The38th Primetime Emmy Awards were presented on September 21, 1986, at thePasadena Civic Auditorium inPasadena, California. The Emmy ceremony was cohosted byDavid Letterman andShelley Long. During the ceremony, Letterman salutedGrant Tinker, who had stepped down as chairman of NBC due to its parent company,RCA, having been acquired byGeneral Electric. The ceremony was also memorable for the presentation of the Governors' Award toRed Skelton, presented by comedy legendLucille Ball, who in his acceptance speech said he had missed being on TV for the previous 16 years.

This year's ceremony saw the return of the guest acting category. The top shows of the night wereThe Golden Girls which wonOutstanding Comedy Series and two other major awards.The Golden Girls became the first series to gain three nominations in a lead acting category, they would repeat this feat multiple times. For the second straight yearCagney & Lacey won forOutstanding Drama Series, and led all shows with four major wins. With help from the guest acting category,The Cosby Show with 13 nominations broke the record for most major nominations by a comedy series of 11 set byThe Mary Tyler Moore Show in1977. This record has since been surpassed.

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Notes

• Emmys.com list of 1986 Nominees & Winners
• 38th Primetime Emmy Awards atIMDb

• Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies
• 1986 television awards
• 1986 in California
• September 1986 in the United States

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata