Hosted by Bruce Willis | Network Fox | |
Date September 20, 1987
(Ceremony)
September 12, 1987
(Creative Arts Awards) Location Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California | ||
The 39th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 20, 1987. The ceremony was broadcast on Fox for the first time as the network premiered a year earlier from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California.
Contents
For the second straight year, The Golden Girls won Outstanding Comedy Series. The winner for Outstanding Drama Series was L.A. Law, which, for its first season, won four major awards, and led all shows with 13 major nominations. The winner for Outstanding Drama/Comedy Special, Promise, set a new record with five major wins. This record still stands for TV movies, though it was tied by Temple Grandin in 2010. The Tracey Ullman Show received three major nominations on the night, making it the first ceremony in which the network Fox received a major nomination. This was the only time that Hill Street Blues wasn't nominated for Outstanding Drama Series in its seventh and last season, also no males actors of Hill Street Blues were nominated (even with 20 previous nominations), only Betty Thomas for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series was nominated and did not won, making her the only one in the cast to be nominated in all seasons.
NBC continued its dominance of the field, becoming the first network to gain over eighty major nominations (82). Its résumé was highlighted by gaining all five nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series, this had been done only once before (in 1977, but with a field of only four shows) and has not been matched in either field since.