HOLLYWOOD -- More than five dozen performers, including Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy winners, were nominated Tuesday for cable television's ACE honors to be given in a telecast dinner late this year.
Leading nominees for the seventh annual Awards for Cable Excellence were the pay TV networks Home Box Office, The Disney Channel and Showtime-The Movie Channel, and the basic services Arts & Entertainment, ESPN, MTV and Turner Broadcasting.
The competition, sponsored by the National Academy of Cable Programming, was expanded this year to 52 categories, including craft awards that will be presented at a luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel Nov. 19.
The honors for programs, performances, writing and directing will be given in ceremonies Dec. 3 at the Beverly Theatre in Los Angeles to be telecast nationwide on superstation WTBS Dec. 6.
Nominations for best performance in a music special went to Stevie Wonder in 'Stevie Wonder Comes Home' and Shirley MacLaine in 'Shirley MacLaine,' both on Showtime-The Movie Channel; and to Tina Turner in 'Tina Turner: Private Dancer,' Bette Midler in 'Bette Midler -- Act or Bust' and the late Elvis Presley 'Elvis: One Night With You,' all on HBO.
The Tina Turner and Bette Midler shows also were nominated for best music special, along with The MTV Video Music Awards on MTV, 'Huey Lewis and the News: The Heart of Rock and Roll' on Showtime-The Movie Channel and 'Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Together' on HBO.
Nominated for best actor in a movie or mini-series were Louis Gossett Jr. and Martin Sheen in 'The Guardian' and Robert Preston in 'Finnegan Begin Again,' both on HBO; Art Carney in 'The Undergrads,' on The Disney Channel, and Danny DeVito in 'The Ratings Game,' on Showtime-The Movie Channel.
Nominated for best actress in a movie or mini-series were Mary Tyler Moore in 'Finnegan Begin Again,' Jacqueline Bisset in 'Forbidden' and Glenda Jackson in 'Sakharov,' all on HBO, and Zelah Clarke in 'Jane Eyre,' on A&E.
Competing for best actor in a theatrical or dramatic special are Alan Bates in 'An Englishman Abroad' and Burgess Meredith in 'Answers,' both A&E, and Rip Torn in 'Cat On a Hot Tin Roof' and Matthew Broderick in 'Master Harold ... and the Boys,' both on Showtime-The Movie Channel.
Competing for best actress in a theatrical or dramatic special are Eileen Brennan in 'Answers,' on A&E; Rosemary Harris in 'Heartbreak House,' on Showtime-The Movie Channel, and Amy Madigan in 'The Laundromat,' on HBO.
Nominated for best performance in a comedy special were John Candy and Eugene Levy, both in 'HBO Comedy Playhouse: The Last Polka,' and Joe Piscopo in 'The Joe Piscopo Special,' both on HBO; Gallagher in 'Gallagher: Over Your Head,' on Showtime-The Movie Channel, and Don Novello in 'Father Guido Sarducci Goes to College,' on Showtime-The Movie Channel.
Nominations for best cable TV special went to 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' and 'Master Harold ... and the Boys,' both on Showtime-The Movie Channel, in the theatrical category; and to 'HBO Comedy Playhouse: Best Legs in the 8th Grade,' 'Timeslip,' 'Max Headroom' and 'Countdown to Looking Glass,' all on HBO, in the dramatic category.
Best movie or mini-series nominations went to 'Berlin Alexanderplatz,' BRAVO; 'Icebound in the Antarctic: Shackleton,' A&E, and 'The Guardian,' 'Sakharov' and 'Finnegan Begin Again,' all HBO.
Best dramatic series -- 'Robin Hood' and 'The Paper Chase,' both Showtime-The Movie Channel; 'Maximum Security' and 'Ray Bradbury Theater,' both HBO, and 'Tenko,' A&E.
Best actor in a dramatic series -- James Coco in 'Ray Bradbury Theater,' and Trinidad Silva, Geoffrey Lewis and Robert Desiderio, all in 'Maximum Security,' all HBO.
Best actress in a dramatic series -- Ann Bell, 'Tenko,' A&E, and Andra Millian, 'The Paper Chase,' and Susan Sarandon, 'Faerie Tale Theatre: Beauty and the Beast,' both Showtime-The Movie Channel.
Best comedy series -- 'The Young Ones,' MTV; 'The Fainthearted Feminist,' A&E; 'Not Necessarily the News,' HBO, and 'Brothers' and 'Bizarre,' both Showtime-The Movie Channel.
