The 33rd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 13, 1981. The ceremony was broadcast on CBS. It was hosted by Shirley MacLaine and Edward Asner. 25 awards were presented.
For the third consecutive year, the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series went to Taxi. The top show on the drama side was Hill Street Blues which, in its first season, tied the record for most major nominations (14) and wins (6) by a non-miniseries. NBC's ratings juggernaut Shōgun received eight major nominations, but only won one, for Outstanding Limited Series.
Winners and nominees Emmys.com list of 1981 Nominees & Winners
Programs + Taxi (ABC) Barney Miller (ABC) M*A*S*H (CBS) Soap (ABC) WKRP in Cincinnati (CBS) Hill Street Blues (NBC) Dallas (CBS) Lou Grant (CBS) Quincy, M.E. (NBC) The White Shadow (CBS) Playing for Time (CBS) Evita Peron (NBC) Fallen Angel (CBS) The Shadow Box (ABC) The Women's Room (ABC) Shōgun (NBC) East of Eden (ABC) Masada (ABC) Rumpole of the Bailey (PBS) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (PBS) Lily: Sold Out (CBS) AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Fred Astaire (CBS) The Benny Hill Show (Syndicated) The Muppet Show (Syndicated) The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC)
Acting
Lead performances + Judd Hirsch as Alex Reiger in Taxi (ABC) (Episode: "Elaine's Strange Triangle") Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H (CBS) Hal Linden as Capt. Barney Miller in Barney Miller (ABC) Richard Mulligan as Burt Campbell in Soap (ABC) John Ritter as Jack Tripper in Three's Company (ABC) Isabel Sanford as Louise Jefferson in The Jeffersons (CBS) (Episode: "And the Doorknobs Shined Like Diamonds") Eileen Brennan as Mrs. McKenzie in Taxi (ABC) (Episode: "Thy Boss's Wife") Cathryn Damon as Mary Campbell in Soap (ABC) Katherine Helmond as Jessica Tate in Soap (ABC) Lynn Redgrave as Ann Atkinson in House Calls (CBS) Daniel J. Travanti as Captain Frank Furillo in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Edward Asner as Lou Grant in Lou Grant (CBS) Jim Davis as Jock Ewing in Dallas (CBS) Louis Gossett Jr. as Bessie's Father in Palmerstown, U.S.A. (CBS) (Episode: "Future City") Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing in Dallas (CBS) Pernell Roberts as Dr. John 'Trapper' McIntyre in Trapper John, M.D. (CBS) Barbara Babcock as Grace Gardner in Hill Street Blues (NBC) (Episode: "Fecund Hand Rose") Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie Ewing in Dallas (CBS) Linda Gray as Sue Ellen Ewing in Dallas (CBS) Veronica Hamel as Joyce Davenport in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Michael Learned as Mary Benjamin in Nurse (CBS) Stefanie Powers as Jennifer Hart in Hart to Hart (ABC) Anthony Hopkins as Adolf Hitler in The Bunker (CBS) Richard Chamberlain as Anjin-san in Shōgun (NBC) Toshirô Mifune as Lord Yoshi Toranaga in Shōgun (NBC) Peter O'Toole as General Cornelius Flavius Silva in Masada (ABC) Peter Strauss as Eleazar ben Yair in Masada (ABC) Vanessa Redgrave as Fania Fenelon in Playing for Time (CBS) Ellen Burstyn as Jean Harris in The People vs. Jean Harris (NBC) Catherine Hicks as Marilyn Monroe in Marilyn: The Untold Story (ABC) Yôko Shimada as Lady Toda Buntaro in Shōgun (NBC) Joanne Woodward as Elizabeth Huckaby in Crisis at Central High (CBS)
Supporting performances
Danny DeVito as Louie De Palma in Taxi (ABC) Howard Hesseman as Johnny Caravella in WKRP in Cincinnati (CBS) Steve Landesberg as Sgt. Arthur Dietrich in Barney Miller (ABC) Harry Morgan as Sherman T. Potter in M*A*S*H (CBS) David Ogden Stiers as Charles Emerson Winchester III in M*A*S*H (CBS) Eileen Brennan as Doreen Lewis in Private Benjamin (CBS) Loni Anderson as Jennifer Marlowe in WKRP in Cincinnati (CBS) Anne Meara as Veronica Rooney in Archie Bunker's Place (CBS) Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston in The Jeffersons (CBS) Loretta Swit as Margaret Houlihan in M*A*S*H (CBS) Michael Conrad as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Mason Adams as Charlie Hume in Lou Grant (CBS) Charles Haid as Officer Andy Renko in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Robert Walden as Joe Rossi in Lou Grant (CBS) Bruce Weitz as Det. Mick Belker