1990 American television programming 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.
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 [ edit ]
[ 1]
Programs
Sammy Davis Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration (ABC)
Acting
Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown in Murphy Brown (CBS) (Episode: "Brown Like Me")
Patricia Wettig as Nancy Krieger Weston in Thirtysomething (ABC) (Episode: "The Other Shoe")
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")
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")
Writing
The Wonder Years (ABC): "Good-bye" — Bob Brush
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)
Most major nominations [ edit ]
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
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.