The 35th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on September 25, 1983. The ceremony was broadcast on NBC, from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California. It is remembered for the vulgar language during the ceremony, much of it from Joan Rivers who cohosted the ceremony with Eddie Murphy. Rivers also wore nine dresses throughout the ceremony. 26 awards were presented.

Despite being one of the lowest-rated shows of the season, the critically acclaimed first season of Cheers won Outstanding Comedy Series as well as three other major awards. For the third straight year, Hill Street Blues won Outstanding Drama Series, it received at least 14 major nominations for the third straight year, unprecedented at the time, and also received every nomination in the Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series field. Second City Television also garnered every nomination in a category, for Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Program. NBC dominated the night, on the strength of the shows mentioned, it received 71 of the 128 major nominations, and won 19 of 25 major categories.

In its final ceremony, M*A*S*H was once again nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series. M*A*S*H was nominated every year it was on the air, 11/11, winning once in 1974, this record would be tied by Cheers a decade later when it too went 11/11, finishing with four victories.

Winners and nominees Emmys.com list of 1983 Nominees & Winners

Programs

+ Cheers (NBC) Buffalo Bill (NBC) M*A*S*H (CBS) Newhart (CBS) Taxi (NBC) Hill Street Blues (NBC) Cagney & Lacey (CBS) Fame (NBC) Magnum, P.I. (CBS) St. Elsewhere (NBC) Special Bulletin (NBC) Little Gloria... Happy at Last (NBC) M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (NBC) The Scarlet Pimpernel (CBS) Who Will Love My Children? (ABC) The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Syndicated) Smiley's People (Syndicated) The Thorn Birds (ABC) To Serve Them All My Days (CBS) The Winds of War (ABC) Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (NBC) The 37th Annual Tony Awards (CBS) The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (CBS) Second City Television (NBC) The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC)

Acting

Lead performances + Judd Hirsch as Alex Reiger in Taxi (NBC) (Episode: "Alex's Old Buddy") Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H (CBS) Dabney Coleman as Bill Bittinger in Buffalo Bill (NBC) Ted Danson as Sam Malone in Cheers (NBC) Robert Guillaume as Benson DuBois in Benson (ABC) Shelley Long as Diane Chambers in Cheers (NBC) (Episode: "Give Me a Ring Sometime") Nell Carter as Nell Harper in Gimme a Break! (NBC) Mariette Hartley as Jennifer Barnes in Goodnight, Beantown (CBS) Swoosie Kurtz as Laurie Morgan in Love, Sidney (NBC) Rita Moreno as Violet Newstead in 9 to 5 (ABC) Isabel Sanford as Louise Jefferson in The Jeffersons (CBS) Ed Flanders as Dr. Donald Westphall in St. Elsewhere (NBC) William Daniels as Dr. Mark Craig in St. Elsewhere (NBC) John Forsythe as Blake Carrington in Dynasty (ABC) Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum in Magnum, P.I. (CBS) Daniel J. Travanti as Capt. Frank Furillo in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Tyne Daly as Mary Beth Lacey in Cagney & Lacey (CBS) (Episode: "Burn Out") Debbie Allen as Lydia Grant in Fame (NBC) Linda Evans as Krystle Carrington in Dynasty (ABC) Sharon Gless as Christine Cagney in Cagney & Lacey (CBS) Veronica Hamel as Joyce Davenport in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Tommy Lee Jones as Gary Mark Gilmore in The Executioner's Song (NBC) Robert Blake as Jimmy Hoffa in Blood Feud (Syndicated) Richard Chamberlain as Ralph de Bricassart in The Thorn Birds (ABC) Alec Guinness as George Smiley in Smiley's People (Syndicated) Roger Rees as Nicholas Nickleby in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Syndicated) Barbara Stanwyck as Mary Carson in The Thorn Birds (ABC) (Episode: "Part 1") Ann-Margret as Lucile Fray in Who Will Love My Children? (ABC) Rosanna Arquette as Nicole Baker in The Executioner's Song (NBC) Mariette Hartley as Candy Lightner in M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (NBC) Angela Lansbury as Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in Little Gloria... Happy at Last (NBC)

Supporting performances

Christopher Lloyd as Jim Ignatowski in Taxi (NBC) (Episode: "Jim's Inheritance") Nicholas Colasanto as Coach Ernie Pantusso in Cheers (NBC) Danny DeVito as Louie De Palma in Taxi (NBC) Harry Morgan as Sherman T. Potter in M*A*S*H (CBS) Eddie Murphy as Various Characters in Saturday Night Live (NBC) Carol Kane as Simka Dahblitz-Gravas in Taxi (NBC) (Episode: "Scenkees From a Marriage") Eileen Brennan as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin (CBS) Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston in The Jeffersons (CBS) Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli in Cheers (NBC) Loretta Swit as Margaret Houlihan in M*A*S*H (CBS) James Coco as Arnie in St. Elsewhere (NBC) (Episode: "Cora and Arnie") Ed Begley Jr. as Dr. Victor Ehrlich in St. Elsewhere (NBC) Michael Conrad as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Joe Spano as Det. Henry Goldblume in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Bruce Weitz as Det. Mick Belker in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Doris Roberts as Cora in St. Elsewhere (NBC) (Episode: "Cora and Arnie") Barbara Bosson as Fay Furillo in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Christina Pickles as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in St. Elsewhere (NBC) Madge Sinclair as Nurse Ernestine Shoop in Trapper John, M.D. (CBS) Betty Thomas as Sgt. Lucille Bates in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Richard Kiley as Paddy Cleary in The Thorn Birds (ABC) (Episode: "Part I") Ralph Bellamy as President Franklin D. Roosevelt in The Winds of War (ABC) Bryan Brown as Luke O'Neill in The Thorn Birds (ABC) Christopher Plummer as Archbishop Vittorio Contini-Verchese in The Thorn Birds (ABC) David Threlfall as Smike in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Syndicated) Jean Simmons as Fiona 'Fee' Cleary in The Thorn Birds (ABC) Judith Anderson as Nurse in Medea (PBS) Polly Bergen as Rhoda Henry in The Winds of War (ABC) Bette Davis as Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt in Little Gloria... Happy at Last (NBC) Piper Laurie as Anne Mueller in The Thorn Birds (ABC) (Episode: "Part III")