Best actor in a comedy series -- Brandon Maggart, Philip Charles Mackenzie and Robert Walden, all in 'Brothers,' John Byner in 'Bizarre' and Jose Perez in 'Steambath,' all on Showtime-The Movie Channel.
Best actress in a comedy series -- Anne Bloom and Lucy Webb, both on 'Not Necessarily the News,' HBO; Jean Stapleton, 'Faerie Tale Theatre: Cinderella,' and Valerie Perrine, 'Faerie Tale Theatre: The Three Little Pigs,' both Showtime-The Movie Channel, and Felicity Kendall, 'Solo,' A&E.
Best cultural or performing arts special or series -- 'The Independents: Dis-Patches,' The Learning Channel; 'Rigoletto,' BRAVO, and 'The Mozart Miracle,' 'Tanglewood, A Place to Make Music' and 'Cruel Garden,' all A&E.
Best music series -- 'Church Street Station,' Nashville Network; 'Counterpoint Series,' BRAVO; 'DTV,' the Disney Channel, and 'Rock Influences,' MTV.
Best music host -- Shotgun Red, 'Country Clips,' Nashville Network, and Jon Bauman, 'VH-1, VJ,' and Martha Quinn, 'Basement Tapes,' both MTV.
Best informational special -- 'Snowstorm in the Jungle,' Turner Broadcasting, and 'Soldiers in Hiding,' 'Missing Persons -- Four True Stories,' 'Sex and the American Teenager' and 'Acts of Violence,' all HBO.
Best informational series -- 'The Independents: Agenda,' The Learning Channel; 'National Geographic Explorer,' MTV-Nickelodeon; 'Iran: In the Name of God,' Turner Broadcasting; 'Sounds Magnificent,' A&E; 'Disney Family Album,' The Disney Channel, and 'Grassroots '84,' C-SPAN.
Best informational host -- Edwin Newman, 'Freud: The Drama of a Life,' A&E; Cliff Robertson, 'World of Audubon,' and Hal Holbrook, 'Portrait of America,' both Turner Broadcasting; and Joseph Benti, 'Lifetime Informations,' Joan Lunden, 'Mother's Day,' and Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 'GOOD SEX! with Dr. Ruth Westheimer,' all Lifetime.
Best program interviewer -- Bobby Bare, 'Bobby Bare and Friends,' Nashville Network; Edwin Newman, 'Freud: The Drama of a Life,' A&E; Bill Harris, 'Showtime Celebrity Lifestyles,' Showtime-The Movie Channel; Sandi Freeman, 'Freeman Reports,' CNN, and Pat Mitchell, 'Good Housekeeping: A Better Way,' Lifetime.
Best news-public affairs special or series -- The 1984 Presidential nomination conventions,' C-SPAN, and 'Herbalife,' 'The CNN Evening News' and 'Public School Sex Abuse: A Report Card,' all CNN.
Best sports events special or series -- The 1985 College World Series and 'Top Rank Boxing,' both on ESPN, and 'Wimbledon '85' and two world championship boxing matches (Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns and Livingstone Bramble vs. Ray Manicini), all on HBO.
Best sports information special or series -- 'Country Sportsman' and 'Decade of Thrills,' both on Nashville Network; 'The Basketball Miracle: The Villanova Story' and 'The Champions,' both ESPN; 'The Not-So-Great Moments in Sports,' HBO, and 'Stroh's Circle of Sports,' USA Network.
Best sports host -- Nick Charles, 'Coors Sports Page,' Turner Broadcasting; Tim Carver, 'The Not-So-Great Moment in Sports,' and Barry Tompkins, 'Hagler vs. Hearns' and 'Wimbledon '85,' both HBO, and Greg Gumbel, 'SportCenter,' Dick Vitale, 'NCAA Tonight,' and Jim Simpson, 'National Sports Festival,' all ESPN.
Best children's special -- 'Too Smart for Strangers,' The Disney Channel, and 'The Red Shoes' and 'The Wind in the Willows,' both Home Theatre Network.
Best children's series -- 'El Tesoro del Saber,' GalaVision; 'Dangermouse,' MTV; 'Fraggle Rock,' HBO, and 'Faerie Tale Theatre,' Showtime-The Movie Channel.
Best racial-ethnic minority special or series -- 'Santa Teresa,' GalaVision; 'Views and Visions,' Turner Broadcasting, and 'Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World,' A&E.
Best special or series for a special audience -- 'A Journey Through the First Year of Life,' CBN Cable Network and SPN Cable Network, and 'Arthritis Video Seminar' and 'What Every Baby Knows,' both Lifetime.
