With 17 Emmy nominations and no wins, it looked as if Alan Walker was turning into the Susan Lucci of television lighting designers. All of that changed September7, when Walker took home the award for Outstanding Lighting Direction (Electronic) for a Comedy Series from the Creative Arts Ceremonies of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The LD was honored for his work on the pilot episode of the CBS sitcom Cosby.
"I was beyond disbelief," says Walker of his reaction to his name being read at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. "If George Dibie hadn't jumped up and said, 'It's about time,' I wouldn't have known what was going on." Having been repeatedly passed over for his lighting on series such as The Golden Girls and The John Larroquette Show, the designer (now working on UPN's Sparks and Good News) was unprepared for the recognition. Walker's history with Cosby only extended through the first four episodes, which were mounted in Hollywood before the show moved to its current home, Kaufman Astoria Studio in New York, where Bill Berner took over.