Individual performances

Leontyne Price – Live from Lincoln Center: "Leontyne Price, Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic" (PBS) Carol Burnett – Texaco Star Theater...Opening Night (NBC) Michael Jackson – Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (NBC) Luciano Pavarotti – Live from Lincoln Center: "Luciano Pavarotti and the New York Philharmonic" (PBS) Richard Pryor – Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (NBC)

Directing + Cheers (NBC): "Showdown, Part II" – James Burrows Buffalo Bill (NBC): "Pilot" – Tom Patchett Buffalo Bill (NBC): "Woody Quits" – Jim Drake The Love Boat (ABC): "The Dog Show" – Bob Sweeney M*A*S*H (CBS): "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" – Alan Alda M*A*S*H (CBS): "The Joker Is Wild" – Burt Metcalfe Hill Street Blues (NBC): "Life in the Minors" – Jeff Bleckner Fame (NBC): "And the Winner Is" – Marc Daniels Fame (NBC): "Feelings" – Robert Scheerer The Mississippi (CBS): "Old Hatreds Die Hard" – Leo Penn Sheena Easton... Act One (NBC) – Dwight Hemion The 55th Annual Academy Awards (ABC) – Marty Pasetta Live from Lincoln Center: "Stravinsky and Balanchine: A Genius Has a Birthday!" (PBS) – Emile Ardolino Live from Lincoln Center: "Zubin Mehta Conducts Beethoven's Ninth with the New York Philharmonic" (PBS) – Kirk Browning Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (NBC) – Don Mischer Second City Television (NBC): "Sweeps Week" – John Blanchard and John Bell Who Will Love My Children? (ABC) – John Erman Smiley's People (Syndicated): "Part VI" – Simon Langton Special Bulletin (NBC) – Edward Zwick The Thorn Birds (ABC): "Part II" – Daryl Duke The Winds of War (ABC): "Into the Maelstrom" – Dan Curtis

Writing + Cheers (NBC): "Give Me a Ring Sometime" – Glen Charles and Les Charles Buffalo Bill (NBC): "Pilot" – Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses Cheers (NBC): "The Boys in the Bar" – Ken Levine and David Isaacs Cheers (NBC): "Diane's Perfect Date" – David Lloyd Taxi (NBC): "Jim's Inheritance" – Ken Estin Hill Street Blues (NBC): "Trial by Fury" – David Milch Hill Street Blues (NBC): "Eugene's Comedy Empire Strikes Back" – Hill Street Blues (NBC): "A Hair of the Dog" – Steven Bochco, Anthony Yerkovich and Jeffrey Lewis Hill Street Blues (NBC): "No Body's Perfect" – Hill Street Blues (NBC): "Officer of the Year" – Karen Hall Second City Television (NBC): "Sweeps Week" Second City Television (NBC): "Christmas Show" Second City Television (NBC): "Joe Walsh" Second City Television (NBC): "Robin Williams" Second City Television (NBC): "Towering Inferno" Special Bulletin (NBC) – The Executioner's Song (NBC) – Norman Mailer The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (Syndicated): "Part IV" – David Edgar Little Gloria... Happy at Last (NBC) – William Hanley Who Will Love My Children? (ABC) – Michael Bortman

Most major nominations +Networks with multiple major nominations"Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. Network Number ofNominations NBC 71 ABC 23 CBS 22

+Programs with multiple major nominations Program Category Network Number ofNominations Hill Street Blues Drama NBC 14 Cheers Comedy 9 The Thorn Birds Limited ABC Second City Television Variety NBC 7 St. Elsewhere Drama M*A*S*H Comedy CBS 6 Taxi NBC Buffalo Bill 5 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Limited Syndicated 4 Little Gloria... Happy at Last Special NBC Live from Lincoln Center Variety PBS Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever NBC Who Will Love My Children? Special ABC The Winds of War Limited Cagney & Lacey Drama CBS 3 The Executioner's Song Special NBC Smiley's People Limited Syndicated Special Bulletin Special NBC Dynasty Drama ABC 2 The Jeffersons Comedy CBS M.A.D.D.: Mother's Against Drunk Drivers Special NBC Magnum, P.I. Drama CBS

Most major awards +Networks with multiple major awards"Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories. Network Number ofAwards NBC 19 ABC 4

+Programs with multiple major awards Programs Category Network Number ofAwards Cheers Comedy NBC 4 Hill Street Blues Drama 3 St. Elsewhere Taxi Comedy The Thorn Birds Limited ABC Special Bulletin Special NBC 2

Notes

References

External links Emmys.com list of 1983 Nominees & Winners