| 21st Emmy Awards | ||||
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| Date | June 8, 1969 (1969-06-08) | |||
| Location | Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California | |||
| Presented by | Academy of Television Arts and Sciences | |||
| Hosted by | Bill Cosby Merv Griffin | |||
| Highlights | ||||
| Most awards | 1968 Summer Olympics Get Smart Male of the Species The People Next Door (2) | |||
| Most nominations | Hallmark Hall of Fame: "Teacher, Teacher" Mission: Impossible (6) | |||
| Outstanding Comedy Series | Get Smart | |||
| Outstanding Dramatic Series | NET Playhouse | |||
| Outstanding Dramatic Program | Hallmark Hall of Fame: "Teacher, Teacher" | |||
| Outstanding Variety or Music Series | Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In | |||
| Television/radio coverage | ||||
| Network | CBS | |||
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The21st Emmy Awards—alsoknown since 1974 as the21st Primetime Emmy Awards—were handed out on June 8, 1969. The ceremony was co-hosted byBill Cosby andMerv Griffin.
The top shows of the night wereGet Smart, which wonOutstanding Comedy Series for the second consecutive year, andOutstanding Dramatic Series winnerNET Playhouse.NET Playhouse, from thePBS predecessorNational Educational Television Network, became the first show outside theBig Three television networks to win a top series award.
Due to several categories being combined for the ceremony, no show received more than two major wins. The most drastic rule change was that all shows that had aired more than two seasons were ineligible. The cause of this change was due to the rise in repeat winners in recent years. There was no winner in the category ofOutstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, because the judges felt that none of the nominees were worthy of an award.[1]
Winners are listed in bold and series' networks are in parentheses.[2]
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Outstanding Achievement inDaytime Programming - Programs
| Outstanding Achievement inSports Programming - Programs
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Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
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Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
| Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
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The category Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role did not receive a winner, as it was ruled by the judges that the person who garnered the most votes (and therefore the de facto winner) Billy Schulman, was unfit to receive the prize as there were concerns that Schulmann, who was neurodivergent, would be incapable of delivering a speech according to producers' standards.
According to George Gent for theNew York Times:[3]
In accepting the award, George Lefferts, producer of the drama that was seen Feb. 5 on NBC’sHallmark Hall of Fame, criticized the academy’s board of directors and panelists for omitting this year the category for outstanding performance by a supporting actor, for which Billy Schulman, 14, had been nominated. The youngster, who is retarded, received instead a special plaque.
Lefferts said he wished that Billy had been allowed to compete like any other actor, adding: "I think many of us are retarded in many important ways and we will try to make things better."
Later, Lefferts expressed "shock" over a CBS decision not to allow young Schulman to go up on the stage to receive his award, despite the fact that he had received his mother’s approval. Instead, the camera panned to the youngster.
Had Schulman been acknowledged as the winner, he would have been the youngest male actor to ever win a Primetime Emmy Award, a record instead currently held byOwen Cooper forAdolescence.
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