39th Primetime Emmy Awards

|+ {{sronly|Programs}}

• The Golden Girls (NBC)
• Cheers (NBC)
• The Cosby Show (NBC)
• Family Ties (NBC)
• Night Court (NBC)

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Drama Series}}

• L.A. Law (NBC)
• Cagney & Lacey (CBS)
• Moonlighting (ABC)
• Murder, She Wrote (CBS)
• St. Elsewhere (NBC)

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Miniseries}}

• A Year in the Life (NBC)
• Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (NBC)
• Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder (NBC)
• Out on a Limb (ABC)
• The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (NBC)

|+ {{sronly|Acting}}

• Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties (NBC) (Episode: "A, My Name is Alex")
• Harry Anderson as Judge Harry T. Stone in Night Court (NBC)
• Ted Danson as Sam Malone in Cheers (NBC) (Episode: "Diamond Sam")
• Bob Newhart as Dick Loudon in Newhart (CBS) (Episode: "Co-Hostess Twinkie")
• Bronson Pinchot as Balki Bartokomous in Perfect Strangers (ABC)

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series}}

• Rue McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux in The Golden Girls (NBC) (Episode: "End of the Curse")
• Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak in The Golden Girls (NBC) (Episode: "The Stan Who Came to Dinner")
• Blair Brown as Molly Dodd in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (NBC)
• Jane Curtin as Allison Lowell in Kate & Allie (CBS)
• Betty White as Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls (NBC) (Episode: "Isn't It Romantic?")

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series}}

• Sharon Gless as Christine Cagney in Cagney & Lacey (CBS) (Episode: "Turn, Turn, Turn")
• Tyne Daly as Mary Beth Lacey in Cagney & Lacey (CBS)
• Susan Dey as Grace Van Owen in L.A. Law (NBC)
• Jill Eikenberry as Ann Kelsey in L.A. Law (NBC)
• Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote (CBS)

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special}}

• Gena Rowlands as Betty Ford in The Betty Ford Story (ABC)
• Ann-Margret as Ann Arden Grenville in The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (NBC)
• Ellen Burstyn as Barbara Jackson in Pack of Lies (CBS)
• Lee Remick as Frances Schreuder in Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder (NBC)
• Alfre Woodard as Maude DeVictor in Unnatural Causes (NBC)

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series}}

• John Larroquette as Dan Fielding in Night Court (NBC) (Episode: "Dan's Operation")
• Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd in Cheers (NBC)
• Tom Poston as Clayton George Utley in Newhart (CBS)
• Peter Scolari as Michael Harris in Newhart (CBS)
• George Wendt as Norm Peterson in Cheers (NBC)

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series}}

• Jackée Harry as Sandra Clark in 227 (NBC) (Episode: "The Washington Affair")
• Justine Bateman as Mallory Keaton in Family Ties (NBC)
• Julia Duffy as Stephanie Vanderkellen in Newhart (CBS)
• Estelle Getty as Sophia Petrillo in The Golden Girls (NBC)
• Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli in Cheers (NBC)

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series}}

• Bonnie Bartlett as Ellen Craig in St. Elsewhere (NBC) (Episode: “Last Dance at the Wrecker's Ball")
• Allyce Beasley as Agnes DiPesto in Moonlighting (ABC)
• Christina Pickles as Nurse Helen Rosenthal in St. Elsewhere (NBC)
• Susan Ruttan as Roxanne Melman in L.A. Law (NBC)
• Betty Thomas as Sgt. Lucille Bates in Hill Street Blues (NBC)

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special}}

• Piper Laurie as Annie Gilbert in Promise (CBS)
• Claudette Colbert as Alice Grenville in The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (NBC)
• Olivia de Havilland as Dowager Empress Maria in Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (NBC)
• Christine Lahti as Alethea Milford in Amerika (ABC)
• Elizabeth Wilson as Berenice Bradshaw in Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder (NBC)

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series}}

• John Cleese as Dr. Simon Finch-Royce in Cheers (NBC) (Episode: "Simon Says")
• Art Carney as James "Weasel" Cavanaugh in The Cavanaughs (CBS) (Episode: "He Ain't Heavy")
• Herb Edelman as Stan Zbornak in The Golden Girls (NBC) (Episode: "The Stan Who Came To Dinner")
• Lois Nettleton as Jean in The Golden Girls (NBC) (Episode: "Isn't It Romantic?")
• Nancy Walker as Angela in The Golden Girls (NBC) (Episode: "Long Day's Journey Into Marinara")

