In what the Hollywood Reporter is calling “an upset,” both CBS and NBC beat out PBS, the usual top winner, for most News and Documentary Emmys at last night’s (Sept. 27) ceremonies. CBS won seven; NBC, six; and PBS, five.
Nevertheless, PBS was well represented during the evening. The prestigious Chairman’s Award went to the PBS NewsHour. Roger Mudd, former Washington correspondent for CBS News, NBC News and the McNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on PBS, presented the award to Robert MacNeil, Jim Lehrer, longtime executive producer Les Crystal, and current executive producer Linda Winslow. (Don’t miss MacNeil’s commentary on the award on the show’s Rundown blog.)
PBS President Paula Kerger presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Frederick Wiseman “one of the most accomplished documentarians in the history of the medium,” according to the Academy. Many of Wiseman’s docs have aired on PBS. Perhaps the filmmaker’s most famous work is 1967’s groundbreaking and controversial “Titicut Follies,” a graphic look at conditions inside the State Prison for the Criminally Insane at Bridgewater, Mass.
PBS winners:
— Frontline won three Emmys: Investigative journalism in a news magazine for for “Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground” (by Frontline/World); continuing coverage of a news story, long form, “A Death in Tehran”; and investigative journalism, long form, “The Warning.”
— Bill Moyers Journal won for historical programming, long form, for “The Good Soldier.”
— POV took a statuette for science and technology programming for “The English Surgeon.”
Visit the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences site for a full list of winners.