31st Primetime Emmy Awards

31st Primetime Emmy Awards
Date
  • September 9, 1979
    (Ceremony)
  • September 8, 1979
    (Creative Arts Awards)
LocationPasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California
Presented byAcademy of Television Arts and Sciences
Hosted byHenry Winkler
Cheryl Ladd
Highlights
Most awardsAll in the Family
Friendly Fire
The Jericho Mile
Lou Grant
Roots: The Next Generations
Taxi (2)
Most nominationsLou Grant (12)
Outstanding Comedy SeriesTaxi
Outstanding Drama SeriesLou Grant
Outstanding Limited SeriesRoots: The Next Generations
Outstanding Comedy-Variety or Music ProgramSteve & Eydie Celebrate Irving Berlin
Television/radio coverage
NetworkABC
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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.