There’s Plenty of Behind-the-Scenes Drama as Well

Television’s Emmy Awards show is under more than the usual pressure to deliver one of its best outings when it airs on the Fox Broadcasting Co. Sunday night at 8.

Emmy ratings have slipped sharply since 1987, when the smaller Fox network became the exclusive showcase of the industry’s big annual blast honoring the programs, performers and craft workers voted as the home screen’s best and brightest by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

And those behind the Emmys surely want to make an impressive showing Sunday as an inducement for a return to rotating broadcasts that once again would include NBC, CBS and ABC.

The academy derives most of its income from the sale of the Emmy show to the various networks. An improved Emmy tune-in last year on Fox--not great, but a so-so 22% of the national audience--temporarily forestalled panic after a disastrous, four-year ratings plunge in which the show drew only 14% of TV viewers in 1987, 18% in 1988, 19% in 1989 and 14% in 1990.

In its last outing on one of the Big Three networks--NBC in 1986--the awards attracted 36% of the audience.

While Fox has grown bigger and stronger behind such shows as “The Simpsons,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “Married . . . With Children,” there has been lingering bitterness and sniping throughout the industry and from the Big Three since upstart Fox aggressively and shrewdly swiped the Emmys from CBS, NBC and ABC with surprising, higher bids for the program.

And now, in addition, ABC has announced that on May 24, 1993, it will present another awards show honoring TV’s best. It is called the “American Television Awards,” and while ABC has emphasized that it is not meant to compete with the Emmys, the announcement of the show nonetheless prompted an edgy response from the TV academy in June.

Said the academy: “There are 44 years of well-established history and tradition behind each Emmy Award that can never be diminished by other forms of recognition. Emmys have special significance since nominations and wins are determined solely by professional peers who are active academy members. It is not a popularity contest.”

While the academy surely is right in staking out its territory--the Emmy Awards may be foolish at times, but they are still prestigious--the new ABC contender nonetheless issued what seemed a bit of a challenge Aug. 15 in a letter in a press kit:

“For a long time we have all complained about the flaw in award shows. We gripe about the categories, the nominations, the voting, the speeches, etc. We hope to overcome all of these complaints in the new ‘American Television Awards.’ ”

Thus, all those involved in the production of Sunday’s Emmy telecast, which will be hosted by Dennis Miller, Kirstie Alley and Tim Allen--the star of the popular “Home Improvement” series--are hoping that last year’s ratings rise will continue.

There are certainly possible dramatic and controversial elements for TV viewers in the broadcast from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, tape-delayed here.

“Cheers,” for instance, has a shot at passing “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” as the most-honored entertainment series in TV history. The Moore show is the all-time leader with 29 Emmys. “Hill Street Blues” and “Cheers” are runners-up with 26 each. “Cheers” could claim the crown by winning in four of the eight categories in which it is nominated.

In addition, “L.A. Law” and “Cheers” could become the all-time leaders as best drama and comedy series, respectively, if they win on Sunday night in those categories.

At the moment, “L.A. Law” and “Hill Street Blues”--both co-created by Steven Bochco--are tied for best drama series with four victories apiece. “Cheers,” meanwhile, is tied with “All in the Family” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” with all three of the classic comedies also having four wins each.

Among Sunday’s Emmy categories, one of the liveliest, high-level competitions involves Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey and George Carlin for outstanding individual performance in a variety or music program.

Midler was nominated for her performance on Johnny Carson’s next-to-last program before he retired as host of “The Tonight Show.” Cole is a contender for her PBS special honoring her late father, “Unforgettable, With Love: Natalie Cole Sings the Songs of Nat King Cole.” Crystal was nominated for hosting the Academy Awards, Carvey for “Saturday Night Live” and Carlin for his HBO special, “George Carlin Jammin’ in New York.”

That, friends, is one terrific group of talent.

On the controversy side, everyone, of course, will be watching to see if the show that was slammed by Vice President Dan Quayle, “Murphy Brown,” wins as best comedy series--and whether its star, Candice Bergen, also takes home an Emmy.

Quayle, in his election-year “family values” campaign, criticized “Murphy Brown” because the lead character played by Bergen had a baby out of wedlock. The smash-hit series plans to respond to Quayle in its season premiere next month.

The star of another comedy series, Roseanne Arnold, whose “Roseanne” is the most popular entertainment program on television, will also be a focus of attention as she competes for best actress honors for the first time after being snubbed in Emmy nominations since the show debuted in 1988.

Controversy that has flared within the industry about the nominations might also become apparent to viewers. For example, the academy has placed the pilot shows of “I’ll Fly Away” and “Homefront” in the TV-movie category, saying that they are “distinctly different animals than regular series episodes, in everything from time spent on them to their budgets.”

In another bizarre move, guest stars now will compete with series regulars in the same acting categories. Why? Well, the guest stars weren’t happy with getting their awards at a non-televised ceremony for craft workers. And the academy didn’t want to add more categories to Sunday’s show. Thus the new, unnatural mutation. Example:

The best actor nominees for a drama series include regulars Sam Waterston of “I’ll Fly Away,” Michael Moriarty of “Law & Order,” Rob Morrow of “Northern Exposure” and Scott Bakula of “Quantum Leap.” But three one-shot, guest performers on various series are in the same category and could grab the prize from the weekly stars, which is idiotic--and just flat-out unfair.

Nevertheless, the show must go on. The best news has been that “Northern Exposure,” with 16 nominations, and “I’ll Fly Away,” with 15, lead the pack. No one who has really tuned in to television in the last year could find fault with that.