| 50th Primetime Emmy Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date |
|
| Location | Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California |
| Presented by | Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |
| Highlights | |
| Most awards | |
| Most nominations |
|
| Outstanding Comedy Series | Frasier |
| Outstanding Drama Series | The Practice |
| Outstanding Miniseries | From the Earth to the Moon |
| Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series | Late Show with David Letterman |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | NBC |
| Produced by | Don Mischer |
The 50th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 13, 1998. It was broadcast on NBC.
When Frasier was announced as the winner of Outstanding Comedy Series, Emmy history was made. The NBC sitcom became the first show to win one of the two main series prizes five consecutive years. This record has since been passed by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, whose winning streak was ten years, but for the main two genres, it was not matched until 2014, when the ABC sitcom Modern Family won its fifth consecutive award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Frasier tied for the most major wins overall with three.
The Practice won Outstanding Drama Series. For the second straight year, medical drama ER came into the night as the most nominated program, but once again walked away empty handed, going 0/8 in major categories.
Ally McBeal became the first hour-long series to be nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series since Love, American Style in 1971.
This year saw the Emmys move to a new venue, the Shrine Auditorium, marking the return of the award ceremony to Los Angeles for the first time since the 1976 Emmy Awards, following a 20-year residency at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium outside L.A. in Pasadena.
As of the 2023 Emmy Awards ceremony, this is the last year where all the nominees for Outstanding Drama Series were from the broadcast networks.