The awards ceremony took place during an actors' strike. Although the Emmy show was not a party in the labor dispute, the actors' unions decided to boycott the ceremony (with participation up to individual members) as a public show of unity.
Dick Clark and
Steve Allen stepped in as hosts at the last minute to replace
Bob Newhart,
Michael Landon and
Lee Remick, and most of the presenters were television executives and other non-actors. None of the 52 acting nominees attended the show, with the sole exception of
Powers Boothe - who won a Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special Emmy in an upset and went on stage to an ovation from the appreciative crowd in the partially empty auditorium. Boothe had planned not to attend, but changed his mind late that afternoon.
