33rd Primetime Emmy Awards

Date

September 13, 1981 (Ceremony)
September 12, 1981 (Creative Arts Awards)

Location

Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California

Host

Shirley MacLaine, Edward Asner

Television/Radio coverage

Network

CBS

< 32nd

Primetime Emmy Awards

34th >

The 33rd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 13, 1981. The ceremony was broadcast on CBS. It was hosted by Shirley MacLaine and Edward Asner.

For the third consecutive year, the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series went to Taxi. The top show on the drama side was Hill Street Blues which, in its first season, tied the record for most major nominations (14) and wins (6) by a non-miniseries. NBC's ratings juggernaut Shōgun received eight major nominations, but only won one, for Outstanding Limited Series.

Winners and Nominees

^[1]

Programs

Outstanding Comedy Series	Outstanding Drama Series
Taxi, (ABC) Barney Miller, (ABC) MASH,* (CBS) Soap, (ABC) WKRP in Cincinnati, (CBS)	Hill Street Blues, (NBC) Dallas, (CBS) Lou Grant, (CBS) Quincy, M.E., (NBC) The White Shadow, (CBS)
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program	Outstanding Drama Special
Lily: Sold Out, (CBS) AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Fred Astaire, (CBS) The Benny Hill Show, (Syndicated) The Muppet Show, (Syndicated) The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, (NBC)	Playing for Time, (CBS) Evita Peron, (NBC) Fallen Angel, (CBS) The Shadow Box, (ABC) The Women's Room, (ABC)
Outstanding Limited Series
Shōgun, (NBC) East of Eden, (ABC) Masada, (ABC) Rumpole of the Bailey, (PBS) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, (PBS)

Acting

Lead performances

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
*Judd Hirsch as Alex Reiger on Taxi, (Episode: "Elaine's Strange Triangle"), (ABC)* Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce on MASH,* (CBS) Hal Linden as Capt. Barney Miller on Barney Miller, (ABC) Richard Mulligan as Burt Campbell on Soap, (ABC) John Ritter as Jack Tripper on Three's Company, (ABC)	*Isabel Sanford as Louise Jefferson on The Jeffersons* (Episode: "And the Doorknobs Shined Like Diamonds"), (CBS)** Eileen Brennan as Mrs. McKenzie on Taxi, (Episode: "Thy Boss's Wife"), (ABC) Cathryn Damon as Mary Campbell on Soap, (ABC) Katherine Helmond as Jessica Tate on Soap, (ABC) Lynn Redgrave as Ann Atkinson on House Calls, (CBS)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
*Daniel J. Travanti as Captain Frank Furillo on Hill Street Blues, (NBC)* Edward Asner as Lou Grant on Lou Grant, (CBS) Jim Davis as Jock Ewing on Dallas, (CBS) Louis Gossett Jr. as Bessie's Father on Palmerstown, U.S.A., (Episode: "Future City"), (CBS) Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing on Dallas, (CBS) Pernell Roberts as Dr. John 'Trapper' McIntyre on Trapper John, M.D., (CBS)	*Barbara Babcock as Grace Gardner on Hill Street Blues, (Episode: "Fecund Hand Rose"), (NBC)* Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing on Dallas, (CBS) Linda Gray as Sue Ellen Ewing on Dallas, (CBS) Veronica Hamel as Joyce Davenport on Hill Street Blues, (NBC) Michael Learned as Mary Benjamin on Nurse, (CBS) Stefanie Powers as Jennifer Hart on Hart to Hart (ABC)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special
*Anthony Hopkins as Adolf Hitler on The Bunker, (CBS)* Richard Chamberlain as Anjin-san on Shōgun (NBC) Toshirô Mifune as Lord Yoshi Toranaga on Shōgun, (NBC) Peter O'Toole as General Cornelius Flavius Silva on Masada, (ABC) Peter Strauss as Eleazar ben Yair on Masada, (ABC)	*Vanessa Redgrave as Fania Fenelon on Playing for Time, (CBS)* Ellen Burstyn as Jean Harris on The People vs. Jean Harris, (NBC) Catherine Hicks as Marilyn Monroe on Marilyn: The Untold Story, (ABC) Yôko Shimada as Lady Toda Buntaro on Shōgun, (NBC) Joanne Woodward as Elizabeth Huckaby on Crisis at Central High, (CBS)

