Best Series Emmys Go to ‘Picket Fences,’ ‘Frasier’ : Awards: ‘NYPD Blue’ fails to win drama prize. ‘And the Band Played On’ is best movie made for TV.

CBS’ “Picket Fences,” about the life and colorful characters in a small Wisconsin town, upset the highly favored ABC police series “NYPD Blue” to win as best drama series at the 46th annual Prime-Time Emmy Awards Sunday night.

“And the Band Played On,” based on the late Randy Shilts’ book about the emergence of the AIDS crisis, was chosen best made-for-TV movie. It was made by HBO after being rejected by NBC and ABC.

The victory by “Picket Fences” marked the second consecutive year that the critically acclaimed but low-rated show was the upset winner in the drama series category. In 1993, it won over another highly nominated program, “Northern Exposure.”

In other key categories Sunday, NBC’s “Frasier,” which stars the former pompous “Cheers” psychiatrist played by Kelsey Grammer, was named best comedy series. Grammer, who has moved from Boston to his hometown of Seattle in “Frasier” to host a radio advice show, was chosen best lead comedy actor in a series.

Candice Bergen won her fourth Emmy as the title character in “Murphy Brown,” in which she plays a star TV reporter.

Dennis Franz, who portrays the heavy-set Detective Andy Sipowicz in “NYPD Blue,” was chosen as top dramatic actor in a weekly show. And Sela Ward was named best lead actress in a series for “Sisters,” in which she plays a recovering alcoholic and free-spirited artist who has turned to fashion designing.

The awards show, broadcast on ABC from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, paid tribute to actress Jessica Tandy, a past Emmy winner who had died at 85 earlier in the day in Connecticut. She and her husband, Hume Cronyn, were both nominees again Sunday night for the CBS “Hallmark Hall of Fame” special, “To Dance With the White Dog.”

In the special, which dealt with aging and renewal, Cronyn played a man who must suddenly adjust to being a widower after 57 years when his wife, portrayed by Tandy, dies. In real life, they were married 52 years.

Actor John Lithgow, in the Emmy tribute to Tandy, noted that she was one of the few performers “to receive an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony.” He added: “We will all miss you very much.”

The awards program then showed clips from “To Dance With the White Dog,” for which Cronyn would earn his third Emmy later that evening, for best actor in a miniseries or special.

Accepting for Cronyn was presenter Holly Hunter, who said simply, “Hume Cronyn is with his family in Connecticut tonight.”

Tandy had been a nominee for best actress in a miniseries or special. That Emmy was won by Kirstie Alley for CBS’ “David’s Mother,” playing a woman with an autistic teen-age son.

“David’s Mother” also copped Emmys for writer Bob Randall and actor Michael Goorjian, who played the mentally retarded son.

Receiving the Emmy for “And the Band Played On,” which dramatized the early days of the AIDS crisis and those who tried to call attention to it in the face of indifference and politics, producer Aaron Spelling said: “We accept this for Randy Shilts.” Shilts, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter who wrote about AIDS and other gay issues, died of AIDS in February.

“NYPD Blue” had entered Emmy night with a record-setting 26 nominations, more than any other series--drama or comedy--in the history of television. It was widely regarded as a good bet to tie or pass the all-time record for Emmy Award victories in a single season--eight--held by “Hill Street Blues.” Both shows were co-produced by Steven Bochco.

When “NYPD Blue” emerged with three awards--for editing, art direction and casting--after Saturday night’s non-televised presentation honoring the Emmys’ creative crafts, it seemed to have a shot at a new record.

The problem was that it had to sweep all six categories in which it competed Sunday. And the combination of its own multiple entries--which split votes and cut down its chances--was compounded by “Picket Fences,” which knocked out any hopes of a record early on.

That happened when two “Picket Fences” performers--Fyvush Finkel and Leigh-Taylor Young--won as best supporting actor and actress in a drama series despite the competition of five performers from “NYPD Blue.” The double loss meant that “NYPD Blue” could come out with seven Emmys at best.

Still, the show led the field with six Emmy Awards. “Frasier” and “Picket Fences” were next with five each. In fourth place, with four awards, was the CBS miniseries “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All,” a tale that spanned 130 years, from the Civil War to the present, and featured Anne Bancroft as a matriarch and Cicely Tyson as the slave-turned-housekeeper with whom she forges a strong bond.

Tyson, winning as best supporting actress in a miniseries or special, thanked the Emmy-voting members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences “for acknowledging the fact that I’m still here, trying to get it right.”

“And the Band Played On” was also upset in a sense, taking just three awards despite receiving 13 nominations.

This was something of a surprise because of the Hollywood community’s activism fighting the disease. One nominee for best supporting actor in a miniseries or special for his work in “And The Band Played On” was Richard Gere, who played a famous choreographer who was a composite figure representing the many in the entertainment industry who have fallen victim to AIDS.

Other shows with numerous Emmy nominations that fared poorly in the awards were CBS’ “Gypsy,” which starred Bette Midler in an adaptation of the classic stage musical, and NBC’s “Seinfeld,” which last year was named best comedy series.

Finkel, who plays the colorful public defender in “Picket Fences,” set in the fictional small town of Rome, Wisconsin, gave the Emmy show one of its high points. Said the 72-year-old performer: “I don’t care how much time they gave me. I waited 51 years to get on this stage.” Taylor-Young played the mayor in the series before leaving the show recently.

Perhaps the biggest ovation of the evening went to Franz when he was announced as the actor winner for “NYPD Blue.” Insiders thought the race was between him and his co-star, David Caruso, who played Detective John Kelly but is leaving the series after the fourth episode this fall to make movies.

Caruso reportedly was rejected in his attempt to get a big salary boost on “NYPD Blue,” and the news of a split became widely known before Emmy voters cast their ballots for the award. He originally did not plan to attend Sunday night’s awards show but changed his mind, issuing a statement last week that said: “I wish to honor my ‘NYPD Blue’ character, John Kelly.”

Franz, accepting his award, said: “I am extremely touched.” In his list of thank-yous, he did not mention Caruso.

CBS, the top-rated network, was also the big winner in the Emmy Awards, earning 26, including those handed out Saturday night. NBC was second with 14, ABC had 13, HBO and PBS tied with eight each and Fox had two.

For NBC and “Frasier,” the Emmy victory was important strategically because, starting next week, the successful series has been switched to go head-to-head with TV’s top-rated hit, ABC’s “Home Improvement.”

The matchup of the two comedies is considered network TV’s battle of the season, and “Frasier” got a further upper hand by defeating “Home Improvement” in the Emmy competition for best comedy series.

Tim Allen, star of “Home Improvement,” was a presenter on the Emmy show but failed to compete against Grammer because his representatives did not enter his nomination in time.

Accepting his Emmy, Grammer said he felt proud and “most privileged” to be working on the show. Director James Burrows, who won a directing Emmy for “Frasier,” said Grammer was “wearing the mantle of the leading man brilliantly.”

Among the losers was Angela Lansbury who, despite her huge success in CBS’ “Murder, She Wrote,” failed again to get an Emmy. She has never won in 14 attempts, many of them nominations for the popular show.

But CBS’ David Letterman, whose show has defeated NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” every week in the ratings in their year-long competition, also bested his late-night competitor at the Emmys, winning in the category of best variety, music or comedy series.

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