The 38th Primetime Emmy Awards were presented on September 21, 1986, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in

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. ...

. The Emmy ceremony was cohosted by

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

and

Shelley Long Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949) is an American actress, singer, and comedian. Long portrayed Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom ''Cheers'' and received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Seri ...

. During the ceremony, Letterman saluted

Grant Tinker Grant Almerin Tinker (January 11, 1926 – November 28, 2016) was an American television executive who served as chairman and Chief executive officer, CEO of NBC from 1981 to 1986. Additionally, he was a co-founder of MTM Enterprises and a te ...

, who had stepped down as chairman of NBC due to its parent company,

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, having been acquired by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

. The ceremony was also memorable for the presentation of the Governors' Award to

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

, presented by comedy legend

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Gold ...

, who in his acceptance speech said he had missed being on TV for the previous 16 years. This year's ceremony saw the return of the guest acting category. The top shows of the night were ''

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 Wh ...

'' which won Outstanding Comedy Series and two other major awards. ''The Golden Girls'' became the first series to gain three nominations in a lead acting category, they would repeat this feat multiple times. For the second straight year ''

Cagney & Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very di ...

'' won for Outstanding Drama Series, and led all shows with four major wins. With help from the guest acting category, ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

'' with 13 nominations broke the record for most major nominations by a comedy series of 11 set by ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moo ...

'' in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

. This record has since been surpassed.

Winners and nominees

Emmys.com list of 1986 Nominees & Winners
/ref>

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 – 79 * CBS – 39 * ABC – 13 ; By program * ''The Cosby Show'' (NBC) - 13 * ''St. Elsewhere'' (NBC) – 10 * ''The Golden Girls'' (NBC) / ''Moonlighting'' (ABC) – 9 * ''An Early Frost'' (NBC) / ''Cheers'' (NBC) – 8 * ''Cagney & Lacey'' (CBS) – 7

Most major awards

;By network "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. * NBC – 17 * CBS – 9 ; By program * ''Cagney & Lacey'' (CBS) – 4 * ''The Golden Girls'' (NBC) / ''St. Elsewhere'' (NBC) – 3 ;Notes

References

External links

Emmys.com list of 1986 Nominees & Winners
* {{EmmyAwardsbyYear 038 1986 television awards 1986 in California September 1986 events in the United States