31st Primetime Emmy Awards explained

31st Primetime Emmy Awards
Location:	Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California
Presenter:	Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Hosts:	Henry Winkler Cheryl Ladd
Most Awards:	All in the Family Friendly Fire The Jericho Mile Lou Grant Taxi (2)
Most Nominations:	Lou Grant (12)
Award1 Type:	Outstanding Comedy Series
Award1 Winner:	Taxi
Award2 Type:	Outstanding Drama Series
Award2 Winner:	Lou Grant
Award3 Type:	Outstanding Limited Series
Award3 Winner:	Roots: The Next Generations
Award4 Type:	Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Program
Award4 Winner:	Steve & Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin
Network:	ABC
Previous:	30th
Next:	32nd

The 31st Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony was held on Sunday, September 9, 1979. The ceremony was broadcast on the ABC. It was hosted by Henry Winkler and Cheryl Ladd. This ceremony is remembered for problems with the Pasadena Civic Auditorium's air-conditioning.

The top shows of the night were Taxi, which pulled an upset in the Outstanding Comedy Series field when it beat All in the Familys final season, and Lou Grant, which received 12 major nominations and won two awards including Outstanding Drama Series.

For the first time, most of the Miniseries and Television Movie Categories were merged into one, this would become the standard for later ceremonies, culminating with the TV Movie and Miniseries Program Categories combining in 2011. For this year only, the comedy and variety categories were combined in acting, directing and writing. This combination would not stick, and the traditional categories returned the next year.

Winners and nominees

^[1]

Programs

Taxi (ABC) All in the Family (CBS) Barney Miller (ABC) M*A*S*H (CBS) Mork & Mindy (ABC)	Lou Grant (CBS) The Paper Chase (NBC) The Rockford Files (NBC)
(ABC) Backstairs at the White House (NBC) Blind Ambition (CBS)	Friendly Fire (ABC) Dummy (CBS) First, You Cry (CBS) The Jericho Mile (ABC) Summer of My German Soldier (NBC)
Steve & Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin (NBC) Arthur Fiedler: Just Call Me Maestro (PBS) The Muppet Show (Syndicated) Saturday Night Live (NBC) Shirley MacLaine at the Lido (CBS)

Acting

Lead performances

Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker in All in the Family (CBS) Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H (CBS) Judd Hirsch as Alex Reiger in Taxi (ABC) Hal Linden as Capt. Barney Miller in Barney Miller (ABC) Robin Williams as Mork in Mork & Mindy (ABC)	Ruth Gordon as Dee Wilcox in Taxi (ABC) (Episode: "Sugar Mama") Katherine Helmond as Jessica Tate in Soap (ABC) Linda Lavin as Alice Hyatt in Alice (CBS) Isabel Sanford as Louise Jefferson in The Jeffersons (CBS) Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker in All in the Family (CBS)
Ron Leibman as Martin Kazinsky in Kaz (CBS) Edward Asner as Lou Grant in Lou Grant (CBS) James Garner as Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files (NBC) Jack Klugman as Dr. Quincy in Quincy, M.E. (NBC)	Mariette Hartley as Dr. Caroline Fields in The Incredible Hulk (CBS) (Episode: "Married") Barbara Bel Geddes as Eleanor Southworth Ewing Farlow in Dallas (CBS) Rita Moreno as Rita Capkovic in The Rockford Files (NBC) (Episode: "Rosendahl and Gilda Stern are Dead") Sada Thompson as Kate Lawrence in Family (ABC)
Peter Strauss as Larry "Rain" Murphy in The Jericho Mile (ABC) Ned Beatty as Gene Mullen in Friendly Fire (ABC) Louis Gossett Jr. as Houseman Levi Mercer in Backstairs at the White House (NBC) Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley in Elvis (ABC)	Bette Davis as Lucy Mason in (CBS) Carol Burnett as Peg Mullen in Friendly Fire (NBC) Olivia Cole as Maggie Rogers in Backstairs at the White House (NBC) Katharine Hepburn as Miss Lilly Moffat in The Corn Is Green (CBS) Mary Tyler Moore as Betty Rollin in First, You Cry (CBS)

