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Emmy Awards

See how much you know about the winners—and losers—of television’s highest award!

1. In what year were the first Emmy Awards presented?
   • 1946
   • 1949
   • 1950
   • 1955

   1949

   Only 6 awards were presented in the first year the awards were given. The award for Most Popular Television Program went to Pantomime Quiz Time.

2. Which TV show holds the record for most Emmy nominations (29), but no wins?
   • Newhart
   • M*A*S*H
   • Cheers
   • Dynasty

   Newhart

   Newhart (1982–1990) was the second sitcom for legendary comedian Bob Newhart; his first, The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978) was only nominated for 4 Emmys during its six-year run.

3. What was the lowest-rated sitcom ever to win the Emmy for Best Comedy Series?
   • Cheers
   • Hogan’s Heroes
   • It’s a Living
   • Arrested Development

   Arrested Development

   The critically praised but hardly watched show won the award in 2004; it also took home awards for Outstanding Writing and Directing that year.

4. Which actor has been undefeated at the Emmys, having won the award for Best Supporting Actor all five times he was nominated?
   • David Hyde Pierce (Frasier)
   • Don Knotts (Andy Griffith Show)
   • Ted Knight (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)
   • Woody Harrelson (Cheers)

   Don Knotts (Andy Griffith Show)

   Only one other person has done this: Candace Bergen won 5 Best Actress in a Comedy Series awards for her portrayal of Murphy Brown.

5. What TV show suffered the biggest shut-out in a single year, with 16 nominations and no wins?
   • Ally McBeal
   • Lost
   • Northern Exposure
   • Dallas

   Northern Exposure

   Northern Exposure suffered its stunning defeat in 1993; the previous year it had won 6 Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series.

6. Which of the following actors has never won an Emmy award?
   • Angela Lansbury
   • Mary Tyler Moore
   • Kelsey Grammer
   • Alan Alda

   Angela Lansbury

   Angela Lansbury has been nominated a total of 18 times, including 12 for her role as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote.

7. Who is the only female to have won Emmys in all three of the female comedic performing categories?
   • Mary Tyler Moore
   • Cloris Leachman
   • Shirley Jones
   • Betty White

   Betty White

   White has won two awards for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Life with Elizabeth and The Golden Girls; two in Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and two for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for The John Larroquette Show and Saturday Night Live. She also holds the record for longest periods between performing Emmy nominations—her first was in 1951 for Best Actress (KLAC) and her most recent was in 2011 (Supporting Actress in a Comedy, for Hot in Cleveland), a gap of 60 years.

8. What was the first movie to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie?
   • Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones
   • Roots
   • The Miracle Worker
   • The Burning Bed

   The Miracle Worker

   Teresa Wright starred as Annie Sullivan and Patricia McCormack starred as Helen Keller in this 1980 retelling of Helen Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life.

9. Which TV show holds the record for the most Emmy wins, at 37?
   • M*A*S*H
   • Frasier
   • The Mary Tyler Moore Show
   • Saturday Night Live

   Frasier

   Frasier garnered an astonishing 106 Emmy nominations over its 11-year run.

10. What is the Emmy Award named after?
    • The Academy President’s wife
    • The designer of the award
    • A tube in an early TV camera
    • It was named after nothing

    A tube in an early TV camera

    Television engineer and the third academy president, Harry Lubcke, suggested the name “Immy,” a nickname for the image orthicon tube used in the first TV cameras. The name was accepted, but turned into the feminine “Emmy” to match the female statuette.

11. Which sitcom finally won an Emmy for Best Comedy Series after it had been cancelled?
    • Sex and the City
    • Arrested Development
    • Laverne and Shirley
    • Barney Miller

    Barney Miller

    Barney Miller (1974–1982) was nominated for Best Comedy Series 6 of the 8 years it was on the air.

12. Which weighs more, an Academy Award or an Emmy Award?
    • Academy Award
    • Emmy Award

    Academy Award

    An Emmy Award weighs 6 pounds 12 ½ ounces; an Academy Award weighs 8 pounds 5 ounces.