Against the Wall to Alcoa Premiere
This section is mainly miniseries and TV-movies, including four Agatha Christie films and one Christie miniseries (don’t ask me why, I only report these things). The nominated series make most people react with “How did that get nominated for an Emmy?” They include the mostly forgotten The Agency, Airwolf, The Alan Young Show and Alcoa Premiere.
Against the Wall
HBO Saturday 8-11 p.m., March 26, 1994
W: Directing, Miniseries or Special (John Frankenheimer)
New guard Michael Smith (Kyle MacLachlan) wound up unwittingly trapped during the 1971 uprising of prisoners at the Attica facility who demanded better treatment. This story had been dramatized on TV 14 years earlier in Attica, but the story’s potent cry against injustice made it ripe for a remake, and it attracted a stellar cast including Frederic Forrest, Harry Dean Stanton and Samuel L. Jackson (in one of his last TV roles before becoming in actor in what seemed like every other movie made since then). Frankenheimer, not nominated for an Emmy since Startime in 1960 because he too went into movies, made a triumphant return to the medium here and earned the first of four statuettes he would claim in the 1990s.
Frankenheimer: Andersonville, the Burning Season, Climax, George Wallace, Path to War, Playhouse 90, Startime.
Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple - See Mystery!
Agatha Christie’s Murder in Three Acts
CBS Tuesday 9-11 p.m., Sept. 30, 1986
N: Costuming, Miniseries (Mina Mittelman)
Peter Ustinov portrayed Hercule Poirot for the fifth time on film (two in earlier TV-movies and two in theatrical releases, beginning with Death on the Nile in 1978) with Tony Curtis among the top suspects. Ustinov played Poirot once more after this, in the 1988 movie Appointment With Death. This was the fifth of Mittleman’s six Emmy nominations without a win.
Mittleman: Dempsey, Execution, I’ll Fly Away, Malice in Wonderland, Missing Children
Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy
CBS Saturday 9-11 p.m., Jan. 2, 1982
N: Individual Achievement, Special Class (Gloria Barnes, Elsa Fennell, Colin Wilson, costumers)
The first commercial TV-movie employing a story by the title mystery author starred Bill Bixby as Luke Williams, an American investigating the death of Lavinia Fullerton (Helen Hayes) in the English village of Wychwood. One of the prominent suspects was Honoria Waynflete (Olivia De Havilland, in a rare TV acting role). Though hardly a ratings blockbuster, CBS thought there was a market for this sort of mystery and more Agatha Christie adaptations followed, including the next few entries except for Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime. All of the CBS ones except the next entry received nominations for costumes only, which ought to warn you if you expect something smashing from them.
Agatha Christie’s Murder With Mirrors
CBS Wednesday 9-11 p.m., Feb. 20, 1985
N: Music Composition, Limited Series or Special (Richard Rodney Bennett)
Miss Marple (Helen Hayes) is back in action, with one of her chief suspects being Carrie Louise Serrocold (Bette Davis). This was the last film role for Hayes, who previously was Marple in the 1983 TV-movie Agatha Christie’s A Caribbean Mystery. Reportedly fellow acting legend Davis did not treat her nicely during filming. Nominee Sir Bennett (he was knighted in 1998) previously was a three-time Oscar nominee for his original scores, the last being Murder on the Orient Express in 1974. That one was also based on an Agatha Christie mystery, which might have played into him getting the job here.
Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime
PBS p.m., Oct. 16, 1983-Nov. 29, 1984
W: Individual Achievement, Graphic and Title Design (John Tribe)
The central figures in this series import were the sleuthing couple of Tuppence Beresford (Francesca Annis) and her husband Tommy (James Warwick), sort of a British Nick and Nora Charles. Tribe’s win was definitely merited - his striking Art Deco panels at the opening set just the right mood for this series, and he created new cards for each episode as well. The real mystery here is why this stylish concoction snagged just one Emmy mention, as it certainly deserved more than that.