Supporting performances

Robert Guillaume as Benson DuBois in Soap (ABC) Gary Burghoff as Radar O'Reilly in M*A*S*H (CBS) Danny DeVito as Louie De Palma in Taxi (ABC) Max Gail as Det. Stan Wojciehowicz in Barney Miller (ABC) Harry Morgan as Sherman T. Potter in M*A*S*H (CBS)	Sally Struthers as Gloria Bunker-Stivic in All in the Family (CBS) (Episode: "California, Here We Are") Polly Holiday as Florence Jean Castleberry in Alice (CBS) Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham in Happy Days (CBS) Loretta Swit as Margaret Houlihan in M*A*S*H (CBS)
Stuart Margolin as Evelyn "Angel" Martin in The Rockford Files (NBC) Mason Adams as Charlie Hume in Lou Grant (CBS) Noah Beery, Jr. as Joseph Rockford in The Rockford Files (NBC) Joe Santos as Det. Dennis Becker in The Rockford Files (NBC) Robert Walden as Joe Rossi in Lou Grant (CBS)	Kristy McNichol as Letitia Lawrence in Family (ABC) Linda Kelsey as Billie Newman in Lou Grant (CBS) Nancy Marchand as Margaret Pynchon in Lou Grant (CBS)
Marlon Brando as George Lincoln Rockwell in Roots: The Next Generations (ABC) (Episode: "Part VII") Ed Flanders as President Calvin Coolidge in Backstairs at the White House (NBC) (Episode: "Book Two") Al Freeman, Jr. as Malcolm X in Roots: The Next Generations (ABC) (Episode: "Part VII") Robert Vaughn as President Woodrow Wilson in Backstairs at the White House (NBC) (Episode: "Book One") Paul Winfield as Dr. Horace Huguley in Roots: The Next Generations (ABC) (Episode: "Part V")	Esther Rolle as Ruth in Summer of My German Soldier (NBC) Ruby Dee as Queen Haley in Roots: The Next Generations (ABC) Colleen Dewhurst as Mrs. O'Neil in Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story (CBS) Eileen Heckart as Eleanor Roosevelt in Backstairs at the White House (NBC) Celeste Holm as Florence Harding on Backstairs at the White House (NBC)

Directing

Barney Miller (ABC): "The Harris Incident" – Noam Pitlik All in the Family (CBS): "California, Here We Are, Part II" – Paul Bogart M*A*S*H (CBS): "Dear Sis" – Alan Alda M*A*S*H (CBS): "Point of View" – Charles S. Dubin Soap (ABC): "Episode #27" – Jay Sandrich	The White Shadow (CBS): "Pilot" – Jackie Cooper Lou Grant (CBS): "Murder" – Mel Damski Lou Grant (CBS): "Prisoner" – Gene Reynolds Lou Grant (CBS): "Schools" – Burt Brinckerhoff
Friendly Fire (ABC) – David Greene Les Misérables (CBS) – Glenn Jordan Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story (CBS) – Lou Antonio

Writing

M*A*S*H (CBS): "Inga" – Alan Alda All in the Family (CBS): "California, Here We Are - Part II" – Milt Josefsberg, Phil Sharp, Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf M*A*S*H (CBS): "Point of View" – Ken Levine and David Isaacs Saturday Night Live (NBC): "Host - Richard Benjamin" Taxi (ABC): "Blind Date" – Michael Leeson	Lou Grant (CBS): "Dying" – Michele Gallery Lou Grant (CBS): "Marathon" – Gene Reynolds Lou Grant (CBS): "Vet" – Leon Tokatyan The Paper Chase (CBS): "The Late Mr. Hart" – James Bridges
The Jericho Mile (ABC) – Backstairs at the White House (NBC): "Book One" – Paul Dubov and Gwen Bagni Friendly Fire (ABC) – Fay Kanin Roots: The Next Generations (ABC): "Part I" – Ernest Kinoy Summer of My German Soldier (NBC) – Jane-Howard Hammerstein

Most major nominations

Networks with multiple major nominations^[2]

Network	Number of nominations
CBS	46
ABC	30
NBC	23

Programs with multiple major nominations

Program	Category	Network	Number of nominations
Lou Grant	Drama	CBS	12
M*A*S*H	Comedy		9
Backstairs at the White House	Limited	CBS	8
All in the Family	Comedy		6
The Rockford Files	Drama	NBC
Roots: The Next Generations	Limited	ABC
Friendly Fire	Special		5
Taxi	Comedy
Barney Miller			4
The Jericho Mile	Special		3
Soap	Comedy
Summer of My German Soldier	Special	NBC
Alice	Comedy	CBS	2
Family	Drama	ABC
First, You Cry	Special	CBS
Mork & Mindy	Comedy	ABC
The Paper Chase	Drama	NBC
Saturday Night Live	Variety
Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story	Special	CBS

Most major awards

Networks with multiple major awards^[3]

Network	Number of Awards
ABC	11
CBS	9
NBC	3

Programs with multiple major awards

Program	Category	Network	Number of Awards
All in the Family	Comedy	CBS	2
Friendly Fire	Special	ABC
The Jericho Mile
Lou Grant	Drama	CBS
Roots: The Next Generations	Miniseries	ABC
Taxi	Comedy

Notes

External links

• Emmys.com list of 1979 Nominees & Winners

Notes and References

1. http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1979 Emmys.com list of 1979 Nominees & Winners
2. "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories.
3. "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories.