52nd Annual Daytime Emmys

[Daniel Avery]

I know it's irritating, but no one offered to air the Daytime Emmys this year. It's "airing" on "the Emmys Ap", which is to say the news of who won will only come across social media and/or the news.

As they announce the winners I'll edit this post.

2025 Gold Circle Inductee: Jane Elliott (Performer, General Hospital)

2025 Silver Circle Inductees:

• Greg Barna (Director of Photography, Travels with Darley, Equitrekking, Cyberchase For Reel, Bill Moyers – Close to Home, Beer Geeks, Lidia’s Family Table, Shelia Bridges Designer Living)
• Judy Blye Wilson (Casting Director, The Young and the Restless, All My Children, One Life to Live)
• Star Jones (Host & Executive Producer, Divorce Court, The View)
• Kate Linder (Performer, The Young and the Restless)
• James Reynolds (Performer, Days of our Lives)
  
  These awards, separate from the Emmys, are awarded to those who did sustained, excellent work in daytime TV. Gold Circle winners are recognized for fifty years, while Silver Circle is for 40 years, I believe.
  
  As for the "actual" Emmys......

Outstanding Guest Performer:
Alley Mills (Heather Webber, GH)

Outstanding Writing Team:
General Hospital

Outstanding Supporting Actress:
Susan Walters (Diane Jenkins, Y&R)

Outstanding Casting:
Days of Our Lives

Outstanding Supporting Actor:
Jonathan Jackson (Lucky Spencer, GH)

Outstanding Directing Team:
General Hospital

Best Emerging Talent:
Lisa Yamada (Luna, B&B)

Outstanding Actress:
Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis, GH)

Outstanding Actor:
Paul Telfer (Xander, Days)

Outstanding Drama Series:
General Hospital

 

[Monzo]

I don't understand who thought airing the Daytime Emmys in the fall, when the networks are airing their regular new programming, would be a good idea. The summer broadcast was just right; CBS (or maybe even The CW) could have stayed with it.

Who else besides General Hospital should have won Best Drama for 2024? I'm curious to see what happens when Beyond The Gates comes into the mix next year. I can easily imagine BTG winning Best Drama, given the material they've offered so far.

Lead actor Paul Telfer surprised me — in a good way. I thought he being nominated was already great, and I didn't expect him to win. To be honest, I don't think he's the strongest actor among the nominees, but he managed to turn a role that didn't really have a chance of lasting in a soap into a fan favorite, and that's a talent.

Nancy Lee Grahn as Best Lead Actress is okay. I liked Eileen Davidson's performance last year, but Ashley wasn't seen enough throughout the year to deserve the win.

Jonathan Jackson was certainly the strongest supporting actor, but I would have been happy for Gregory Harrison, who had never been nominated for an Emmy before.

I was surprised that Susan Walters was nominated for the first time. I was perhaps most pleased about her win, as I've watched her on TV for so many years, starting back in the final season of Hotel.

It would have been nice if Susan Walters' husband, Linden Ashby, had won as well, but of course, Alley Mills was the strongest among the guest performers.

Emerging Talent is a strange title. Established actors like Olivia d'Abo and AnnaLynne McCord compete against total newcomers/no-names. Lisa Yamada is certainly the strongest among the newcomers, but not stronger than the two stars.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I was low-key horrified that Jonathan Jackson won for....well, that fiasco he participated in with the return of Lucky Spencer. It seems that every year we have one winner that makes everyone go "Whaaaaaa???" and JJ was this year's. We all know that the nominees get judged by "reels"---collections of scenes put together by the actor (or someone on behalf of the actor), so rather than being judged on the totality of their performances the actors get judged by their "best day at the office". From the month or so where Lucky sat around playing cards to the weeks where he went aimlessly from Liz to Laura to Sonny and back it felt like the show had no real plan for him. It felt like they were just running out the clock on his limited contract with "Look! It's OG Lucky Spencer---remember him?" scenes that added nothing to the narrative. Even the actor and EP seemed to know it was a waste of time, since he asked to leave early and the writers wrote him out easily. For JJ to win an Emmy for a plot arc with no point to it seems to reinforce that old idea that the judges see a name on the list that they recognize and decide to vote for him/her regardless of what they actually did in that year of material. It also reinforces the idea that actors can just "drop by" and do a few months of sub-par material, coast on "nostalgia fumes" and collect a quick check---or maybe even an Emmy!---while the loyal contract actors are shoved to the background.