Agatha Christie’s Sparkling Cyanide
CBS Saturday 9-11 p.m., Nov. 5, 1983
N: Individual Achievement, Costumes (Tom Dawson, Donna Roberts)
Are you Agatha Christied out yet? For this go-round, the cast was a TV-movie mix of English and American talent, including Anthony Andrews, Deborah Raffin, Nancy Marchand and Harry Morgan. Most viewers watched The Love Boat on ABC instead when it debuted, but even so, as we have seen, there were more Christies to come.
Dawson: China Beach.
Age-Old Friends
HBO Saturday 9-10:30 p.m., Dec. 16, 1989
W: Lead Actor, Miniseries or Special (Hume Cronyn); Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Special (Vincent Gardenia)
Based on Bob Larbey’s play A Month of Sundays that ran on both London and the Broadway stage, and adapted for TV by Larbey, Age-Old Friends told of how resting home resident John Cooper (Cronyn) befriended his pal Michael Aylott (Gardenia) as the latter drifted into senility. Cronyn’s daughter Tandy also appeared. This was Gardenia’s only Emmy nomination, following two supporting Oscar nominations for Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and Moonstruck (1987).
Cronyn: Broadway Bound, Christmas on Division Street, The Dollmaker, Foxfire, Off Season, Sea People, A Separate Peace, To Dance With the White Dog, 12 Angry Men.
The Agency
CBS Thursdays 10-11 p.m.*, Sept. 27, 2001-July 5, 2003
N: Music Composition, Series (Jason Derlatka, Jon Ehrlich), 2003
Debuting just two weeks after the September 11 attacks on America, this continuing drama about the CIA probably hit too close to home to Americans in reminding them of the dangers they faced from terrorism, and considerable changeover in cast members did not help either. For example, originally Ronny Cox starred as director Alex Pierce III, then Robert Quinn (Daniel Benzali) replaced him temporarily before Tom Gage (Beau Bridges) assumed leadership - all in the space of three months. In fact, nominee Ehrlich lasted longer than any of them on the series while providing music. Derlatka joined him on their nominated episode “The Great Game.”
Ehrlich: Roar.
Ages of Man
CBS Sundays 10-11 p.m., Jan. 23 and 30, 1966
W: Dramatic Program (Daniel Melnick, David Susskind, P)
This two-part special (rerun by CBS after its Emmy win on June 3 and 10, 1966 Fridays 10-11 p.m.) consisted of John Gielgud reading and enacting William Shakespeare’s sonnets and portions of his plays - in essence, a video version of the same one-man stage show Gielgud did in London in 1959 and on Broadway in 1963. Why Gielgud did not get nominated for Actor in a Drama Special is another Emmy mystery. Melnick and Susskind repeated their wins in the same category in 1967 with Death of a Salesman.
Melnick: Death of a Salesman. Susskind: Blind Ambition, CBS Playhouse, Death of a Salesman, Eleanor and Franklin, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Harry S Truman: Plain Speaking, Mark Twain Tonight!, A Moon for the Misbegotten.
Ain’t Misbehavin’
NBC Monday 9-11 p.m., June 21, 1982
W: Individual Achievement, Special Class (Nell Carter) and (Andre DeShields)
N: Variety, Music or Comedy Program (Alvin Cooperman, EP; Buddy Bregman, P); Choreography (Arthur Faria); Music Direction (Luther Henderson); Videotape Editing, Limited Series or Special (Ed J. Brennan); Tape Sound Mixing (Bill Cole, Allen Patapoff, Joe Ralston); Technical Direction and Electronic Camerawork (Don Barker, George Falardeau, Mike Higuera, Royden Holm, Reed Howard, O. Tamburri)
A revue based on the music of Fats Waller, Ain’t Misbehavin’ was a Broadway smash when it debuted in 1978 and propelled Nell Carter into stardom, including her lead on the series Gimme a Break! At the end of the latter’s first season, Carter reunited with most of the original cast for this videotaped special in front of an exuberant live audience. Back in the 1950s this recreation of a Broadway hit would have aired during the regular season, but then again, they would not have presented an all-black show on TV either. Carter also won a Tony for her stage performance, making her among a select few to win it and an Emmy for the same role. Among the nominees, Cooper won two Emmys and received one nomination for three shows in the Classical Program in the Performing Arts category from 1977-81, and Faria also choreographed the Broadway show.
