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 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."
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.
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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