The ninth time was the charm for Ted Danson, who finally took home an Emmy.
Danson won as Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Sam Malone on NBC's "Cheers." He had been nominated all eight seasons the show has been on the air, as well as a 1984 nomination for the TV movie "Something About Amelia." But it wasn't until Sunday that he won the statue."I suppose this means you'll be saying, you were robbed to some other boy tonight," Danson said. "I'll miss that."
The 42nd Annual Prime Time Emmys were broadcast by Fox from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
The big loser on the night was ABC's gothic soap opera "Twin Peaks." Despite garnering 14 nominations (the most of any show) "Peaks" was shut out on Sunday night. There was plenty of speculation that the critically acclaimed series would make a big showing at the awards, but David Lynch and Co. came away disappointed.
The series did win two Emmys, for costume design and editing, during the creative arts Emmys ceremonies on Saturday night.
Among the programs taking home Emmys were: "Murphy Brown," Comedy Series; "L.A. Law," Drama Series; "Drug Wars: The Camarena Story," Mini-series; "In Living Color," Variety, Music or Comedy Series; and "Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th Anniversary Celebration," Variety, Music or Comedy Special. "Caroline?" and "The Incident" tied in the Drama-Comedy Special category.
For the second year in a row, Candice Bergen took home the award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for "Murphy Brown."
"Oh . . . Delta's going to be waiting for me in the parking lot," Bergen said, referring to fellow nominee Delta Burke of "Designing Women."
Patricia Wetting, whose character suffered ovarian cancer this year on "thirtysomething," won the award as Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.
"I would really like to thank all the women with cancer who have . . . shared their stories with me so wholeheartedly - who have shared their hopes and fears. I truly salute your courage," Wetting said, fighting back tears.
The award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series went to "Columbo's" Peter Falk. It was Falk's fifth Emmy and fourth for his role as the rumpled detective, which he began playing back in 1971 on NBC. The show was revived as part of the ABC Mysteries last season.
"You know, today is my birthday," Falk said. "This morning I got three shirts and a dozen golf balls, and tonight, uh . . . it's a good country."
One of the bigger surprises of the night came when Alex Rocco won the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance in the canceled "Famous Teddy Z." His portrayal of slimy agent Al Floss was an industry favorite.
Marg Helgenberger of "China Beach" - who made it clear her name is Marg, not Marge - won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
"I want to thank all the Vietnam vets who so graciously have shared their experiences with us," she said.
Jimmy Smits, one of three nominees from "L.A. Law," won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of lawyer Victor Sifuentes.
Tracey Ullman, who decided to discontinue her low-rated series, won one Emmy for Outstanding Performance in a Variety of Music Program and shared another for Outstanding Writing in a Variety of Music Program. And she joked that maybe she shouldn't have quit the show.
"Oh blimey, this really brings it full circle," the British comedian-actress-singer said. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so cavalier. Maybe I should have taken those two minutes in the middle of `The Simpsons.' "
("The Simpsons" began as short segments in "The Tracy Ullman Show.")
On Saturday night, "The Simpsons" was named "Outstanding Animated Program."
Leonard Goldenson, founder of the American Broadcasting Co., received the annual Governor's Award, which was announced several months ago.
Unlike past years, no single show dominated the Emmys. "The Tracey Ullman Show" topped all the contenders with six statues - four of those in the creative arts categories (editing, makeup, hairstyling) - and that show isn't even on the air anymore.
"L.A. Law" came away with three major awards - Outstanding Drama Series, Supporting Actor and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series.
In the race among the networks, ABC came out on top with a total of 22 awards both Saturday and Sunday nights. NBC was second with 18, followed by CBS with 14, Fox and PBS with nine and HBO with eight.
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(Additional information)
And the winners are . . .
DRAMA SERIES: "L.A. Law" (NBC).
MINI-SERIES: "Drug Wars: The Camarena Story" (NBC).
COMEDY SERIES: "Murphy Brown" (CBS).
VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES: "In Living Color" (Fox).
VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SPECIAL: "Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th Anniversary Celebration" (ABC).
DRAMA-COMEDY SPECIAL: (tie) "Caroline?" Hallmark Hall of Fame (CBS); "The Incident" AT&T Presents (CBS).
ACTOR, Drama: Peter Falk, "Columbo" (ABC).
ACTRESS, Drama: Patricia Wettig, "thirtysomething" (ABC).
ACTOR, Comedy: Ted Danson, "Cheers" (NBC).
ACTRESS, Comedy: Candice Bergen, "Murphy Brown" (CBS).
ACTOR, Mini-series or Special: Hume Cronyn, "Age-Old Friends" (HBO).
ACTRESS, Mini-series or Special: Barbara Hershey, "A Killing in a Small Town" (CBS).
PERFORMANCE, Variety or Music Program: Tracey Ullman, "The Best of the Tracey Ullman Show" (Fox).
SUPPORTING ACTOR, Drama Series: Jimmy Smits, "L.A. Law".
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, Drama Series: Marg Helgenberger, "China Beach" (ABC).
SUPPORTING ACTOR, Comedy Series: Alex Rocco, "The Famous Teddy Z" (CBS).
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, Comedy Series: Bebe Neuwirth, "Cheers" (NBC).
SUPPORTING ACTOR, Mini-series or Special: Vincent Gardenia, "Age-Old Friends" (HBO).
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, Mini-series or Special: Eva Marie Saint, "People Like Us" (NBC).
DIRECTING, Drama Series: (tie) Thomas Carter, "Equal Justice" (ABC); Scott Winant, "thirtysomething" (ABC).
DIRECTING, Comedy Series: Michael Dinner, "The Wonder Years" (ABC).
DIRECTING, Mini-series or Special: Joseph Sargent, "Caroline?" Hallmark Hall of Fame (CBS).
DIRECTING, Variety or Music Program: Dwight Hemion, "The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts" (CBS).
WRITING, Drama Series: David E. Kelley, "L.A. Law" (NBC).
WRITING, Comedy Series: Bob Brush, "The Wonder Years" (ABC).
WRITING, Mini-series or Special: Terrence McNally, "Andre's Mother," (PBS).