Supporting performances

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series
*Danny DeVito as Louie De Palma on Taxi, (ABC)* Howard Hesseman as Johnny Caravella on WKRP in Cincinnati, (CBS) Steve Landesberg as Sgt. Arthur Dietrich on Barney Miller, (ABC) Harry Morgan as Sherman T. Potter on MASH, (CBS) David Ogden Stiers as Charles Emerson Winchester III on MASH, (CBS)	*Eileen Brennan as Doreen Lewis on Private Benjamin, (CBS)* Loni Anderson as Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati, (CBS) Anne Meara as Veronica Rooney on Archie Bunker's Place, (CBS) Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston on The Jeffersons, (CBS) Loretta Swit as Margaret Houlihan on MASH*, (CBS)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
*Michael Conrad as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues* (NBC)** Mason Adams as Charlie Hume on Lou Grant, (CBS) Charles Haid as Officer Andy Renko on Hill Street Blues, (NBC) Robert Walden as Joe Rossi on Lou Grant, (CBS) Bruce Weitz as Det. Mick Belker on Hill Street Blues, (NBC)	*Nancy Marchand as Margaret Pynchon on Lou Grant, (Episode: "Stroke"), (CBS)* Barbara Barrie as Evelyn Stoller on Breaking Away, (ABC) Barbara Bosson as Fay Furillo on Hill Street Blues, (NBC) Linda Kelsey as Billie Newman on Lou Grant, (CBS) Betty Thomas as Sgt. Lucille Bates on Hill Street Blues, (NBC)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special
*David Warner as Falco on Masada, (ABC)* Andy Griffith as Ash Robinson on Murder in Texas, (NBC) Yûki Meguro as Omi on Shōgun, (NBC) Anthony Quayle as Rubrius Gallus on Masada, (ABC) John Rhys-Davies as Vasco Rodrigues on Shōgun, (NBC)	*Jane Alexander as Alma Rose on Playing for Time, (CBS)* Colleen Dewhurst as Val on The Women's Room, (ABC) Patty Duke as Lily on The Women's Room, (ABC) Shirley Knight as Frau Lagerfuhrerin Maria Mandel on Playing for Time, (CBS) Piper Laurie as Magda Goebbels on The Bunker, (CBS)

Directing

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series	Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series
*James Burrows for Taxi,* (Episode: "Elaine's Strange Triangle"), (ABC)** Alan Alda for MASH,* (Episode: "The Life You Save"), (CBS) Rod Daniel for WKRP in Cincinnati, (Episode: "Venus Flytrap Explains The Atom"), (CBS) Linda Day, for Archie Bunker's Place, (Episode: "Tough Love"), (CBS) Burt Metcalfe for MASH,* (Episode: "No Laughing Matter"), (CBS) Jerry Paris, for Happy Days, (Episode: "Hello Mrs. Arcola"), (ABC) Noam Pitlik, for Barney Miller, (Episode: "Liquidation"), (ABC)	*Robert Butler for Hill Street Blues,* (Episode: "Hill Street Station"), (NBC)** Corey Allen for Hill Street Blues, (Episode: "Jungle Madness"), (NBC) Burt Brinckerhoff for Lou Grant, (Episode: "Pack"), (CBS) Georg Stanford Brown for Hill Street Blues, (Episode: "Up in Arms"), (NBC) Mel Damski for American Dream, (Episode: "Pilot"), (ABC) Gene Reynolds for Lou Grant, (Episode: "Strike"), (CBS)
Outstanding Directing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Program	Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special
*Don Mischer for The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts,* (CBS)** Emile Ardolino for Great Performances: Dance in America, (PBS) Tony Charmoli for Musical Comedy Tonight II, (PBS) Dwight Hemion for Linda in Wonderland, (CBS) Bob Henry for Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters, (NBC) Marty Pasetta for The 53rd Annual Academy Awards, (ABC)	*James Goldstone for Kent State,* (NBC)** Jerry London for Shōgun, (Episode: "Part 5"), (NBC) Paul Newman for The Shadow Box, (ABC) Boris Sagal for Masada, (Episode: "Part IV"), (ABC) Roger Young for Bitter Harvest, (NBC)

Writing

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series	Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series
*Michael Leeson for Taxi, (Episode: "Tony's Sister and Jim"), (ABC)* Stephen J. Cannell for The Greatest American Hero, (Episode: "Pilot"), (ABC) Glen Charles, Les Charles for Taxi, (Episode: "Going Home"), (ABC) Mike Farrell, John Rappaport, Dennis Koenig, Thad Mumford, Dan Wilcox, Burt Metcalfe for MASH, (Episode: "Death Takes the Holiday"), (CBS) David Lloyd for Taxi*, (Episode: "Elaine's Strange Triangle"), (ABC)	*Michael Kozoll, Steven Bochco for Hill Street Blues, (Episode: "Hill Street Station"), (NBC)* Ronald M. Cohen, Barbara Corday, Ken Hecht, for American Dream, (Episode: "Pilot"), (ABC) Seth Freeman for Lou Grant, (Episode: "Rape"), (CBS) Michael Kozoll, Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich for Hill Street Blues, (Episode: "Jungle Madness"), (NBC) April Smith for Lou Grant, (Episode: "Strike"), (CBS)
Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Program	Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special
The Muppet Show, (Syndicated) Lily: Sold Out, (CBS) Musical Comedy Tonight II, (PBS) The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, (NBC) AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Fred Astaire, (CBS)	*Arthur Miller for Playing For Time, (CBS)* Eric Bercovici for Shōgun, (Episode: "Part 5"), (NBC) Michael Cristofer for The Shadow Box, (ABC) Richard Friedenberg for Bitter Harvest, (NBC) Joel Oliansky for Masada, (Episode: "Part IV"), (ABC)

Most major nominations

By network ^{[note 1]}

CBS – 52
ABC – 40
NBC – 32

By program

Hill Street Blues (NBC) – 14
Lou Grant (CBS) – 10
M*A*S*H (CBS) / Shōgun (NBC) / Taxi (ABC) – 8
Masada (ABC) – 7
Dallas (CBS) / Playing for Time (CBS) – 5

Most major awards

By network ^{[note 1]}

CBS – 10
NBC – 8
ABC – 6

By program

Hill Street Blues (NBC) – 6
Taxi (ABC) – 5
Playing for Time (CBS) – 4

Notes

↑ 1.0 1.1 "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories.

References

↑ "1981 Primetime Emmy Awards". IMDb. Retrieved April 19, 2013.

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