‘Frasier,’ ‘Law & Order’ Win Top Emmys

“Frasier” and “Law & Order” were named outstanding comedy and drama series, respectively, at the 49th annual Nighttime Emmy Awards Sunday, marking the second straight year that top-rated NBC has swept those prestigious categories in its three-year run as the most-honored network.

“Frasier,” the comedy starring Kelsey Grammer as a radio psychologist, entered select company by securing its fourth consecutive win as best comedy. Only the classic sitcoms “All in the Family,” “Cheers” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show” have earned such recognition four times.

The program, which was spun off from “Cheers,” is alone in being chosen as best comedy its first four seasons. Although “Dick Van Dyke” won four consecutive times, the show began that streak in its second year.

“Frasier” nabbed just one other award this year, for best directing in a comedy.

“Law & Order,” meanwhile, claimed the night’s final Emmy, upsetting such programs as “ER” and “NYPD Blue” after five previous nominations without winning. Like “Frasier,” it won only one other award, for cinematography.

Including honors presented a week ago in non-televised ceremonies for technical categories such as editing and sound, NBC totaled two dozen Emmys, more than any other network.

But NBC shared the spotlight at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Sunday with pay channel Home Box Office, which continues to topple Emmy records for cable services. HBO matched NBC with nine Emmy wins Sunday and garnered 19 awards in all--exceeding its previous high of 17, established in 1993.

Once again, the subscription channel--seen in less than one-quarter of homes nationwide--tallied more Emmys than major broadcast networks CBS and ABC, which totaled 12 and 10 Emmys, respectively. CBS, which televised the show, received just two awards Sunday night.

Thanks mostly to HBO, cable as a medium amassed 28 Emmys, two more than the record set last year. Cable channels have steadily seen their share of Emmys rise since the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences made them eligible for consideration in 1987, mirroring the manner in which cable and other alternatives continue to siphon viewers from the better-established networks.

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Attracting big-name movie stars to its projects (which often cost three or four times the average amount spent to produce a movie on ABC, CBS or NBC), HBO claimed its fifth consecutive Emmy in the outstanding movie balloting for “Miss Evers’ Boys,” which also received the President’s Award--a 2-year-old category recognizing programs of social or educational significance.

The movie, which dealt with the Tuskegee experiment, received five awards in all, including an Emmy for lead actress Alfre Woodard and a pair last week in editing and cinematography. Only NBC’s “3rd Rock” equaled that movie’s total Emmy count, having previously won awards for costume design, choreography and sound mixing.

In one of the evening’s few surprises, Ellen DeGeneres did not receive an Emmy for her performance in the much-discussed, widely seen and controversial episode of ABC’s “Ellen” in which her character “came out” as a lesbian.

Rather, the Emmy went to Helen Hunt for the second consecutive year as best actress in a comedy for NBC’s “Mad About You,” with John Lithgow also a repeat winner for the network’s “3rd Rock From the Sun.”

The “Ellen” coming-out episode did earn an Emmy in the comedy writing category, with DeGeneres sharing in that honor because she came up with the story line.

“I accept this on behalf of all the people--and the teenagers especially--out there who think there’s something wrong with them because they’re gay,” DeGeneres said. “There’s nothing wrong with you, and don’t ever let anybody make you feel ashamed of who you are.”

Gillian Anderson of Fox’s drama “The X-Files” headed a list of several first-time winners in key acting categories, having been nominated once before for the science fiction series. Actresses Kristen Johnson and Kim Delaney each won in their first nominations as supporting actress in comedy and drama series, respectively, for “3rd Rock From the Sun” and ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” while Hector Elizondo was also a first-time winner for CBS’ “Chicago Hope.”

There were also the usual suspects, among them Dennis Franz, who won his third Emmy in four years for ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” while Michael Richards claimed his third supporting actor award for television’s top-rated comedy, NBC’s “Seinfeld.”

In addition to Franz and Delaney, “NYPD Blue” booked awards in the writing and directing categories. “ER”--television’s top-rated program, and last year’s best-drama winner--was relegated to three awards, all presented last week, for sound mixing, editing and casting.

HBO’s domination of the movie category included a first Emmy for Armand Assante for his role as mob boss John Gotti in “Gotti,” as well as Woodard’s third Emmy in her career. The major networks, in fact, were essentially shut out in the major movie categories, with the fifth installment of PBS’ “Prime Suspect” beating out four nominees from ABC, CBS and NBC as outstanding miniseries.

Receiving the Emmy for “Miss Evers’ Boys,” actor/producer Laurence Fishburne lauded President Clinton, “who had the decency to make a moral apology” for the Tuskegee experiment, which studied the effects of syphilis on a group of black men, even after a cure for the disease was discovered. In May, the president apologized to the survivors of the experiment, which began in 1932.

In general, however, the night featured little political commentary, with most winners content to thank their families and colleagues.

As usual, the television industry--which has come under siege during the last year for its content, through efforts to establish and then amend a system for rating TV programs--used the event to showcase the best television can offer. In his introductory remarks, host Bryant Gumbel called television “undeniably the most powerful medium on the planet,” and he later introduced highlights from last season by saying, “At its best, [television] has proven to be a remarkable force.”

Added academy president Richard Frank in bestowing the organization’s President’s Award to “Miss Evers’ Boys”: “We have a renewed sense that television has an obligation to do more than just entertain.”

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Beyond movies, HBO scored a surprise Emmy for “Tracey Takes On”--a sketch show starring comic Tracey Ullman--as best variety, music or comedy series, upsetting such programs as “The Tonight Show” and “Late Show With David Letterman.”

The pay channel also took honors for best special with “Chris Rock: Bring the Pain,” earning a second award for comic Chris Rock, who wrote the program. Bette Midler claimed the third Emmy of her career for the pay channel’s “Bette Midler: Diva Las Vegas.”

The Emmy telecast featured a brief tribute to former NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff, who died earlier this year, at age 48, from complications related to the treatment of Hodgkin’s disease.

“Without Brandon, none of this would have happened,” said “Law & Order” executive producer Dick Wolf in accepting the best drama Emmy. Tartikoff still oversaw programming at NBC when the program premiered in 1990.

Awards handed out a week ago also honored “The Simpsons” as outstanding animated program for the fourth time in the last five years.

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THE BIG WINNERS (49th Annual Awards)

Drama

Series: “Law & Order” NBC

Lead Actor: Dennis Franz, “NYPD Blues”

Lead Actress: Gillian Anderson, “The X-Files”

Comedy

Series: “Frasier” NBC

Lead Actor: John Lithgow, “3rd Rock From the Sun,” NBC

Lead Actress: Helen Hunt, “Mad About You,” NBC