I like that all four shows got something in the acting categories so it didn't feel like a GH shut-out.

They put a lot of effort into re-developing the "Younger Actor/Actress" Emmy into "Emerging Talent". Though I understand what they were trying to do (avoid the spectacle of 24-year-old actors competing against eight-year-olds), it became a category of "actors who are new to acting and to soaps" versus "actors new to soaps but not new to acting" who have considerable non-soap resumes. It gives the same feeling of unfairness, just in a different way.

 

[Monzo]

As far as I know, you can only be nominated twice for Emerging Talent, but the future should be secure for now because BTG is coming into the mix next year, and there are quite a few newcomers there. Those I definitely see from BTG being nominated in some category next year are Tamara Tunie, Karla Mosley, and Jon Lindstrom, and possibly Clifton Davis, Trisha Mann-Grant, and Daphnée Duplaix. Of the other soaps, Steve Burton, Katie Tom, and Scott Clifton are guaranteed a nomination in my opinion. I also expect a nomination for Billy Flynn. His journey on Y&R may be torture for many viewers, but there have been some overly emotional scenes that would have made for a good Emmy reel.

What surprised me this year (and last year too) is that Colleen Zenk wasn't nominated. There were some in the guest actor category that I found weaker than her, but maybe she's not as great an actress as I thought she was.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I was also sad to see CZ not nominated. She never got proper credit for her decades of solid work on As The World Turns. Yes, we're supposed to be judging her Y&R stuff, but it would not be the first time the Academy decided to use a nomination as an excuse to honor the actor's total body of work.

In the early years of the Emmys, there were instances where the Academy would opt not to give an award for all the categories. They'd say something like "None of the submissions rose to the level of excellence intended for this award" or some such excuse and just say "No Award Given". Can you imagine the wailing and screaming if the Academy just tweeted Hey, we know y'all tried and we appreciate your effort, but we've decided not to give the Outstanding Writing Emmy to any of you because...well, Y'all can do better, okay?

 

[Emelee]

Who else besides General Hospital should have won Best Drama for 2024? I'm curious to see what happens when Beyond The Gates comes into the mix next year. I can easily imagine BTG winning Best Drama, given the material they've offered so far.

GH is the best one. It's not perfect, but it's still much better than the others. I am not surprised they won for the 5th year in a row.

But I am not so sure BTG will do great next year. It started off very promising. But after just months on air, it seems lost. The current Hayley story is a total rewrite - she was brought in by the Duprees to Bill's company because she was a long time best friend to Naomi. She did not seek the family out for some master plan. And some storylines are dropped before they end (the murder of the blackmailer, taking photos of Doug's accident site, taking down the corrupt cops, Naomi's suspicions about Hayley faking the pregnancy etc). And other storylines go back and forth with each week. Like Dani/Andre/Ashley/Derek and Kat/Tomas/Eva. BTG is really messing up their good start.

 

[Emelee]

The Emmy I am most happy with of 2025s awards is Lisa Yamada (Luna, B&B). Yes, it's annoying that delusional murderer/rapist Luna escapes punishment more often than Sheila. But Lisa Yamada has been doing a terrific job. I can see her going places when she moves forward from B&B. At least she has what it takes.

 

[Daniel Avery]

I like to think that the award for Yamada might result in a subtle "nudge" to Bradley Bell that the show might get back into Emmy contention if they could write something different than the same triangles over and over. This Luna plot is certainly not "original" (it is a retread of Sheila/Lauren/Scott from 1990s Y&R) but at least it is something different.

 

[Emelee]

I like to think that the award for Yamada might result in a subtle "nudge" to Bradley Bell that the show might get back into Emmy contention if they could write something different than the same triangles over and over. This Luna plot is certainly not "original" (it is a retread of Sheila/Lauren/Scott from 1990s Y&R) but at least it is something different.

If only! But I doubt it. Bell has stated that if you don't like that Ridge and Brooke are destiny, then don't watch.
He does not care much what viewers think, he will write what he wants. That's why the eternal played out triangles continue, with the same outcome each time.

