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HBO, "Larry Sanders" big CableAce winners

November 17, 1996
Web posted at: 9:00 a.m. EST

From Correspondent Sherri Sylvester

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- The one-thousandth CableAce Award went to Garry Shandling, who did not expect the fanfare of balloons, confetti and a live marching band.

His "Larry Sanders Show" took four trophies at this year's awards ceremony -- best writing, directing, acting and best comedy series. The show is a spoof of talk shows, and the cast continued to look for material during the awards ceremony.

"Jeffrey Tambor, who plays Hank, came up to me in earnest and said, 'I spoke to Gary Sinise about doing the show.' There was no distinction between Tambor and Hank at that moment," Shandling said.

Sinise

Sinise took the prize as best actor for his portrayal as Harry Truman, a president he knew little about before he made the telefilm.

"All I knew about him was 'Give 'em hell, Harry.' He was the thirty-third president. He dropped the bomb, and that's about it. But he was a wonderful character, a real man," Sinise said.

Sela Ward was honored for her portrayal of a figure in the history of television journalism -- anchorwoman Jessica Savitch.

It is a story Ward feels could only be told on cable.

"It had been around for awhile and couldn't get sold to one of the networks. They were really afraid of the story (because it) didn't put (the networks) in a great light," Ward said. "Thank goodness for Lifetime."

Cronkite

A standing ovation went to newsman Walter Cronkite. The Lifetime Network was honored for its special "Lifetime Applauds the Fight Against Breast Cancer." Nickelodeon got kudos for its children's programming, and the Governor's Award went to the Discovery Channel.

Tracey Ullman got three trophies for "Tracey Takes On," a series she created with her husband.

"It's ruined our marriage. We're just staying together for syndication," she joked.

The diversity of cable was apparent as the winners were spread among 21 networks.

Shaw and Woodruff

CNN was singled out for its coverage of the Russian elections, along with a short-form special "Poisoned Pen." Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodruff were named best newscasters and "Sports Tonight" got an Ace, as well.

Home Box Office remained unmatched in drawing big-name stars to high-profile projects and as the evening ended HBO held more Aces than any other network.

The final tally: 28 trophies for HBO, with six Aces apiece for A&E and ESPN.

 
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