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1988 American television programming awards
The 40th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, August 28, 1988. The ceremony was broadcast on
Fox from the
Pasadena Civic Auditorium in
Pasadena, California . The ceremony was pushed back from its newly established September date because of the
1988 Summer Olympics in
Seoul , South Korea. Cable stations
HBO and
Showtime received their first major nominations at this ceremony.
Despite a season that consisted of only six episodes, newcomer series
The Wonder Years won
Outstanding Comedy Series . After winning his fourth consecutive
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series ,
John Larroquette requested to have his name taken off of the ballot for future ceremonies.
Frank's Place became the most recent show whose only season was nominated for Outstanding Comedy/Drama Series.
In the drama field
L.A. Law came into the ceremony as the defending champ and with 15 major nominations, (second most ever by a drama series at that time), it was seen as the heavy favorite. However, it was upset by another first season show,
Thirtysomething which won three major awards on the night including
Outstanding Drama Series . L.A. Law only won one major award. The duo of
Cagney & Lacey won
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the sixth consecutive year. This tied
The Mary Tyler Moore Show ' s record for acting categories, which still stands. (It stood for all categories until
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart won ten consecutive
Primetime Emmy Awards for
Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Series .) With the wins for Bea Arthur and Estelle Getty,
The Golden Girls became the most recent show to have all of its cast members win Emmys. It became the second series to do so, following
All in the Family . Three other programs would accomplish this feat:
Will & Grace in
2003 ,
The Simpsons in
2014 , and
Schitt's Creek in
2020 .
There was controversy during the nomination process regarding the
PBS series
Rumpole of the Bailey . The series was initially placed in the
miniseries field, but soon after the
Academy disqualified it and placed it in the drama series field. Its slot in the miniseries category was filled by
The Bourne Identity .
[1]
Winners and nominees
[2]
Programs
Acting
Lead performances
Supporting performances
John Larroquette as Dan Fielding in Night Court (NBC) (Episode: "No Hard Feelings")
Larry Drake as Benny Stulwicz in L.A. Law (NBC) (Episodes: "The Brothers Grimm" + "Full Marital Jacket")
Patricia Wettig as Nancy Krieger Weston in Thirtysomething (ABC) (Episode: "Therapy")
Bonnie Bartlett as Ellen Craig in St. Elsewhere (NBC) (Episode: "Their Town")
Polly Draper as Ellyn Warren in Thirtysomething (ABC) (Episode: "Nice Work If You Can Get It")
Christina Pickles as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in St. Elsewhere (NBC) (Episode: "Down and Out of Beacon Hill")
Susan Ruttan as Roxanne Melman in L.A. Law (NBC) (Episode: "Leaping Lizards")
Individual performances
Directing
Directing
Great Performances (PBS): "Celebrating Gershwin" –
Patricia Birch and
Humphrey Burton
Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday Celebration (CBS) –
Walter C. Miller
Late Night with David Letterman 6th Anniversary Special (NBC) –
Hal Gurnee
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 20th Anniversary Reunion (CBS) – David Grossman
Writing
Writing
Jackie Mason on Broadway (HBO) -
Jackie Mason
Late Night with David Letterman 6th Anniversary Special (NBC)
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 20th Anniversary Reunion (CBS)
The Tracey Ullman Show (Fox): "Ginny Redux"
Most major nominations
Networks with multiple major nominations
[note 1]
Network
Number of Nominations
NBC
69
CBS
32
ABC
24
Programs with multiple major nominations
Program
Category
Network
Number of Nominations
L.A. Law
Drama
NBC
15
Cheers
Comedy
9
Baby M
Miniseries
ABC
6
The Golden Girls
Comedy
NBC
St. Elsewhere
Drama
The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank
Special
CBS
5
Thirtysomething
Drama
ABC
Billionaire Boys Club
Miniseries
NBC
4
Foxfire
Special
CBS
Lincoln
Miniseries
NBC
Beauty and the Beast
Drama
CBS
3
Frank's Place
Comedy
It's Garry Shandling's Show
Showtime
Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday Celebration
Variety
CBS
Late Night with David Letterman 6th Anniversary Special
NBC
The Murder of Mary Phagan
Miniseries
The Tracey Ullman Show
Variety
Fox
The Ann Jillian Story
Special
NBC
2
Cagney & Lacey
Drama
CBS
China Beach
ABC
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd
Comedy
NBC
Great Performances : "Celebrating Gershwin"
Variety
PBS
Hooperman
Comedy
ABC
Inherit the Wind
Special
NBC
Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday Celebration
Variety
CBS
Newhart
Comedy
Night Court
NBC
Onassis: The Richest Man in the World
Special
ABC
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 20th Anniversary Reunion
Variety
CBS
The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story
Special
NBC
The Wonder Years
Comedy
ABC
Most major awards
Networks with multiple major awards
[note 1]
Network
Number of Awards
NBC
11
ABC
8
CBS
6
Programs with multiple major awards
Program
Category
Network
Number of Awards
Thirtysomething
Drama
ABC
3
The Golden Girls
Comedy
NBC
2
Inherit the Wind
Special
Notes
^
a
b "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the
technical categories.
References
External links