“General Hospital” was the big winner on Friday night at the 49th annual Daytime Emmys, winning five awards — including daytime drama — as the telecast returned to a live, in-person event. The day’s news — the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the assault on women’s rights by a rogue Supreme Court – threatened to overshadow the event. But the two-hour telecast, hosted by “Entertainment Tonight” anchors Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner for the first time, kicked off without a hitch from the Pasadena Convention Center.
“General Hospital’s” Daytime Emmys also including supporting actor, supporting actress, young performer and directing. The “GH” haul made ABC the overall network leader of the night, with five wins. Syndicated series won overall, with six total. “GH” is the most-winning daytime drama series in history, having now won the top prize a total of 15 times.
“The Kelly Clarkson Show,” meanwhile, was a repeat winner as best entertainment talk show, and Clarkson won as entertainment talk show host, bringing its total over two weekends to seven — the most of any program this year. And “Entertainment Tonight” was once again the entertainment news program winner.
Mishael Morgan accepts the Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series award onstage at the 49th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.
Michael Buckner for Variety
Among the big wins, “Young & Restless” star Mishael Morgan made history as first Black winner in the lead actress category. “We are breaking glass ceiligns left, right and center,” Morgan said. “We can and we will do this thing called equality and unity together.”
Morgan was one of several first-time winners at this year’s show: Actually, every major acting Emmy went to someone who had never won before, including lead actor (“The Bold and the Beautiful” star John McCook), supporting actor (“GH’s” Jeff Kober), supporting actress (“GH’s” Kelly Thiebaud) and younger performer (“GH’s” Nicholas Chavez).
Also, “Jeopardy” continued its streak as the best game show winner, despite the show’s tumultuous last year, which saw executive producer Mike Richards, who had been named host of the show as Alex Trebek’s successor, fired after a week due to past comments and controversial actions.
“The scandal was, as we call it at ‘Jeopardy!,’ ‘the awkward months,’” executive producer Michael Davies said backstage. “But it showed the power of our audience and how passionately our fans care about the program, which is just so important. What’s happened over the course of the season — Matt Amodio, and Amy Schneider and Mattea [Roach] and Ryan [Long] — really made us just remember how incredible the game is. The stars of our show and Mayim [Bialik] and Ken [Jennings] have done incredible job hosting.”
Davies added, ‘we hope to have a hosting announcement very, very soon. But with all of our plans for ‘Jeopardy!’ — which is more ‘Jeopardy!,’ not less, more versions —we’re going to need multiple hosts to represent the entire audience, to represent the entire country, in order to take this franchise forward.”
Previously, the 49th Annual Daytime Creative Arts & Lifestyle Emmy Awards took place June 18 at the Pasadena Convention Center “Kelly Clarkson” picked up five awards, while “Penguin Town” was next, with three. Beyond syndication (with 10), Netflix was the big single network winner, picking up nine total, spread out among “Penguin Town,” “Cat People,” “Headspace: Guide to Meditation” and “You vs. Wild: Out Cold.” CBS and PBS tied next, with three each.
Also of note, during the Creative Arts Emmys, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show’s” final season landed a Daytime Emmy for outstanding writing team for a daytime non-fiction program. And in its first season, Judge Judy Sheindlin’s new series “Judy Justice,” for IMDbTV (now Amazon Freevee) won for legal/courtroom program. (It also repped the first-ever Daytime Emmy for IMDbTV/Freevee.).
Check out the winners from last week’s ceremony here.
Receiving a lifetime achievement during the telecast: Soap opera icon John Aniston (“Days of Our Lives”). And here are this year’s Daytime Emmys winners in 15 key categories, as broadcast Friday night:
OUTSTANDING DAYTIME DRAMA SERIES
“Beyond Salem” (Peacock)
“The Bold and the Beautiful” (CBS)
“Days of Our Lives” (NBC)
WINNER: “General Hospital” (ABC)
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
(Last year’s winner: “General Hospital”)
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A DAYTIME DRAMA SERIES: ACTRESS
Marci Miller as Abigail DiMera
“Days of Our Lives” (NBC)
WINNER: Mishael Morgan as Amanda Sinclair
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
Cynthia Watros as Nina Reeves
“General Hospital” (ABC)
Laura Wright as Carly Corinthos
“General Hospital” (ABC)
Arianne Zucker as Nicole Walker
“Days of Our Lives” (NBC)