in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Nancy Marchand as Margaret Pynchon in Lou Grant (CBS) (Episode: "Stroke") Barbara Barrie as Evelyn Stoller in Breaking Away (ABC) Barbara Bosson as Fay Furillo in Hill Street Blues (NBC) Linda Kelsey as Billie Newman in Lou Grant (CBS) Betty Thomas as Sgt. Lucille Bates in Hill Street Blues (NBC) David Warner as Falco in Masada (ABC) Andy Griffith as Ash Robinson in Murder in Texas (NBC) Yūki Meguro as Omi in Shōgun (NBC) Anthony Quayle as Rubrius Gallus in Masada (ABC) John Rhys-Davies as Vasco Rodrigues in Shōgun (NBC) Jane Alexander as Alma Rose in Playing for Time (CBS) Colleen Dewhurst as Val in The Women's Room (ABC) Patty Duke as Lily in The Women's Room (ABC) Shirley Knight as Frau Lagerfuhrerin Maria Mandel in Playing for Time (CBS) Piper Laurie as Magda Goebbels in The Bunker (CBS)
Directing + Taxi (ABC): "Elaine's Strange Triangle" – James Burrows Archie Bunker's Place (CBS): "Tough Love" – Linda Day Barney Miller (ABC): "Liquidation" – Noam Pitlik Happy Days (ABC): "Hello, Mrs. Arcola" – Jerry Paris M*A*S*H (CBS): "The Life You Save" – Alan Alda M*A*S*H (CBS): "No Laughing Matter" – Burt Metcalfe WKRP in Cincinnati (CBS): "Venus Flytrap Explains the Atom" – Rod Daniel Hill Street Blues (NBC): "Hill Street Station" – Robert Butler American Dream (ABC): "Pilot" – Mel Damski Hill Street Blues (NBC): "Jungle Madness" – Corey Allen Hill Street Blues (NBC): "Up in Arms" – Georg Stanford Brown Lou Grant (CBS): "Pack" – Burt Brinckerhoff Lou Grant (CBS): "Strike" – Gene Reynolds The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (CBS) – Don Mischer The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (ABC) – Marty Pasetta Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters (NBC) – Bob Henry Great Performances: "Dance in America" (PBS) – Emile Ardolino Linda in Wonderland (CBS) – Dwight Hemion Musical Comedy Tonight II (PBS) – Tony Charmoli Kent State (NBC) – James Goldstone Bitter Harvest (NBC) – Roger Young Masada (ABC): "Part IV" – Boris Sagal The Shadow Box (ABC) – Paul Newman Shōgun (NBC): "Part 5" – Jerry London
Writing + Taxi (ABC): "Tony's Sister and Jim" – Michael Leeson The Greatest American Hero (ABC): "Pilot" – Stephen J. Cannell M*A*S*H (CBS): "Death Takes a Holiday" – Taxi (ABC): "Elaine's Strange Triangle" – David Lloyd Taxi (ABC): "Going Home" – Glen Charles and Les Charles Hill Street Blues (NBC): "Hill Street Station" – Michael Kozoll and Steven Bochco American Dream (ABC): "Pilot" – Ronald M. Cohen, Barbara Corday and Ken Hecht Hill Street Blues (NBC): "Jungle Madness" – Michael Kozoll, Steven Bochco and Anthony Yerkovich Lou Grant (CBS): "Rape" – Seth Freeman Lou Grant (CBS): "Strike" – April Smith The Muppet Show (Syndicated): "Carol Burnett" AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Fred Astaire (CBS) Lily: Sold Out (CBS) Musical Comedy Tonight II (PBS) The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (NBC): "18th Anniversary Show" Playing for Time (CBS) –Arthur Miller Bitter Harvest (NBC) – Richard Friedenberg Masada (ABC): "Part IV" – Joel Oliansky The Shadow Box (ABC) – Michael Cristofer Shōgun (NBC): "Part 5" – Eric Bercovici
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 CBS 52 ABC 40 NBC 32
+Programs with multiple major nominations Program Category Network Number ofNominations Hill Street Blues Drama NBC 14 Lou Grant CBS 10 M*A*S*H Comedy 8 Shōgun Miniseries NBC Taxi Comedy ABC Masada Miniseries 7 Dallas Drama CBS 5 Playing for Time Special Barney Miller Comedy ABC 4 Soap WKRP in Cincinnati CBS The Shadow Box Special ABC 3 The Women's Room AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Fred Astaire Variety CBS 2 American Dream Drama ABC Archie Bunker's Place Comedy CBS Bitter Harvest Special NBC The Bunker CBS The Jeffersons Comedy Lily: Sold Out Variety The Muppet Show Syndicated Musical Comedy Tonight II PBS The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson NBC
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 CBS 10 NBC 8 ABC 6
+Programs with multiple major awards Program Category Network Number ofAwards Hill Street Blues Drama NBC 6 Taxi Comedy ABC 5 Playing for Time Special CBS 4
Notes
References
External links Emmys.com list of 1981 Nominees & Winners