| 50th Primetime Emmy Awards | |
| Location: | Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California |
| Presenter: | Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |
| Network: | NBC |
| Producer: | Don Mischer |
| Award1 Type: | Outstanding Comedy Series |
| Award1 Winner: | Frasier |
| Award2 Type: | Outstanding Drama Series |
| Award2 Winner: | The Practice |
| Award3 Type: | Outstanding Miniseries |
| Award3 Winner: | From the Earth to the Moon |
| Award4 Type: | Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series |
| Award4 Winner: | Late Show with David Letterman |
| Previous: | 49th |
| Next: | 51st |
The 50th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 13, 1998. It was broadcast on NBC.
When Frasier was announced as the winner of Outstanding Comedy Series, Emmy history was made. The NBC sitcom became the first show to win one of the two main series prizes five consecutive years. This record has since been passed by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, whose winning streak was ten years, but for the main two genres, it was not matched until 2014, when the ABC sitcom Modern Family won its fifth consecutive award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Frasier tied for the most major wins overall with three.
The Practice won Outstanding Drama Series. For the second straight year, medical drama ER came into the night as the most nominated program, but once again walked away empty handed, going 0/8 in major categories.
Ally McBeal became the first hour-long series to be nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series since Love, American Style in 1971.
This year saw the Emmys move to a new venue, the Shrine Auditorium, marking the return of the award ceremony to Los Angeles for the first time since the 1976 Emmy Awards, following a 20-year residency at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium outside L.A. in Pasadena.
As of the 2023 Emmy Awards ceremony, this is the last year where all the nominees for Outstanding Drama Series were from the broadcast networks.
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| Network | No. of Nominations | |
|---|---|---|
| NBC | 49 | |
| HBO | 29 | |
| ABC | 25 | |
| CBS | 19 | |
| Fox | 13 |
| Program | Category | Network | No. of Nominations |
|---|---|---|---|
| ER | Drama | NBC | 8 |
| NYPD Blue | ABC | ||
| The Larry Sanders Show | Comedy | HBO | 7 |
| Merlin | Miniseries | NBC | 6 |
| 12 Angry Men | Movie | Showtime | 5 |
| Ally McBeal | Comedy | Fox | |
| Frasier | NBC | ||
| George Wallace | Miniseries | TNT | |
| The X-Files | Drama | Fox | |
| 3rd Rock from the Sun | Comedy | NBC | 4 |
| Don King: Only in America | Movie | HBO | |
| The 70th Annual Academy Awards | Variety | ABC | 3 |
| Chicago Hope | Drama | CBS | |
| From the Earth to the Moon | Miniseries | HBO | |
| Garth: Live from Central Park | Variety | ||
| Gia | Movie | ||
| Late Show with David Letterman | Variety | CBS | |
| Moby Dick | Miniseries | USA | |
| More Tales of the City | Showtime | ||
| The Practice | Drama | ABC | |
| Seinfeld | Comedy | NBC | |
| Tracey Takes On... | Variety | HBO | |
| Cinderella | ABC | 2 | |
| Dennis Miller Live | HBO | ||
| Dharma & Greg | Comedy | ABC | |
| Ellen | |||
| Homicide: Life on the Street | Drama | NBC | |
| Law & Order | |||
| Mad About You | Comedy | ||
| The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | Variety | ||
| Touched by an Angel | Drama | CBS | |
| What the Deaf Man Heard | Movie |
| Network | No. of Awards | |
|---|---|---|
| ABC | 9 | |
| HBO | 7 | |
| NBC | ||
| CBS | 5 | |
| TNT | 3 |
| Program | Category | Network | No. of Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frasier | Comedy | NBC | 3 |
| George Wallace | Miniseries | TNT | |
| NYPD Blue | Drama | ABC | |
| The 70th Annual Academy Awards | Variety | 2 | |
| Don King: Only in America | Movie | HBO | |
| The Larry Sanders Show | Comedy | ||
| The Practice | Drama | ABC |
Patrick Stewart presented a clip tribute to the TV actors who had died: Red Skelton, Shari Lewis, Lloyd Bridges, Roy Rogers, singer John Denver, Robert Young, dancer Jerome Robbins, sports narrator Harry Caray, Frank Sinatra, singer Buffalo Bob, E. G. Marshall, J. T. Walsh, Sonny Bono, Phil Hartman, and Chris Farley. As an interesting note, Gary Sinise won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his portrayal of George Wallace on the day that the latter died.