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series}}

• Alfre Woodard as Adrian Moore in L.A. Law (NBC) (Episode: "Pilot")
• Steve Allen as Lech Osoranski in St. Elsewhere (NBC) (Episode: "Visiting Daze")
• Jeanne Cooper as Gladys Becker on L.A. Law (NBC) (Episode: "Fry Me to the Moon")
• Edward Herrmann as Father Joseph McCabe on St. Elsewhere (NBC) (Episode: "Where There's Hope, There's Crosby")
• Jayne Meadows as Holga Oseransky in St. Elsewhere (NBC) (Episode: "Visiting Daze")

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program}}

• Robin Williams – Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin (ABC)
• Billy Crystal – The 29th Annual Grammy Awards (CBS)
• Julie Kavner – The Tracey Ullman Show (Fox)
• Angela Lansbury – The 41st Annual Tony Awards (CBS)
• Jon Lovitz – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

|+ {{sronly|Directing}}

• The Golden Girls (NBC): "Isn't It Romantic?" – Terry Hughes
• Cheers (NBC): "Chambers vs. Malone" – James Burrows
• The Cosby Show (NBC): "I Know That You Know" – Jay Sandrich
• Designing Women (CBS): "The Beauty Contest" – Jack Shea
• Family Ties (NBC): "A, My Name is Alex" – Will Mackenzie

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series}}

• L.A. Law (NBC): "Pilot" – Gregory Hoblit
• Cagney & Lacey (CBS): "Turn, Turn, Turn - Part II" – Sharron Miller
• L.A. Law (NBC): "The Venus Butterfly" – Donald Petrie
• Moonlighting (ABC): "Atomic Shakespeare" – Will Mackenzie
• Moonlighting (ABC): "I Am Curious ... Maddie" – Allan Arkush

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or a Special}}

• Promise (CBS) – Glenn Jordan
• Escape from Sobibor (CBS) – Jack Gold
• LBJ: The Early Years (NBC) – Peter Werner
• Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder (NBC): "Part I" – Paul Bogart
• Unnatural Causes (NBC) – Lamont Johnson

|+ {{sronly|Writing}}

• Family Ties (NBC): "A, My Name is Alex" – Gary David Goldberg and Alan Uger
• Cheers (NBC): "Abnormal Psychology" – Janet Leahy
• The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (NBC): "Here's Why Cosmetics Should Come in Unbreakable Bottles" – Jay Tarses
• The Golden Girls (NBC): "Isn't It Romantic?" – Jeffrey Duteil
• Newhart (CBS): "Co-Hostess Twinkie" – David Mirkin

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series}}

• L.A. Law (NBC): "The Venus Butterfly" – Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher
• Cagney & Lacey (CBS): "Turn, Turn, Turn - Part 1" – Georgia Jeffries
• Hill Street Blues (NBC): "It Ain't Over Till It's Over" – Jeff Lewis, David Milch and John Romano
• L.A. Law (NBC): "Sidney, the Dead-Nosed Reindeer" – William M. Finkelstein
• Moonlighting (ABC): "Atomic Shakespeare" – Jeff Reno and Ron Osborn
• Moonlighting (ABC): "I Am Curious ... Maddie" – {{StoryTeleplay|s=Ron Osborn, Karen Hall, Roger Director and Charles H. Eglee|t=Jeff Reno and Glenn Gordon Caron}}
• St. Elsewhere (NBC): "Afterlife" – Tom Fontana, John Tinker and John Masius

| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Award category|#EEDD82|Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or a Special}}

• Promise (CBS) – {{StoryTeleplay|s=Ken Blackwell, Tennyson Flowers and Richard Friedenberg|t=Richard Friedenberg}}
• Escape from Sobibor (CBS) – Reginald Rose
• Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder (NBC): "Part II" – William Hanley
• Pack of Lies (CBS) – Hugh Whitemore
• A Year in the Life (NBC): "The First Christmas" – Joshua Brand and John Falsey

|+Networks with multiple major nominations"Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. It does not include the technical categories.

|+Programs with multiple major nominations

|+Networks with multiple major awards"Major" constitutes the categories listed above: Program, Acting, Directing, and Writing. It does not include the technical categories.

|+Programs with multiple major awards