| 31st Primetime Emmy Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date |
|
| Location | Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California |
| Presented by | Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |
| Hosted by | Henry Winkler Cheryl Ladd |
| Highlights | |
| Most awards | All in the Family Friendly Fire The Jericho Mile Lou Grant Roots: The Next Generations Taxi (2) |
| Most nominations | Lou Grant (12) |
| Outstanding Comedy Series | Taxi |
| Outstanding Drama Series | Lou Grant |
| Outstanding Limited Series | Roots: The Next Generations |
| Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music Program | Steve & Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | ABC |
The 31st Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony was held on Sunday, September 9, 1979. The ceremony was broadcast on the ABC. It was hosted by Henry Winkler and Cheryl Ladd. This ceremony is remembered for problems with the Pasadena Civic Auditorium's air-conditioning.
The top shows of the night were Taxi, which pulled an upset in the Outstanding Comedy Series field when it beat All in the Family's final season, and Lou Grant, which received 12 major nominations and won two awards including Outstanding Drama Series.
For the first time, most of the Miniseries and Television Movie 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.