8th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 8th Emmy Awards, later referred to as the 8th Primetime Emmy Awards, were held on March 17, 1956, to honor the best in television of the year. The ceremony was held at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Hollywood, California and was hosted by Art Linkletter and John Charles Daly. All nominations are listed, with winners in bold and series' networks are in parentheses.
The top shows of the night were The Phil Silvers Show, and Producers' Showcase. Each show won a record four major awards. Producers' Showcase, with its twelve major nominations, became the first show to receive over ten major nominations..
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger.Most major nominations
| Program | Category | Network | Number of Nominations |
| Producers' Showcase | Drama | NBC | 12 |
| The United States Steel Hour | Drama | CBS | 7 |
| Ford Star Jubilee | Variety | CBS | 6 |
| The Bob Cummings Show | Comedy | CBS | 5 |
| Make Room for Daddy | Comedy | ABC | 5 |
| The Phil Silvers Show | Comedy | CBS | 5 |
| Caesar's Hour | Comedy | NBC | 4 |
| Climax! | Drama | CBS | 4 |
| Alcoa-Goodyear Playhouse | Drama | NBC | 3 |
| Disneyland | Action/Adventure | ABC | 3 |
| The George Gobel Show | Comedy | NBC | 3 |
| The Honeymooners | Comedy | CBS | 3 |
| I Love Lucy | Comedy | CBS | 3 |
| Kraft Television Theatre | Drama | NBC | 3 |
| Wide Wide World | Documentary | NBC | 3 |
| The 20th Century Fox Hour | Drama | CBS | 2 |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Action/Adventure | CBS | 2 |
| The Dinah Shore Show | Music/Variety | NBC | 2 |
| Dragnet | Action/Adventure | NBC | 2 |
| Goodyear Television Playhouse | Drama | NBC | 2 |
| The Jack Benny Program | Comedy | CBS | 2 |
| The Perry Como Show | Music/Variety | NBC | 2 |
| You Are There | Documentary | CBS | 2 |
Most major awards
| Program | Category | Network | Number of Awards |
| The Phil Silvers Show | Comedy | CBS | 4 |
| Producers' Showcase | Drama | NBC | 4 |
| Ford Star Jubilee | Variety | CBS | 3 |
| Disneyland | Action/Adventure | ABC | 2 |
;Notes