History of the Emmy Awards

By Wikipedia

The Emmy Awards are television production awards, similar to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment. You can discuss the Emmys (any year) in our forums.

Three related but separate organizations present Emmy Awards:

• the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honors national prime time entertainment (excluding sports);
• the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recognizes daytime, sports, news and documentary programming; and
• the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honors programming originating outside the United States.

The best-known of the awards are the Primetime Awards (some of which are classified as "Creative Arts Emmys") and the Daytime Emmy Awards.

Primetime Emmys

The Primetime Emmys generally air in mid-September, on the Sunday before the official start of the fall television season. They are currently seen in rotation among the four major networks (CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox). However, the 2006 Primetime Emmys (which will be seen on NBC) will air a few weeks early, on Sunday, August 27, 2006, in order to accommodate the Peacock network's coverage of Sunday night NFL beginning in September.

History

"Emmy" was a feminization of "immy", a nickname used for the image orthicon tubes that were common in early television cameras. Shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy in the first awards ceremony. The Emmy Awards trophies are currently made by a private company with a manufacturing site at the maximum security El Dorado Correctional Facility, in El Dorado, Kansas.

The statuette of a winged woman holding an atom has since become the symbol of the TV Academy's goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television: The wings represent the muse of art; the atom the electron of science. It was created by television engineer Louis McManus, using his wife as a model.

Winners of Primetime Emmys

We more complete lists for our favorite years: 1969-70, 70-71, 71-72, 72-73, 73-74, 74-75, 75-76, 76-77, 77-78, 78-79, 79-80.

In the early days of the Emmy Awards, categories awarded by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences changed year-to-year, causing irregularities in the continuity of the listed awards.

For several years in the late 1950s and early 1960s the Academy did not differentiate between comedies and dramas in the individual performance categories, issuing only a catch-all "Best Continuing Performance" or "Outstanding (Actor/Actress) in a Series".

During the mid 1950s the Academy split the Best Drama award into several categories, including (but not limited to) "One Hour or More", "Half Hour or Less", and "Western or Adventure Series". Each winner is indicated below.

In 1964-1965, Academy President Rod Serling initiated "Area Awards" that narrowed the categories to a select few and allowed for multiple winners in an attempt to foster less competition in favor of more programs and individuals receiving credit for their work. The experiment lasted for only one awards season.

Here are the major winners:

Sources

• O'Neil, Thomas. The Emmys: Revised and Updated. New York: Perigee, 1998.