46th Primetime Emmy Awards
Promotional poster
Date
  • September 11, 1994
    (Ceremony)
  • September 10, 1994
    (Creative Arts Awards)
LocationPasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California
Presented byAcademy of Television Arts and Sciences
Hosted byPatricia Richardson
Ellen DeGeneres
Highlights
Most awardsFrasier (4)
Most nominationsNYPD Blue (17)
Outstanding Comedy SeriesFrasier
Outstanding Drama SeriesPicket Fences
Outstanding MiniseriesPrime Suspect III
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy SeriesLate Show with David Letterman
Television/radio coverage
NetworkABC
← 45th · Primetime Emmy Awards · 47th →

The 46th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 11, 1994. The ceremony was hosted by Patricia Richardson and Ellen DeGeneres. It was broadcast on ABC. Comedy Central received its first major nomination at this ceremony.

For its first season, the Cheers spin-off Frasier won Outstanding Comedy Series and four total major awards. For the second straight year Picket Fences won Outstanding Drama Series, it too won four major awards, but the more impressive drama series was newcomer NYPD Blue, which took home three major awards.

NYPD Blue came into the ceremony with 19 major nominations. This broke Hill Street Blues record for most nominations by a drama or comedy series of 16 set in 1982, and put it in second place all time behind Roots which gained 21 major nominations in 1977. NYPD Blue set another milestone when it received every nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, this marked only the ninth time that a show had received every nomination in a category. This feat has not been accomplished since.

The television film And the Band Played On also made Emmy history. It set a new record when it received nine major nominations, the most ever for a television movie. The record was maintained for twenty years, until The Normal Heart received nine major nominations in 2014. Both films won the top prize, but each lost all six of their acting nominations, directing, and writing to other projects.

Winners and nominees

[1]

Programs

Acting

Lead performances

Supporting performances

  • Laurie Metcalf as Jackie Harris in Roseanne (ABC) (Episodes: "Labor Day" + "Past Imperfect")
    • Shelley Fabares as Christine Armstrong in Coach (ABC) (Episodes: "Nice Job If You Can Get It" + "The Stand-In")
    • Faith Ford as Corky Sherwood in Murphy Brown (CBS) (Episodes: "The Young and the Rest of Us" + "The More Things Stay The Same")
    • Sara Gilbert as Darlene Conner in Roseanne (ABC) (Episodes: "Two Down, One to Go" + "Everybody Comes to Jackie's")
    • Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes in Seinfeld (NBC) (Episodes: "The Mango" + "The Opposite")
    • Liz Torres as Mahalia Sanchez in The John Larroquette Show (NBC) (Episodes: "Pilot" + "God")
  • Fyvush Finkel as Douglas Wambaugh in Picket Fences (CBS) (Episodes: "Turpitude" + "Squatter's Rights")
    • Gordon Clapp as Greg Medavoy in NYPD Blue (ABC) (Episodes: "Ice Follies" + "Abandando Abandoned")
    • Barry Corbin as Maurice J. Minnifield in Northern Exposure (CBS) (Episodes: "The Mystery of the Old Curio Shop" + "The Gift of the Maggie")
    • Nicholas Turturro as James Martinez in NYPD Blue (ABC)(Episodes: "Up on the Roof" + "Guns 'N' Rosaries")
    • Ray Walston as Henry Bone in Picket Fences (CBS) (Episodes:"Blue Christmas" + "Abominable Snowman")
  • Cicely Tyson as Castralia in Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (CBS)
    • Anne Bancroft as Lucy Marsden in Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (CBS)
    • Swoosie Kurtz as Mrs. Johnstone in And the Band Played On (HBO)
    • Lee Purcell as Ann Thielman in Secret Sins of the Father (NBC)
    • Lily Tomlin as Dr. Selma Dritz in And the Band Played On (HBO)

Individual performances

Directing

  • The 47th Annual Tony Awards (ABC) – Walter C. Miller
    • The 66th Annual Academy Awards (ABC) – Jeff Margolis
    • Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) – Hal Gurnee
    • Saturday Night Live (NBC) – Dave Wilson
    • The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) – Ellen Brown
    • Tracey Ullman Takes on New York (HBO) – Don Scardino

Writing

  • NYPD Blue (ABC): "Steroid Roy" – Ann Biderman
    • NYPD Blue (ABC): "NYPD Lou" – Ted Mann
    • NYPD Blue (ABC): "Personal Foul" – Story by : David Milch
      Teleplay by : Burton Armus
    • NYPD Blue (ABC): "Pilot" – Story by : Steven Bochco and David Milch
      Teleplay by : David Milch
    • NYPD Blue (ABC): "Tempest in a C-Cup" – Gardner Stern

Most major nominations

Networks with multiple major nominations[note 1]
Network No. of
Nominations
CBS 42
NBC 39
ABC 36
HBO 24
Programs with multiple major nominations
Program Category Network No. of
Nominations
NYPD Blue Drama ABC 17
And the Band Played On Movie HBO 9
Seinfeld Comedy NBC 8
Frasier Comedy NBC 6
Picket Fences Drama CBS
Mad About You Comedy NBC 5
Breathing Lessons Movie CBS 4
The Larry Sanders Show Comedy HBO
Roseanne ABC
Saturday Night Live Variety NBC
To Dance with the White Dog Movie CBS
Tracey Ullman Takes on New York Variety HBO
The 66th Annual Academy Awards Variety ABC 3
David's Mother Movie CBS
Gypsy
The John Larroquette Show Comedy NBC
Late Show with David Letterman Variety CBS
Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All Miniseries
Prime Suspect III PBS
The 47th Annual Tony Awards Variety CBS 2
Coach Comedy ABC
Dennis Miller Live Variety HBO
Home Improvement Comedy ABC
Law & Order Drama NBC
Murphy Brown Comedy CBS
Northern Exposure Drama
Sisters NBC
Tales of the City Miniseries PBS
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Variety NBC
World War II: When Lions Roared Miniseries

Most major awards

Networks with multiple major awards[note 1]
Network No. of
Awards
CBS 13
ABC 6
NBC
HBO 4
Programs with multiple major awards
Program Category Network No. of
Awards
Frasier Comedy NBC 4
David's Mother Movie CBS 3
NYPD Blue Drama ABC
Picket Fences CBS
Notes
  1. ^ a b "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories.

References

  1. ^ Emmys.com list of 1994 Nominees & Winners

External links

Emmy Awards
Categories