Barry Levinson – Rain Man

• Charles Crichton – A Fish Called Wanda
• Mike Nichols – Working Girl
• Alan Parker – Mississippi Burning
• Robert Zemeckis – Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Marshall Herskovitz – thirtysomething for "Therapy"

• Mark Tinker – St. Elsewhere for "The Last One"
• Edward Zwick – thirtysomething for "Accounts Receivable, Michael's Brother"

Steve Miner – The Wonder Years for "Pilot"

• Ellen Gittelsohn – Roseanne for "Pilot"
• Barnet Kellman – Murphy Brown for "Pilot"

Lamont Johnson – Lincoln

• Dan Curtis – War and Remembrance
• Rod Holcomb – China Beach for "Pilot"

Walter C. Miller – Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday Celebration

• David Grossman – The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour: The 20th Reunion
• Hal Gurnee – Late Night with David Letterman for "6th Anniversary Special"

Jesus Trevino – CBS Schoolbreak Special for "Gangs"

• Kevin Hooks – CBS Schoolbreak Special for "Home Sweet Homeless"
• Gilbert Moses – ABC Afterschool Specialfor "Daddy Can't Read"

Merrill Brockway – Great Performances for "On the Move"

• Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer – An Empire of Reason
• Lloyd Kramer – No One Dies Alone

Harry J. Coyle – 1988 World Series

• Robert Fishman – 1988 NCAA Basketball Championship for "Oklahoma vs. Kansas"
• Larry Kamm – Super Bowl XXII
• Don Ohlmeyer and Roger Goodman – 1988 Indianapolis 500

James Gartner – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' "Braces & Glasses", Major League Baseball's "Interesting Friends", and Church World Service's "Journal"

• David Ashwell – Crossland Federal Savings Bank's "Detective", Gallo's "Dinner for Six", Kellogg's' "Hard Days Work", and Pepsi's "Thumbs Up"
• Leslie Dektor – Security Pacific Bank's "Football", Schlage's "School", and Levi's' "Yo Yo Do-Wop"
• Richard Levine – Delta Air Lines' "Company B", Hyundai's "Escape", and Seagram's "Kzev" and "Relationships"
• Robert Lieberman – AT&T's "Celebration", and McDonald's' "County Champ" and "Olympic Hopefuls"