44TH ANNUAL EMMY AWARDS : Split Ticket: Politics, 'Exposure' : Bergen Takes Her Onstage Jabs at Quayle Backstage

By GREG BRAXTON and DANIEL CERONE

Aug. 31, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

When it came down to the end of the evening, family values suddenly became the star of the 44th annual Emmy Awards.

Until then, Sunday’s Emmy ceremony was shaping up as something of a mishmash in which CBS’ “Northern Exposure” would take center stage by virtue of winning six Emmys. Overall, awards were spread over a wide array of programs.

But then Candice Bergen and “Murphy Brown” swept in on the last two categories of the broadcast on Fox and fired a double volley at Vice President Dan Quayle and his Republican supporters.

“And I think we won,” “Murphy Brown” creator Diane English said defiantly, minutes after the sitcom was named best comedy series of the 1991-92 season. Bergen, who plays an unmarried TV newswoman who had a baby in the final episode, won her third statuette as best actress in a comedy.

Quayle touched off a political whirlwind last spring by criticizing “Murphy Brown” for glorifying the out-of-wedlock birth, the first salvo in making “family values” a part of the presidential campaign. Bergen, who has kept a low profile during the controversy, pointedly thanked the vice president in her acceptance speech.

“Those were the same people who not only took jabs at me and mine, but the entire (Hollywood) community,” Bergen explained backstage. “So fair is fair.”

English said that, ironically, Quayle really did have something “valuable to say about the deterioration of the family. Unfortunately, the Republicans turned it into a political football to polarize the country.”

Bergen said that she has become “the patron saint of single moms. That’s beyond anything the rational mind adjusts to. I don’t think I’m prepared for the role, and I’d kind of like to get rid of it.”

Joshua Brand and John Falsey, co-creators and executive producers of “Northern Exposure,” had debated whether to submit the series for Emmy consideration as a comedy or a drama.

While most viewers probably find it more funny than dramatic, the producers opted to enter as a drama because dramas are traditionally one hour in length, which their CBS show is, and comedies are 30 minutes.

Their decision seemed to pay off as “Northern Exposure” topped all other contenders this year with 16 nominations and wound up winning six Emmys, including one as best drama series of the year. Only Fox’s “The Simpsons” won as many--but all six came in the same category of best voice performance.

“I think it’s both (a comedy and a drama),” said Valerie Mahaffey, who won an Emmy for her recurring role on “Northern Exposure” as Eve, a hypochondriac who tries the patience of the town doctor. “My sections of the show are kind of funny. I’m real glad the voters didn’t let that get in the way. It’s not my fault it’s called a drama.”

“We’re glad that people did not let the category define the quality of the show, but let the quality of the show define the category,” Falsey said backstage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov, who help produce “Northern Exposure” and picked up an Emmy on Sunday for writing an episode called “Seoul Mates,” were asked backstage about its appeal.

“We show things you won’t see on other shows,” Schneider said. “We create a universe that people like to visit each week.”

“We enjoy challenging people,” Frolov said. “We don’t connect the dots.”

They also referred to another show to which “Northern Exposure” is frequently compared--”Twin Peaks.” “We liked ‘Twin Peaks’ but that was a hostile universe,” Schneider said. “Ours is a benign universe.”

Craig T. Nelson expressed hope that his Emmy as best actor in a comedy series will finally give “Coach” credibility.

“This is a real victory for the show. We fought five years for this,” said Nelson, who will not take his statuette home but instead plans to bring it to the “Coach” stage for everyone on the ABC sitcom to appreciate.

Although “Coach” is a hit with audiences, he said, the series has never really been appreciated by critics.

“Still isn’t, still isn’t,” he lamented. When asked if that will change now, he took a shot at the TV critics gathered backstage. “It’s up to you,” he said. “We’re kind of sick and tired of being looked over. There’s a lot of good writing and acting on the show. I don’t know, maybe we’re just not flash.”

Richard Dysart, who won best supporting actor in a drama series for his portrayal of attorney Leland McKenzie on “L.A. Law,” indicated that he may be the next performer to leave the ensemble drama, should it be renewed beyond this season.

“I’m contracted through the end of May, and then I intend to go fishing,” Dysart said.

Harry Hamlin, Jimmy Smits and Susan Dey were other charter members of the show who have left.

Dysart said that he was happy to finally receive an Emmy after being nominated four times. “I guess there was an enlightened jury this year,” he quipped.

Not everyone was happy that guest performers were included for the first time in the same category with series regulars--a situation that led to Christopher Lloyd winning as best actor in a drama for a guest appearance on the Disney Channel’s “Avonlea,” beating the likes of Sam Waterston in “I’ll Fly Away” and Scott Bakula in “Quantum Leap.”

“It’s absolutely insane to put them in the same category with people who work week after week after week,” said Barnet Kellman, an Emmy judge himself, who won an Emmy for directing “Murphy Brown.”

Amanda Plummer, who won outstanding supporting actress for her role of a Jewish woman who had been imprisoned in a German concentration camp in “Miss Rose White,” seemed awed by her honor. She said of her Emmy, “I looooooove it!” She added that her father, actor Christopher Plummer, would be “as pleased as a pink elephant.”

Known primarily for her theater and stage work, Plummer said that she did not feel there was a stigma to doing television. She wouldn’t do television when she was younger, she said, but now “there’s just a stigma when a performer does not do their best work.”

James Woods, one of the evening’s presenters who is being touted as a possible nominee next year for his portrayal of controversial attorney Roy Cohn in HBO’s “Citizen Cohn,” said in a separate interview that he agreed.

“Now there may be more of a stigma in television actors crossing over to do films,” he joked.

Added fellow presenter Cicely Tyson, a past Emmy winner, “The role should determine everything. I think it’s ridiculous to berate an actor for doing TV after doing features.”

Gena Rowlands, whose portrayal of a wealthy woman befriending a homeless woman won her an Emmy for best actress in a miniseries or special for CBS’ “Face of a Stranger,” said, “A good part is a great part in any medium. If a great part is offered to me, I would play it on the sidewalk. More actors and actresses, I think, are making that realization. I think cable has helped a lot in that regard.”

Times staff writer Susan King contributed to this article.

Emmys at a Glance

THE MAJOR WINNERS

Comedy

Series: “Murphy Brown”

Actor: Craig T. Nelson,

“Coach”

Actress: Candice Bergen,

“Murphy Brown”

Drama

Series: “Northern Exposure”

Actor: Christopher Lloyd,