the lead category in both the comedy and drama series category. O'Connor has four Emmys for his comedic turn in All in the Family and one dramatic Emmy for In the Heat of the Night. Others have won in a variety of both the comedy and drama categories including lead, supporting, and guest performances such as Alan Alda for M*A*S*H and The West Wing, Bruce Willis for Moonlighting and Friends, John Lithgow for Amazing Stories and 3rd Rock from the Sun, Doris Roberts for St. Elsewhere and Everybody Loves Raymond, Ed Asner for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant, John Larroquette for Night Court and The Practice, Cynthia Nixon for Sex and the City and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Cloris Leachman for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Promised Land and Malcolm in the Middle.
• Alan Alda is the only person to have won Emmys in the comedy series categories for writing, directing, and acting in the same series, M*A*S*H. Alda has a total of 6 wins including his most recent Emmy for supporting actor in a drama series for The West Wing.
• Michael J. Fox has won 5 Emmy awards. 4 for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his shows Family Ties and Spin City and 1 for Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role on Rescue Me.

See also

• Emmy Award
• List of Primetime Emmy Award winners
• List of Primetime Emmy Awards ceremonies
• List of African American Acting Nominations

References

External links

• Primetime Emmy Awards
• Emmy Gift Bags
• emmys.org - Advanced Primetime Awards Search
• Emmy Awards coverage on DigitalHit.com
• Emmy Awards Online with Emmy news, nominees and winners.