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. (Both of these records were subsequently passed by multiple shows).
Winners, & Nominees
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Programs
Best Comedy Series |
Best Dramatic Series |
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Best Variety Series |
Best Audience Participation Series (Quiz, Panel, Etc.) |
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Best Action or Adventure Series |
Best Children's Series |
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Best Documentary Program |
Best Special Event or News Program |
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Best Music Series |
Best Contribution to Daytime Programing |
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Best Single Program of the Year |
- Producers' Showcase, (Episode: "Peter Pan"), (NBC)
- Disneyland, (Episode: "Davy Crocket and the River Pirates"), (ABC)
- Ford Star Jubilee, (Episode: "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial"), (CBS)
- Make Room for Daddy, (Episode: "Peter Pan Meets Rusty Williams"), (ABC)
- Producers' Showcase, (Episode: "The Sleeping Beauty"), (NBC)
- The United States Steel Hour, (Episode: "No Time for Sergeants"), (CBS)
- Wide Wide World (Episode: "The American West"), (NBC)
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Acting
Lead performances
Best Actor in a Continuing Performance |
Best Actress in a Continuing Performance |
- Phil Silvers as MSgt. Ernest G. Bilko on The Phil Silvers Show, (CBS)
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Supporting performances
Best Actor in a Supporting Role |
Best Actress in a Supporting Role |
- Art Carney as Ed Norton on The Honeymooners, (CBS)
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- Nanette Fabray as Various characters on Caesar's Hour, (NBC)
- Ann B. Davis as Charmaine Schultz on The Bob Cummings Show, (Episode: "Schultzy's Dream World"), (CBS)
- Jean Hagen as Margaret Williams on Make Room for Daddy, (ABC)
- Audrey Meadows as Alice Kramden on The Honeymooners, (CBS)
- Thelma Ritter as Aggie Hurley on Goodyear Television Playhouse, (Episode: "The Catered Affair"), (NBC)
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Single performances
Best Actor in a Single Performance |
Best Actress in a Single Performance |
- Lloyd Nolan as Capt. Queeg on Ford Star Jubilee, (Episode: "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial"), (CBS)
- Ralph Bellamy as The Father on The United States Steel Hour, (Episode: "The Fearful Decision"), (CBS)
- José Ferrer as Cyrano on Producers' Showcase, (Episode: "Cyrano de Bergerac"), (NBC)
- Everett Sloane as The President on Kraft Television Theatre, (Episode: "Patterns"), (NBC)
- Barry Sullivan as Defense Attorney Greenwald on Ford Star Jubilee, (Episode: "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial"), (CBS)
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Directing
Best Director for a Film Series |
Best Director for a Live Series |
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- Franklin Schaffner for Ford Star Jubilee, (Episode: "The Cain Mutiny Court Marshall"), (CBS)
- John Frankenheimer for Climax!, (Episode: "Portrait in Celluloid"), (CBS)
- Clark Jones for Producers' Showcase, (Episode: "Peter Pan"), (NBC)
- Delbert Mann for Producers' Showcase, (Episode: "Our Town"), (NBC)
- Alex Segal for The United States Steel Hour, (Episode: "No Time for Sergeants"), (CBS)
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Producing
Best Producer for a Film Series |
Best Producer for a Live Series |
- Walt Disney for Disneyland, (ABC)
- James D. Fonda for You Are There, (CBS)
- Paul Henning for The Bob Cummings Show, (CBS)
- Nat Hiken for The Phil Silvers Show, (CBS)
- Frank LaTourette for Medic, (NBC)
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Writing
Best Comedy Writing |
Best Original Teleplay Writing |
- Arnold Auerbach, Barry Blitzer, Vincent Bogert, Nat Hiken, Coleman Jacoby, Harvey Orkin, Arnold Rosen, Terry Ryan, Tony Webster for The Phil Silvers Show, (CBS)
- George Balzer, Hal Goldman, Al Gordon, Sam Perrin for The Jack Benny Show, (CBS)
- Mel Brooks, Selma Diamond, Larry Gelbart, Sheldon Keller, Mel Tolkin for Caesar's Hour, (NBC)
- Bob Carroll, Jr., Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh Davis, Robert Schiller, Robert Weiskopf, for I Love Lucy, (CBS)
- Everett Greenbaum, Hal Kanter, Howard Leeds, Harry Winkler for The George Gobel Show, (NBC)
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- Rod Serling for Kraft Television Theatre, (Episode: "Patterns"), (NBC)
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Best Television Adaptation |
- Paul Gregory, Franklin Schaffner, for Ford Star Jubilee, (Episode: "The Cain Mutiny Court Martial"), (CBS)
- David Dortort, for The 20th Century Fox Hour, (Episode: "The Ox-Bow Incident"), (CBS)
- John Monks, for The 20th Century Fox Hour, (Episode: "Miracle on 34th Street"), (CBS)
- Rod Serling, for Climax!, (Episode: "The Champion"), (CBS)
- David Shaw for Producers' Showcase, (Episode: Our Town"), (NBC)
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Most major nominations
- By network [note 1]
- CBS – 61
- NBC – 54
- ABC – 11
- By program
- Producers' Showcase (NBC) – 12
- The United States Steel Hour (CBS) – 7
- Ford Star Jubilee (CBS) / Make Room for Daddy (ABC) – 6
- The Bob Cummings Show (CBS) / The Phil Silvers Show (CBS) – 5
- Caesar's Hour (NBC) / Climax! (CBS) – 4
- Alcoa-Goodyear Playhouse (NBC) / Disneyland (ABC) / The George Gobel Show (NBC) / The Honeymooners (CBS) / I Love Lucy (CBS) / Kraft Television Theatre (NBC) – 3
Most major awards
- By network [note 1]
- By program
- The Phil Silvers Show (CBS) / Producers' Showcase (NBC) – 4
- Ford Star Jubilee (CBS) – 3
- Disneyland (ABC) - 2
- Notes
- 1 2 "Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. Does not include the technical categories.
References
External links