Primetime Emmy Award for Program of the Year

The Primetime Emmy Award for Program of the Year was an annual award presented as part of the Primetime Emmy Awards. It recognized the best single television program of the year. In early Emmy ceremonies, anthology series were more common than traditional sitcoms or dramas; this made Program of the Year the highest honor.^[1]

Primetime Emmy Award for Program of the Year
Awarded for	Outstanding Program of the Year
Country	United States
Presented by	Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
First award	1955
Currently held by	A War of Children (1973)
Website	emmys.com

Though traditional comedy and drama series were nominated, the majority of nominees and winners were: telefilms, variety specials, and documentaries. The award was last presented in 1973.

Winners and nominations

1950s

Year	Program	Episode	Network
1954 (7th)
	Disneyland	"Operation Undersea"	ABC
	Light's Diamond Jubilee	Variety Special	Simulcast
	Medic	"White is the Color"	NBC
	Chrysler Shower of Stars	"A Christmas Carol"	CBS
	Westinghouse Studio One	"Twelve Angry Men"
1955 (8th)
	Producers' Showcase	"Peter Pan"	NBC
	Disneyland	"Davy Crockett and the River Pirates"	ABC
	Ford Star Jubilee	"The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial"	CBS
	Make Room for Daddy	"Peter Pan Meets Rusty Williams"	ABC
	Producers' Showcase	"The Sleeping Beauty"	NBC
	The United States Steel Hour	"No Time for Sergeants"	ABC
	Wide Wide World	"The American West"	NBC
1956 (9th)
	Playhouse 90	"Requiem for a Heavyweight"	CBS
	Kraft Television Theatre	"A Night to Remember"	NBC
	Omnibus	"Leonard Bernstein"	CBS
	See It Now	"Secret Life of Danny Kaye"
	Victor Borge: Comedy in Music	Variety Special
1957 (10th)
	Playhouse 90	"The Comedian"	CBS
	The Edsel Show	Variety Special	CBS
	General Motors 50th Anniversary Show		NBC
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"The Green Pastures"
	Playhouse 90	"The Helen Morgan Story"	CBS
1958–1959 (11th)
	An Evening with Fred Astaire	Variety Special	NBC
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"Little Moon of Alban"	NBC
	Playhouse 90	"Child of Our Time"	CBS
		"The Old Man"

1960s

Year	Program	Episode	Network
1959–1960 (12th)
	Not Awarded
1960–1961 (13th)
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"Macbeth"	NBC
	1960 Presidential Nominating Conventions	News Program	NBC
	An Hour with Danny Kaye	Variety Special	CBS
	Astaire Time		NBC
NBC Sunday Showcase	"The Sacco-Venzetti Story"
1961–1962 (14th)
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"Victoria Regina"	NBC
	Bell & Howell Close Up!	"Walk in My Shoes"	ABC
	CBS Reports	"Biography of a Bookie Joint"	CBS
	The Judy Garland Show	Variety Special
	Vincent Van Gogh: A Self-Portrait	Telefilm	NBC
1962–1963 (15th)
	The Tunnel	Documentary	NBC
	Alcoa Premiere	"The Voice of Charlie Pont"	ABC
	The Danny Kaye Show with Lucille Ball	Variety Special	NBC
	The Defenders	"The Madman"	CBS
1963–1964 (16th)
	The Making of the President 1960	Documentary	ABC
	The American Revolution of '63	News Program	NBC
	The Defenders	"Blacklist"	CBS
	The Kremlin	Documentary	NBC
	Town Meeting of the World	News Program	CBS
1964–1965 (17th)
	Not Awarded
1965–1966 (18th) [note 1]
	The Ages of Man	Telefilm	CBS
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"Eagle in a Cage"	NBC
		"Inherit the Wind"
	Slattery's People	"Rally 'Round Your Own Flag, Mister"	CBS
1966–1967 (19th) [note 1]
	Death of a Salesman	Telefilm	CBS
	ABC Stage 67	"A Christmas Memory"	ABC
		"The Love Song of Barney Kempinski"
	CBS Playhouse	"The Final War of Olly Winter"	CBS
		"The Glass Menagerie"
	Mark Twain Tonight!	Telefilm
1967–1968 (20th) [note 1]
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"Elizabeth the Queen"	NBC
	CBS Playhouse	"Dear Friends"	CBS
		"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night"
	NET Playhouse	"Uncle Vanya"	NET
	The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	Telefilm	ABC
	Xerox Special	"Luther"
1968–1969 (21st) [note 1]
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"Teacher, Teacher"	NBC
	CBS Playhouse	"The People Next Door"	CBS
	Heidi	Telefilm	NBC
	A Midsummer Night's Dream		CBS
	Mission: Impossible	"The Execution"
	NET Playhouse	"Talking to a Stranger"	NET

1970s

Year	Program	Episode	Network
1969–1970 (22nd) [note 1]
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"A Storm in Summer"	NBC
	David Copperfield	Telefilm	NBC
	Marcus Welby, M.D.	"Hello, Goodbye, Hello"	ABC
	My Sweet Charlie	Telefilm	NBC
1970–1971 (23rd)
	The Andersonville Trial	Telefilm	PBS
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"Hamlet"	NBC
		"The Price"
	Night Gallery	"They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar"
	Vanished	Telefilm
1971–1972 (24th)
	Brian's Song	Telefilm	ABC
	All in the Family	"Sammy's Visit"	CBS
	Elizabeth R	"The Lion's Cub"	PBS
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	"The Snow Goose"	NBC
	The Six Wives of Henry VIII	"Jane Seymour"	CBS
1972–1973 (25th)
	A War of Children	Telefilm	CBS
	That Certain Summer	Telefilm	ABC
	Long Day's Journey into Night
	The Marcus-Nelson Murders		CBS
	The Red Pony		NBC

Total awards by network

• NBC – 8
• CBS – 5
• ABC – 3
• PBS – 1

Programs with multiple awards

5 awards

• Hallmark Hall of Fame (2 consecutive; 3 consecutive)

2 awards

• Playhouse 90 (consecutive)

Programs with multiple nominations

12 nominations

• Hallmark Hall of Fame (NBC)

5 nominations

• CBS Playhouse (CBS)
• Playhouse 90 (CBS)

2 nominations

• ABC Stage 67 (ABC)
• The Defenders (CBS)
• Disneyland (ABC)
• NET Playhouse (NET)
• Producers' Showcase (NBC)

Notes

1. Limited to dramatic programs.