The 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 16, 1990. The ceremony was broadcast on

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from the

Pasadena Civic Auditorium The Pasadena Convention Center is a convention center in Pasadena, California. It consists of three buildings. Pasadena Civic Auditorium The Civic Auditorium, one of the major structures in the Pasadena Civic Center District, was built in 1931 an ...

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. Two networks, The Family Channel and

The Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

, received their first major nominations. For its second season, ''

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for ''FYI'', a ...

'' won Outstanding Comedy Series and two other major awards. Defending champion ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

'' received the most major nominations for a comedy series with 11 and ''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...

'' finished its series run with 21 major nominations, but not a single win. On the drama side, ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

'' won Outstanding Drama Series for the third time in four years and also won three major awards, receiving the most major nominations for a drama series with 11. This became the first year that every cast member of ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty White ...

'' wasn't nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. This ceremony was remembered for an anomaly that took place, as three major categories resulted in ties, the most ever for one ceremony. A clip of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' presenting the award for

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The award is presented to the best performance by a lead actor in a television comedy series. Beginning with the 18th Primetime Emmy ...

can be seen on the DVD boxset of the second season as a special feature.

Winners and nominees

Emmys.com list of 1990 Nominees & Winners
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Programs

Acting

Lead performances

Supporting performances

Guest performances

Directing

Writing

Most major nominations

;By network "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. * NBC / ABC – 47 * CBS – 35 * HBO – 11 ;By program * ''Cheers'' (NBC) / ''L.A. Law'' (NBC) – 11 * ''Murphy Brown'' (CBS) – 9 * ''thirtysomething'' (ABC) – 8 * ''Twin Peaks'' (ABC) – 7 * ''The Golden Girls'' (NBC) – 6

Most major awards

;By network "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. * ABC – 10 * CBS – 9 * NBC – 8 * HBO – 3 * Fox – 2 ;By program * ''L.A. Law'' (NBC) / ''Murphy Brown'' (CBS) – 3 * ''Age-Old Friends'' (HBO) / ''Caroline?'' (CBS) / ''Cheers'' (NBC) / ''Columbo'' (ABC) / ''thirtysomething'' (ABC) / ''The Wonder Years'' (ABC) – 2 ;Notes

References

External links

Emmys.com list of 1990 Nominees & Winners
* {{EmmyAwardsbyYear

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1990 television awards 1990 in California September 1990 events in the United States