Emmys for actors mean very little to him. Krista Allen (ex-Taylor) got nominated. A few weeks later, she was let go and told there was no need for her/Taylor on the show anymore.

Emmy winner Scott Clifton recently revealed that Liam was originally supposed to die. Bell called him up last year and said he was thinking of killing off Liam. But somewhere along the way, he changed his mind. Bell will likely go for round 50 of Liam and Hope instead.

I still don't understand the logical thinking of not SORAS-ing Deke, while all other characters were aged. Deke is Hope's older brother afterall. And the whole reason why Deacon first arrived in Los Angeles. Deke was born before Deacon even met Brooke, Bridget and the others. And he left LA after Hope was born. Everything suddenly happened in the opposite order.

Also, when ALL viewers call what Luna did rape, why can't the characters do the same? They already call her murderer. Just add rapist. That is what she is. Stop saying "Luna took advantage". It is really off-putting to reduce it to that.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Also, when ALL viewers call what Luna did rape, why can't the characters do the same? They already call her murderer. Just add rapist. That is what she is. Stop saying "Luna took advantage". It is really off-putting to reduce it to that.

Back in the early 2000s, As The World Turns had a story where insane Julia Lindsey drugged Jack Snyder and had sex with him. The characters had no issue with labelling it a Male Rape situation. This was the first time I recall characters being allowed to call it what it was onscreen, but it may have been because the show was planning on getting rid of Julia eventually. B&B might be afraid to say the truth out loud because they have no immediate plans to get rid of the character. The actress getting an Emmy might make them even more reluctant. Heck, they may even try to retcon it the way GH called Luke's rape of Laura "a seduction" for decades.

 

[Toni]

Did anyone notice the (sort of) "Dallas" connection in this edition? Well, Susan Walters played Da Presley in a TV miniseries with "Young Jock Ewing" (Dale Midkiff) as Elvis. She also was in "Hotel" at the time and then went on to better roles.

Jenna, is that you?​

 

[Daniel Avery]

Also, Jane Elliot (recipient of this year's Golden Circle Award) played Judy Trent on Knots Landing, the woman Gary had an affair with prior to moving on to Abby.

It's a small (soap) world, indeed.

 

[Toni]

Also, Jane Elliot (recipient of this year's Golden Circle Award) played Judy Trent on Knots Landing, the woman Gary had an affair with prior to moving on to Abby.

It's a small (soap) world, indeed.

Yes! I forgot to mention her too. Maybe because I can´t stand her KL character?

 

[Daniel Avery]

Tracy Quartermaine could leave Judy Trent in ruins with two choice lines and an eye roll. It's really a credit to Jane Elliot's talent.

 

[Monzo]

I just saw the In Memoriam segment and found it more beautiful than at many major award shows. Everyone who has passed away had their black-and-white photos, and the audience clapped for more or less anyone except for Jimmy Swaggart. Two celebrities received tribute clips: Eileen Fulton (rightfully so?) and Phil Donahue, who brought up the rear.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Did they show the clip of Donahue in a dress?

Eileen Fulton really doesn't get the credit she deserves for basically creating the template for the "vixen" on daytime soaps. Lisa Miller was supposed to be a more traditional, bland girlfriend for the traditional, bland Dr. Bob Hughes. Fulton came in and read her boring lines in a saucy, wide-eyed manner--not changing a word, but interpreting them very differently. Irna Phillips, the show-runner had fired many actors over the years for such behavior, but she saw what Fulton was doing and reportedly said Well...the girl can play a bitch! incredulously, and soon was writing Lisa as the fox in the proverbial hen house. If not for Fulton's mischief, we would not have later gotten Rachel Davis or Erica Kane--the young woman with dreams of wealth, respect, and love (not necessarily in that order) who was willing to scheme and lie to get where she wanted to be---while the audience rooted for her to get what she wanted.

Also, the popularity of the Lisa Miller character (later Lisa Hughes Eldridge Colman McColl Grimaldi, etc. etc.) in the early 1960s and into the 1970s spawned the national popularity of the name "Lisa". In a few short years it became the #1 name Americans were naming their newborn girls. Even Elvis and Priscilla named their daughter Lisa Marie Presley in the late-1960s.