29th Primetime Emmy Awards

The 29th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 11, 1977. The ceremony was broadcast on NBC. It was hosted by Angie Dickinson and Robert Blake.
The top shows of the night were Mary Tyler Moore Show|Mary Tyler Moore], which, in its final season, won its third consecutive Outstanding Comedy Series Award, it also became the first comedy series to gain eleven major nominations. Upstairs, Downstairs, also in its final season, won its third Outstanding Drama Series Award in four years. But the overwhelming champion of the ceremony was the miniseries Roots.
Roots set several milestones and broke multiple records during the night. It became the first show to receive at least twenty major nominations. Adding its nominations in Creative Arts categories, its total expands to 37. Both records still stand for all shows. It was the first show to gain every nomination in an acting category. Its thirteen acting nominations tied the record set the previous year by Rich Man, Poor Man. Roots became the first miniseries, and second show overall, along with All in the Family in 1972, to win six of seven major categories. All but one of Roots eight episodes were nominated for major awards.
Other distinctions included Mary Kay Place winning Primetime Emmy Award for [Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series|a Major Acting award] for a TV show that had no major network, only broadcast in Syndication - the first time this rare feat has occurred. Also, with actress Rita Moreno's win for her guest appearance on The Muppet Show, she became the third person after Richard Rodgers and Helen Hayes to achieve all four major entertainment awards.
With this ceremony, the Primetime Emmys began a long residency at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium that would continue until 1997.

Winners and nominees

Most major nominations

;By network

Network	Number of Nominations
ABC	59
CBS	48
NBC	48
PBS	14

Program	Category	Network	Number of Nominations
Roots	Limited	ABC	21
The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Comedy	CBS	11
MASH*	Comedy	CBS	9
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years	Special	ABC	8
Saturday Night	Variety	NBC	7
The Carol Burnett Show	Variety	CBS	6
Raid on Entebbe	Special	NBC	6
Captains and the Kings	Limited	NBC	5
Family	Drama	ABC	5
Tail Gunner Joe	Special	NBC	5
The Adams Chronicles	Limited	PBS	4
All in the Family	Comedy	CBS	4
Barney Miller	Comedy	ABC	4
Sybil	Special	NBC	4
The Waltons	Drama	CBS	4
Baretta	Drama	ABC	3
The Barry Manilow Special	Variety	ABC	3
Harry S. Truman: Plain Speaking	Special	PBS	3
The Moneychangers	Limited	NBC	3
The Muppet Show	Variety	Syndicated	3
Rhoda	Comedy	CBS	3
Sills and Burnett at the Met	Variety	CBS	3
Van Dyke and Company	Variety	NBC	3
Amelia Earhart	Special	NBC	2
America Salutes Richard Rodgers: The Sound of His Music	Variety	CBS	2
The Bob Newhart Show	Comedy	CBS	2
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble	Special	ABC	2
Charlie's Angels	Drama	ABC	2
Columbo	Drama	NBC	2
Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys	Special	NBC	2
The Rockford Files	Drama	NBC	2
Seventh Avenue	Limited	NBC	2
The Shirley MacLaine Special: Where Do We Go from Here?	Variety	CBS	2
The Streets of San Francisco	Drama	ABC	2
Upstairs, Downstairs	Drama	PBS	2
World of Magic	Variety	NBC	2

Most major awards

Program	Category	Network	Number of Awards
Roots	Limited	ABC	6
Sybil	Special	NBC	3
America Salutes Richard Rodgers: The Sound of His Music	Variety	CBS	2
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years	Special	ABC	2
Family	Drama	ABC	2
MASH*	Comedy	CBS	2
The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Comedy	CBS	2
Tail Gunner Joe	Special	NBC	2

;Notes