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.
For its second season, Murphy Brown won Outstanding Comedy Series and two other major awards. Defending champion Cheers received the most major nominations for a comedy series with 11 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 an anomaly that took place, as 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

Outstanding Comedy SeriesOutstanding Drama Series

  • Murphy Brown,
  • * Cheers,
  • * Designing Women,
  • * The Golden Girls,
  • * The Wonder Years,
  • L.A. Law,
  • * China Beach,
  • * Quantum Leap,
  • * thirtysomething,
  • * Twin Peaks,
    • Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy SeriesOutstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special
  • In Living Color,
  • * The Arsenio Hall Show,
  • * Late Night with David Letterman,
  • * Saturday Night Live,
  • * The Tracey Ullman Show,
  • Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration,
  • * The 62nd Annual Academy Awards,
  • * Billy Crystal: Midnight Train to Moscow,
  • * The 43rd Annual Tony Awards,
  • * The Best of the Tracey Ullman Show,
    • Outstanding Drama/Comedy SpecialOutstanding Miniseries
  • Caroline?,
  • The Incident,
  • * The Final Days,
  • * A Killing in a Small Town,
  • * Murder in Mississippi,
  • ,
  • * Blind Faith,
  • * Family of Spies,
  • * The Kennedys of Massachusetts,
  • * Small Sacrifices,

    • Acting

    Lead performances

    Supporting performances

    Guest performances

    Directing

    Writing

    Most major nominations

    ;By network
    ;By program
    ;By network
    ;By program
    ;Notes