Hbo, Fuchs Come Up Aces

By JOE FLINT

He wasn't there and he didn't win any awards, but ousted HBO chairman Michael Fuchs still managed to steal the spotlight at the 17th annual CableAce awards held here Dec. 2.

HBO also dominated, winning 27 awards, 20 more than runner-up Showtime. Garry Shandling's "The Larry Sanders Show" was the biggest individual winner with four trophies. Shandling also won for host in the "HBO Comedy Hour: The 1995 Young Comedians Special." Winning two awards for HBO were movies "The Burning Season," which starred Raul Julia; and "Citizen X," as well as "Dennis Miller Live," "Dream On," "HBO Comedy Hour: Kathy & Mo: The Dark Side" and "One Survivor Remembers."

Most of the winners for HBO thanked Fuchs. Shandling thanked him twice.

Bill Maher, whose Comedy Central show "Politically Incorrect" won for talkshow series, wore a black glove which he raised in a salute to Fuchs when accepting his award. Merel Julia, wife of the late Raul Julia, also praised Fuchs when accepting the trophy for Julia's performance in "The Burning Season." "Fuchs' vision for programming left a great legacy for HBO," she said.

Linda Hamilton won an Ace for actress in a movie or miniseries for USA Network's "A Mother's Prayer." USA Network founder and chairman Kay Koplovitz also took home the Governor's Award for her work in the industry. Showtime took home two Aces for "The Outer Limits." John Hurt also won best actor in a dramatic special or series in Showtime's "Picture Windows: Two Nudes Bathing."

Fox's cable network FX took home its first Ace Award with Jane Wallace winning as best interviewer for her show "Under Scrutiny With Jane Wallace.

CABLE ACE AWARDS WINNERS BY NETWORK

Home Box Office 27 Showtime 7 Comedy Central 5 ESPN 5 The Disney Channel 4 The Learning Channel 4 Turner Network Television 4 A&E Television Networks 3 CNN 3 MTV: Music Television 3 TBS Superstation 3 Discovery Channel 2 Nickelodeon 2 The Travel Channel 2 BRAVO Cable Network 1 CNN Intl. 1 FX 1 Lifetime Television 1 Madision Square Garden Network 1 Turner Classic Movies 1 USA Network 1

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