PASADENA, Calif—The Emmy Awards, honoring television’s best shows, may be more prestigious, but the Phlemmy Awards are gaining popularity, if not with television executives, then certainly with antismoking crusaders.
The American Lung Association bestows the dubious awards on productions that feature use of tobacco products in a glamorous or positive way. This year’s winners included Seinfeld for Kramer’s smoking escapades (he gets kicked out of a restaurant for smoking, then gives a smoking party in his apartment); Cybill for an episode in which the female lead lights up a cigar; and NYPD Blue for a scene in which a cop softens up a suspect by offering him a smoke.
The corresponding Pink Lung award for shows that avoid smoking or portray it in a negative light went to Chicago Hope, Touched by an Angel, and Spin City.
