42nd Primetime Emmy Awards
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.
42nd Primetime Emmy Awards | |
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Location | Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California |
Presented by | Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |
Hosted by | Candice Bergen Jay Leno Jane Pauley |
Highlights | |
Most awards | L.A. Law (3) |
Most nominations | L.A. Law (11) |
Outstanding Comedy Series | Murphy Brown |
Outstanding Drama Series | L.A. Law |
Outstanding Miniseries | Drug Wars: The Camarena Story |
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series | In Living Color |
Television/radio coverage | |
Network | Fox |
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
Programs
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Lead performances
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Supporting performances
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Individual performances
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Directing
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Writing
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Most major nominations
Network | Number of Nominations |
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NBC | 47 |
ABC | |
CBS | 35 |
HBO | 11 |
Program | Category | Network | Number of Nominations |
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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
Network | Number of Awards |
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ABC | 10 |
CBS | 9 |
NBC | 8 |
HBO | 3 |
Fox | 2 |
Program | Category | Network | Number of Awards |
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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
- "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories.