HOLLYWOOD—The 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, May 1, but for fans of daytime television if you were hoping to watch the ceremony on television or online too bad. Why? Well for the first time in the history of the Daytime Emmy awards, the accolades were not televised live or over the internet. Yes, quite a sad day to say the least as it seems daytime gets little love compared to primetime television.
Anyways, the CBS soap “The Young and the Restless” led all contenders with a total of 27 nominations including Outstanding Drama Series, but it was “General Hospital” who ruled the night. The only remaining soap on ABC picked up the award for Outstanding Drama Series, which was a bit of a surprise to me as I expected either “The Bold and the Beautiful” or “Days of Our Lives” to walk away with the prize.
WOW, that is the best way to describe the winners of the night because there were so MANY surprises, that if you were placing money on bets, you probably lost big time. Tyler Christopher rose to the top winning the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor for his performance on “General Hospital” beating out perennial favorite Anthony Geary who many expected to claim his ninth Emmy award.
It was Mary Beth Evans who took home the award for Lead Actress for her work as Kayla Brady on “Days of Our Lives.” It was Evans first time being nominated, and she had a good night, taking home TWO Emmy awards (she also won on Saturday for her work on the online soap “The Bay”).
I pegged Kassie DePaiva as the candidate everyone was rooting for because of her riveting storyline involving the death of her daughter Paige. Speaking of Paige, True O’Brien edged out a win over Hunter Hayley King (who many suspected would three-peat) in the Younger Actress race, but True proved her “Days of Our Lives” work was not to be overlooked.
In the Younger Actor race, Bryan Craig finally caught the win that he should have won last year. This was the only race that I accurately predicted so go figure! I will admit I was quite stunned in the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress races. I was almost certain that “The Bold and the Beautiful” candidates were virtual locks. Nope. Linsey Godfrey and Jacob Young both went home empty handed yet again. Sean Blakemore won for his work on “General Hospital,” while Jessica Collins took home the prize for her work on “The Young and the Restless.” In all honesty, if someone could have given Godfrey a run for her money it would indeed be Collins.
“The Bold and the Beautiful” did take home the prize for Outstanding Writing and Obba Babatunde won for Guest Performer in a Drama Series. “General Hospital” did collect the prize for Outstanding Directing. So while “GH” might not be bringing in the number of viewers like some of the other soaps still around, it’s proving to have an impact with the daytime insiders because there was plenty of love for the soap. I would also argue the same sentiment for “Days of Our Lives” whose resurgence has been stellar in my opinion.
For all those people thinking the soap world is dead, I would say think again. Soap operas have a way of crafting storylines that keep you glued to your TV screen eagerly wanting to know what will happen on the next episode. The 43rd Daytime Emmy Awards are now in the record books. Here’s to hoping that the 2017 ceremony will actually be televised for fans to watch the winners receive their ‘moment.’
