‘Cheers’ Wins 2 Emmys; 1st One for Winters

NBC’s “Cheers” captured two Emmy Awards on Sunday in ceremonies at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, as Bebe Neuwirth won best supporting actress in a comedy series, and the hit sitcom’s James Burrows garnered best directing honors.

In other awards announced early in the evening, veteran comedian Jonathan Winters won his first Emmy by taking the best supporting actor award for his role in the comedy series “Davis Rules.” Madge Sinclair won best supporting actress in a drama series for “Gabriel’s Fire.”

Gary Dontzig and Steven Peterman were also among the winners, taking the comedy writing award for a “Murphy Brown” episode, “Jingle Hell, Jingle Hell, Jingle All the Way.”

The makers of “Cheers,” “L.A. Law” and “Murphy Brown” were hoping that 13 would be their lucky number because each had garnered 13 nominations for the 43rd annual Emmy Awards.

“Murphy Brown” (CBS) and “L.A. Law” (NBC) were hoping to repeat their 1990 wins for best comedy and best drama series.

“Cheers,” the No. 1-rated jewel in NBC’s Thursday night crown, has given “Murphy Brown” tough competition. This year’s nominations for the popular Boston bar comedy made it the all-time leader in Emmy nominations.

Other sitcoms vying for the Emmy included “Designing Women” (CBS), “The Golden Girls” (NBC) and “The Wonder Years” (ABC).

“L.A. Law,” with its compelling blend of topical courtroom drama, passionate characters and quirky plot twists, was hoping for a fourth Emmy for best drama series.

Its competitors were relative newcomers--”Northern Exposure” on CBS and “Quantum Leap” on NBC--as well as “China Beach” and “thirtysomething,” two ABC dramas that fell victim to sagging ratings at season’s end.

Peter Falk, last year’s winner for best actor in a dramatic series, was nominated again for his disheveled detective Columbo, a role that has earned him four of his five Emmys.

Other best dramatic actor nominees included Scott Bakula of “Quantum Leap,” James Earl Jones of “Gabriel’s Fire,” Kyle MacLachlan of “Twin Peaks” and Michael Moriarty of “Law & Order.”

Three of the four nominees for best actress in a drama series were past winners: Dana Delany for “China Beach,” Patricia Wettig for “thirtysomething” and Sharon Gless for “The Trials of Rosie O’Neill.” Gless won her past Emmy on “Cagney & Lacey.”

Angela Lansbury of “Murder, She Wrote”--nominated for seven Emmys but winner of none--completed the category.

The contenders for best actor in a comedy series included 1990 winner Ted Danson (“Cheers”), three-time nominee John Goodman (“Roseanne”), 1989 top actor Richard Mulligan (“Empty Nest”), twice nominated Craig T. Nelson (“Coach”) and Burt Reynolds (“Evening Shade”) in his first Emmy competition.

Candice Bergen, who plays the feisty Murphy Brown, led the list of nominees for best actress in a comedy series. Joining Bergen, who won the last two years, were Kirstie Alley (“Cheers”), five-time nominee Blair Brown (“The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd”), Delta Burke (“Designing Women”) and three-time Emmy winner Betty White (“The Golden Girls”).

The awards ceremony, broadcast to 26 countries and hosted by Jerry Seinfeld, Dennis Miller and Jamie Lee Curtis, included a tribute to actor Michael Landon, who died July 1 of liver cancer.

Six programs were in the running for best miniseries or special: “Decoration Day” (NBC), “The Josephine Baker Story” (HBO), “Paris Trout” (Showtime), “Sarah, Plain and Tall” (CBS), “Separate but Equal” (ABC) and “Switched at Birth” (NBC).

The lead actors nominated in the miniseries or special category were well known to moviegoers: James Garner (“Decoration Day”), John Gielgud (“Summer’s Lease”), Dennis Hopper (“Paris Trout”), Sidney Poitier (“Separate but Equal”) and Christopher Walken (“Sarah, Plain and Tall”). This was the first Emmy nomination for Hopper, Poitier and Walken.

Film star Glenn Close received her second Emmy nomination as lead actress in a miniseries or special for “Sarah, Plain and Tall.” Her competitors included Suzanne Pleshette (“Leona Helmsley: Queen of Mean”), Lee Purcell (“Long Road Home”) and Lynn Whitfield (“The Josephine Baker Story”).

The highly touted five-part series “The Civil War” won as best informational series in the first batch of awards handed out Saturday night. It defeated “The Astronomers” (PBS), “Entertainment Tonight” (syndicated), “Smithsonian World” (PBS) and “Unsolved Mysteries” (NBC).