40th Primetime Emmy Awards

The 40th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, August 28, 1988. The ceremony was broadcast on Fox from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. The ceremony was held earlier than its traditional September date to avoid conflict with the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Cable stations HBO and Showtime received their first major nominations at this ceremony.
Despite a season that consisted of only six episodes, newcomer series The Wonder Years won Primetime [Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series|Outstanding Comedy Series]. After winning his fourth consecutive Primetime Emmy Award for [Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series], John Larroquette requested to have his name taken off of the ballot for future ceremonies. Frank's Place became the most recent show whose only season was nominated for Outstanding Comedy/Drama Series.
In the drama field L.A. Law came into the ceremony as the defending champ and with 15 major nominations,, it was seen as the heavy favorite. However, it was upset by another first season show, Thirtysomething which won three major awards on the night including Outstanding Drama Series. L.A. Law only won one major award. The duo of Cagney & Lacey won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the sixth consecutive year. This tied The [Mary Tyler Moore Show]s record for acting categories, which still stands. With the wins for Bea Arthur and Estelle Getty, The Golden Girls became the most recent show to have all of its cast members win Emmys. It became the second series to do so, following All in the Family. Three other programs would accomplish this feat: Will & Grace in 2003, The Simpsons in 2014, and Schitt's Creek in 2020.
There was controversy during the nomination process regarding the PBS series Rumpole of the Bailey. The series was initially placed in the miniseries field, but soon after the Academy disqualified it and placed it in the drama series field. Its slot in the miniseries category was filled by The [Bourne Identity (1988 film)|The Bourne Identity].

Winners and nominees

Programs

Acting

Lead performances

Supporting performances

Individual performances

Directing

Writing

Most major nominations

Program	Category	Network	Number of Nominations
L.A. Law	Drama	NBC	15
Cheers	Comedy	NBC	9
Baby M	Miniseries	ABC	6
The Golden Girls	Comedy	NBC	6
St. Elsewhere	Drama	NBC	6
The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank	Special	CBS	5
Thirtysomething	Drama	ABC	5
Billionaire Boys Club	Miniseries	NBC	4
Foxfire	Special	CBS	4
Lincoln	Miniseries	NBC	4
Beauty and the Beast	Drama	CBS	3
Frank's Place	Comedy	CBS	3
It's Garry Shandling's Show	Comedy	Showtime	3
Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday Celebration	Variety	CBS	3
Late Night with David Letterman 6th Anniversary Special	Variety	NBC	3
The Murder of Mary Phagan	Miniseries	NBC	3
The Tracey Ullman Show	Variety	Fox	3
The Ann Jillian Story	Special	NBC	2
Cagney & Lacey	Drama	CBS	2
China Beach	Drama	ABC	2
The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd	Comedy	NBC	2
Great Performances: "Celebrating Gershwin"	Variety	PBS	2
Hooperman	Comedy	ABC	2
Inherit the Wind	Special	NBC	2
Irving Berlin's 100th Birthday Celebration	Variety	CBS	2
Newhart	Comedy	CBS	2
Night Court	Comedy	NBC	2
Onassis: The Richest Man in the World	Special	ABC	2
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 20th Anniversary Reunion	Variety	CBS	2
The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story	Special	NBC	2
The Wonder Years	Comedy	ABC	2

Most major awards

Program	Category	Network	Number of Awards
Thirtysomething	Drama	ABC	3
The Golden Girls	Comedy	NBC	2
Inherit the Wind	Special	NBC	2

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