Carter: Gimme a Break! Bregman: Colgate Comedy Hour. Brennan: The Goldie Hawn Special, Laugh-In. Patapoff: Benson, Cosby Show, Golden Girls, Night Court. Ralston: Magic of David Copperfield, Mister Roberts, Sinatra: The Man and His Music. Barker: Days of Our Lives, Dick Clark’s Live Wednesday, Magic of David Copperfield, Motown Revue, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Falardeau: All the Way Home, Bob Hope’s USO Christmas in Beirut, Body and Soul, Magic of David Copperfield, Member of the Wedding, Midnight Special, Mister Roberts, People Vs. Jean Harris, World of Magic. Higuera: All the Way Home, Jennifer Slept Here, Magic of David Copperfield, Mister Roberts, Motown Revue, World of Magic. Holm: All the Way Home, Barbara Mandrell’s Christmas: A Family Reunion, A Christmas Special With Love Mac Davis, Jennifer Slept Here, Magic of David Copperfield, Member of the Wedding, Midnight Special, Mitzi and a Hundred Guys, Mitzi: Roarin’ in the 20s, Mitzi: What’s Hot What’s Not, Our Town, People Vs. Jean Harris, Punky Brewster, Sara, Sheena Easton … Act One. Howard: Dick Clark’s Live Wednesday, Our Town, The People Vs. Jean Harris, Punky Brewster, Skinflint: A Christmas Country Carol, Sara. Tamburri: Golden Girls, Jennifer Slept Here, Our Town, The People Vs. Jean Harris, Punky Brewster, Skinflint: A Christmas Country Carol, The Tomorrow Show.
Airwolf
CBS Saturdays 8-9 p.m.*, Jan. 22, 1984-July 23, 1986
W: Film Editing, Series (Michael Ford, Gene Gillette, Donlee Jorgensen, Nicholas Korda, Mark Roberts, Sam Shaw, Breck Warwick, Bob Weatherford, Michael Wilhoit), 1984; Makeup, Series (Rod Wilson), 1986
N: Cinematography, Series (Bob Collins, Howard Schwartz), 1984; Film Sound Editing, Series (Gillette, Jorgensen, Wilhoit, Barney Cabral, Gene Corso, Gary Mundheim, John Newlan, Ascher Yates), 1985 and (Corso, Ford, Gillette, Jorgensen, Wilhoit, Yates, Hector Gika, Ernesto Mas), 1986
Purportedly this show starred Jan Michael-Vincent as pilot Stringfellow Hawke, running missions for a secret government agency called the Firm along with his buddy Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine). However, the real center of attention was Hawke’s impressive helicopter known as Airwolf, which could - and would - do seemingly impossible maneuvers. The fact that the series was nominated in technical categories only ought to give you a hint about the quality of the scripts, the acting, the direction … But it is interesting to note that makeup artist Rod Wilson won the only one of his three Emmy nominations here (for the third-season opener “The Horn of Plenty”) in a year when he competed for Makeup for a Miniseries or Special too, namely North and South.
