The32nd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 7, 1980, at thePasadena Civic Auditorium. The awards show was hosted bySteve Allen andDick Clark and broadcast onNBC. For the second year in a row, the top series awards went to the same shows,Taxi andLou Grant.Lou Grant was the most successful show of the night winning five major awards. It also received 14 major nominations, tying the record for most major nominations by a drama series, set byPlayhouse 90 in1959.[citation needed]
The ceremony was held in the midst ofa strike by members of theScreen Actors Guild; in a show of support for their union, 51 of the 52 nominated performers boycotted the event.[1]Powers Boothe was the only nominated actor to attend; acknowledging his presence in his acceptance speech, he remarked, "This is either the most courageous moment of my career or the stupidest."[2]
