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The winners of the 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced Sunday evening, June 16, 2013 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA and broadcast live on the HLN cable network. Although the production quality of the program itself left much to be desired, Soapdom applauds HLN for continuing to support the Daytime genre.  

And the 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Award for daytime drama categories went to:

Outstanding Daytime Drama
Days of our Lives
Ken Corday who accepted the award, quipped, "It's been 38 years!"   And we say, long over due for Days.

Outstanding Lead Actor
Doug Davidson (The Young and the Restless) who thanked his co-star, Jeanne Cooper who passed on a few weeks ago after a brief illness.  " I'm so sorry she isn't here tonight," he said. (As were we all.)

Outstanding Supporting Actress
Julie Marie Berman (General Hospital)
Berman had won the Emmy for Younger Actress, but this was her first nomination in the Supporting Actress category. She was taken by surprise by the win, as she left General Hospital earlier this year.  She couldn't have been more gracious about sharing the accolade with her co-star Tony Geary (a multiple Daytime Emmy winner in his own right). 

Outstanding Supporting Actor
Tie!
Billy Miller (The Young and the Restless) and
Scott Clifton (The Bold and the Beautiful)

 

Outstanding Younger Actress
Kristen Alderson (Starr Manning, One Life to Live/General Hospital)
Alderson has been playing this role for about 15 years, since she was a little girl. She has grown to a beautiful women before our eyes, and was completely overcome by her win.

Outstanding Younger Actor
Chandler Massey (Days of our Lives)
This is Massey's second win in this category for his groundbreaking role on Days.

Outstanding Drama Series Directing
The Bold and the Beautiful 

Outstanding Drama Series Writing 
The Bold and the Beautiful

 

As for the broadcast itself, the venue, the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, is a clostrophobic space with it's low ceilings adorned to the hilt with the stage lights. It really gave a feeling of being closed in.  There were abundant technical difficulties, like the sound on the host's microphone not working, or just the overall sound design where you could hear plates clattering, people chatting, utensils in use, etc.  It made for a very unprofessional show.

I give the producers credit for trying a few new things, two of which bombed terribly.  Having Food Network star, and chef, Giada Delaurentis interview the daytime drama winners on a red sofa directly after their win. Her questions were innane and the stars, still overcome by the emotion of the win, could barely utter a word.  

Good Morning America's Sam Champion joined HLN's A.J. Hammer and Robin Meade to host the annual awards show, but when Meade took her turn at the musical numbers, it just flopped. In fact, though you could see her giving it the ole college try, it was embarrasing to watch.

My favorite bits of the show featured General Hospital's Nancy Lee Grahn as a roving reporter outside the hotel prior to showtime.  In one segment, she asked two fans what their favorite soap was. "General Hospital" they bellowed.  But when she asked them if they knew who she was, they were dumbstruck.  She could only gaze at the camera in disbelief.  

Another favorite moment of the broadcast for me was Young and the Restless Melody Thomas Scott recitation of all her married names.  She'd been married 12 times on the show. 

Speaking of The Young and the Restless, Corbin Bernsen and Jess Walton (both of whom star of have starred on Y&R), gave a fitting tribute to Jeanne Cooper who played Katherine Chancellor on Y&R for too many years to count and who sadly lost a battle with a brief illness and passed away last month. Bernsen, her son, spouted quite the colorful language in describing how his mom would be reacting to her being placed in the "In Memoriam" segment.

Another highlight of the evening was the acceptance of George Lucas for his Daytime Emmy for the animated Star Wars program. This was the first Emmy, Daytime or otherwise, he has ever won.  The award was presented by none other than Princess Leya herself, Carrie Fischer, whose intro touched on humorous side of acid trips in the 1960s and 1970s.

As mentioned at the top of this article, Soapdom applauds the efforts of HLN in supporting the Daytime Emmys, but hopes that if they carry the show again next year, they, along with the Television Academy, consider hiring a production company with a bit more expertise in producing this kind of awards show.

 

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