Jorgensen: Simon & Simon, Tales of the Gold Monkey. Roberts: Tales of the Gold Monkey. Shaw: Knight Rider, Marco Polo, Tales of the Gold Monkey. Weatherford: Tales of the Gold Monkey, Tribes. Wilson: George Washington, North and South. Collins: ABC Afterschool Specials, Miami Vice, Timex Presents Peggy Fleming at Sun Valley. Schwartz: The Ghost of Flight 401, The Immortal, Land of the Giants, Night of Terror, Rainbow, Rich Man Poor Man, Sandburg’s Lincoln. Cabral: Knight Rider, Marco Polo, Misfits of Science, Tales of the Gold Monkey. Yates: The Executioner’s Song, Marco Polo. Mas: Quantum Leap, White Mile.
The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory
NBC Monday 8-11 p.m., Jan. 26, 1987
N: Cinematography, Miniseries or Special (John Elsenbach)
Remember The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory? (Sorry, couldn’t resist the joke.) James Arness returned to cowboy outfits as he starred as Jim Bowie along with Brian Keith as Davy Crockett (both characters had been portrayed on TV back in the 1950s) in this effort filmed on the same location where John Wayne produced the bloated 1960 bomb The Alamo. Elsenbach was nominated three times in the 1980s but never won.
Elsenbach: Codename: Firefox, Murder She Wrote.
The Alan Young Show
CBS Thursdays 9-9:30 p.m.*, April 6, 1950-June 21, 1953
W: Variety Show, 1950; Actor (Alan Young), 1950
This standard variety show of its era (a monologue by the host followed by one or two skits, plus a song by a guest) featured Young, a Canadian native who starred on several unexceptional radio series from 1944-49 before being one of the first personalities in Los Angeles to do his own nighttime TV show. Young also wrote for his series. Though some claim the show never really caught on, The Alan Young Show finished in the top 25 in the 1950-51 and 1951-52 seasons before its ratings really sank (Young later claimed that his show went off when he wanted to film it rather than keep doing it live). This mildly amusing series does not hold up as well as its fellow nominees All Star Revue and Your Show of Shows and bolsters the belief that the earliest Emmy winners were shaky ones at best. More of a comic actor than comedian, Young achieved his biggest fame as the star of the notorious “talking horse” sitcom Mr. Ed from 1960-66.
Alcoa Premiere
ABC Tuesdays 10-11 p.m.*, Oct. 10, 1961-Sept. 12, 1963
N: Actor, Leading Role (Lee Marvin, “People Need People”), 1962, (Bradford Dillman, “The Voice of Charlie Pont”), 1963; Director, Drama (Alex Segal, “People Need People”), 1962, (Robert Ellis Miller, “The Voice of Charlie Pont”), 1963; Writing, (Henry F. Greenberg, “People Need People”), 1962, (Halsted Welles, “The Voice of Charlie Pont”), 1963; Original Music (John Williams), 1962, 1963; Drama Series, 1963; Actress, Leading Role (Diana Hyland, “The Voice of Charlie Pont”), 1963; Supporting Role, Actor (Robert Redford, “The Voice of Charlie Pont”), 1963; Film Editing (Howard Epstein, Richard Belding, Tony Martinelli, “The Voice of Charlie Pont”), 1963
The Aluminum Corporation of America secured the services of Fred Astaire as host and sometimes actor of this hit-or-miss comedy and drama anthology series, but even his talent and grace could not make this effort a hit, nor could an inordinate showering of nominations for the show. What is impressive is how two one-time nominees here went on to substantial movie careers afterward. Lee Marvin rarely acted on TV after winning the Best Actor Oscar for Cat Ballou in 1965, while Robert Redford did the same once he tasted screen success with Barefoot in the Park in 1967. Another coincidence was that Bradford Dillman and Diana Hyland would each receive only one more Emmy nomination in the 1970s and would win the statuette when they did. This series appeared in syndicated reruns as Fred Astaire’s Premiere Theatre.
Dillman: ABC Afternoon Playbreak. Segal: The Crucible, Death of a Salesman, U.S. Steel Hour. Hyland: Boy in the Plastic Bubble. Williams: Academy Awards, Heidi, Jane Eyre. Belding: Inside the Third Reich