The 31st Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 9, 1979. The ceremony was broadcast on ABC. It was hosted by

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE (born October 30, 1945), is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. After rising to fame as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series '' Happy Days'', Winkler has ...

and

Cheryl Ladd Cheryl Ladd (born Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor; July 12, 1951) is an American actress, singer, and author best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the ABC television series ''Charlie's Angels'', whose cast she joined in its second season in 1977 t ...

. This ceremony is remembered for problems with the Pasadena Civic Auditorium's air-conditioning, as well as for

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

's Outstanding Comedy Series victory. The top shows of the night were ''

'', which pulled an upset in the Outstanding Comedy Series field when it beat '' All in the Family's'' final season. ''

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

'' received 12 major nominations, which, it won two awards including Outstanding Drama Series. For the first time, most of the miniseries and

Television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

categories were merged into one, this would become the standard for later ceremonies, culminating with the TV Movie and Miniseries program categories combining in 2011. For this year only, the comedy and variety categories were combined in acting, directing, and writing. This combination would not stick, and the traditional categories returned the next year.

Winners and nominees

Emmys.com list of 1979 Nominees & Winners
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Programs

Acting

Lead performances

Supporting 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. * CBS – 46 * ABC – 30 * NBC – 23 ; By program * ''Lou Grant'' (CBS) – 12 * ''M*A*S*H'' (CBS) – 9 * ''Backstairs at the White House'' (CBS) – 8 * ''All in the Family'' (CBS) / ''The Rockford Files'' (NBC) / ''Roots: The Next Generations'' (ABC) – 6

Most major awards

;By network "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. * ABC – 11 * CBS – 9 * NBC – 3 ; By program * ''All in the Family'' (CBS) / ''Friendly Fire'' (ABC) / ''The Jericho Mile'' (ABC) / ''Lou Grant'' (CBS) / ''Roots: The Next Generations'' (ABC) / ''Taxi'' (ABC) – 2 ;Notes

References

External links

Emmys.com list of 1979 Nominees & Winners
* {{EmmyAwardsbyYear 031 1979 television awards 1979 in California September 1979 events in the United States