Cosby Captures Two People’s Choice Honors

Bill Cosby’s return to television earned him two trophies at Sunday’s 23rd annual People’s Choice Awards ceremony, while “The Nutty Professor” and “Independence Day” cashed in on their popular appeal to win the feature categories.

There were first-time winners at this year’s awards, including favorite feature actors Mel Gibson and Sandra Bullock, but many of the winners have claimed People’s Choice awards in the past.

In five categories, the winners were the same as last year. Three of those - Tim Allen (favorite male television performer), and Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire (favorite male and female musical performers) - have walked away with the same awards for at least the past three years.

The other repeat winners, “ER” and “Seinfeld,” for favorite TV drama and comedy, respectively, helped put NBC ahead of the other networks. The peacock strutted away with five trophies, compared with two for CBS and one for ABC.

NBC’s other wins were for “Days of Our Lives” (favorite daytime drama) and Brooke Shields (favorite actress in a new television series). Michael J. Fox shared his award with Cosby, tying for favorite actor in a new comedy series.

The other winners in the television category were Fox’s “Millennium” (favorite new drama series) and Oprah Winfrey (favorite female television performer), whose talk show remains the most popular in syndication.

Unlike the case with most entertainment industry awards, winners of the People’s Choice trophies are chosen by a sample of the American public through a poll conducted by the Gallup Organization.