(Last year’s winner: Jacqueline MacInnes Wood as Steffy Forrester, “The Bold and the Beautiful”)
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A DAYTIME DRAMA SERIES: ACTOR
Peter Bergman as Jack Abbott
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
Eric Martsolf as Brady Black
“Days of Our Lives” (NBC)
WINNER: John McCook as Eric Forrester
“The Bold and the Beautiful” (CBS)
James Reynolds as Abe Carver
“Days of Our Lives” (NBC)
Jason Thompson as Billy Abbott
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
(Last year’s winner: Maurice Benard as Sonny Corinthos, “General Hospital”)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A DRAMA SERIES: ACTRESS
Kimberlin Brown as Sheila Carter
“The Bold and the Beautiful” (CBS)
Nancy Lee Grahn as Alexis Davis
“General Hospital” (ABC)
Stacy Haiduk as Kristen DiMera
“Days of Our Lives” (NBC)
Melissa Ordway as Abby Newman
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
WINNER: Kelly Thiebaud as Dr. Britt Westbourne
“General Hospital” (ABC)
(Last year’s winner: Marla Adams as Dina Mergeron, “The Young and the Restless”)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A DRAMA SERIES: ACTOR
Bryton James as Devon Hamilton
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
WINNER: Jeff Kober as Cyrus Renault
“General Hospital” (ABC)
Aaron D. Spears as Justin Barber
“The Bold and the Beautiful” (CBS)
James Patrick Stuart as Valentin Cassadine
“General Hospital” (ABC)
Jordi Vilasuso as Rey Rosales
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
(Last year’s winner: Max Gail as Mike Corbin, “General Hospital”)
OUTSTANDING YOUNGER PERFORMER IN A DRAMA SERIES
Lindsay Arnold as Allie Horton
“Days of Our Lives” (NBC)
WINNER: Nicholas Chavez as Spencer Cassadine
“General Hospital” (ABC)
Alyvia Alyn Lind as Faith Newman
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
William Lipton as Cameron Webber
“General Hospital” (ABC)
Sydney Mikayla as Trina Robinson
“General Hospital” (ABC)
(Last year’s winner: Victoria Konefal as Ciara Brady, “Days of Our Lives”)
OUTSTANDING GAME SHOW
“Family Feud” (SYNDICATED)
WINNER: “Jeopardy!” (SYNDICATED)
“Let’s Make a Deal” (CBS)
“The Price Is Right” (CBS)
“Wheel of Fortune” (SYNDICATED)
(Last year’s winner: “Jeopardy”)
OUTSTANDING GAME SHOW HOST
Wayne Brady
“Let’s Make a Deal” (CBS)
WINNER: Steve Harvey
“Family Feud” (SYNDICATED)
Leah Remini
“People Puzzler” (Game Show Network)
Pat Sajak
“Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” (ABC)
Pat Sajak
“Wheel of Fortune” (SYNDICATED)
(Last year’s winner: Alex Trebek, “Jeopardy!”)
OUTSTANDING INFORMATIVE TALK SHOW
“GMA3: What You Need to Know” (ABC)
“Peace of Mind with Taraji” (Facebook Watch)
“Red Table Talk” (Facebook Watch)
“Red Table Talk: The Estefans” (Facebook Watch)
“Tamron Hall” (SYNDICATED)
WINNER: “Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts” (Disney+)
(Last year’s winner: “Red Table Talk”)
OUTSTANDING INFORMATIVE TALK SHOW HOST
Gloria Estefan, Emily Estefan, Lili Estefan
“Red Table Talk: The Estefans” (Facebook Watch)
Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, Meghan McCain
“The View” (ABC)
WINNER: Tamron Hall
“Tamron Hall” (SYNDICATED)
Taraji P. Henson, Tracie Jade
“Peace of Mind with Taraji” (Facebook Watch)
Robin Roberts
“Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts” (Disney+)
(Last year’s winner: Larry King, “Larry King Now”)
OUTSTANDING ENTERTAINMENT TALK SHOW
“The Drew Barrymore Show” (SYNDICATED)
“Hot Ones” (Complex Networks)
WINNER: “The Kelly Clarkson Show” (SYNDICATED)
“Live with Kelly and Ryan” (SYNDICATED)
“Today Show with Hoda & Jenna” (NBC)
(Last year’s winner: “The Kelly Clarkson Show”)
OUTSTANDING ENTERTAINMENT TALK SHOW HOST
Drew Barrymore
“The Drew Barrymore Show” (SYNDICATED)
WINNER: Kelly Clarkson
“The Kelly Clarkson Show” (SYNDICATED)
Hoda Kotb, Jenna Bush-Hager
“Today Show with Hoda & Jenna” (NBC)
Kelly Ripa, Ryan Seacrest
“Live with Kelly and Ryan” (SYNDICATED)
(Last year’s winner: Kelly Clarkson, “The Kelly Clarkson Show”)
OUTSTANDING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS SERIES
“Access Hollywood” (SYNDICATED)
WINNER: “Entertainment Tonight” (SYNDICATED)
“Extra” (SYNDICATED)
“Inside Edition” (SYNDICATED)
(Last year’s winner: “Entertainment Tonight”)
OUTSTANDING WRITING TEAM FOR A DRAMA SERIES
“Beyond Salem” (Peacock)
WINNER: “Days of Our Lives” (NBC)
“General Hospital” (ABC)
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
(Last year’s winner: “The Young and the Restless”)
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING TEAM FOR A DRAMA SERIES
“Beyond Salem” (Peacock)
“Days of Our Lives” (NBC)
WINNER: “General Hospital” (ABC)
“The Young and the Restless” (CBS)
(Last year’s winner: “General Hospital”)
Susan Lucci introduced the In Memoriam segment, paying tribute to her husband, Helmut Huber, who died in March. Michael Bolton sang his ballad “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” during the segment. Meanwhile, Jennifer Aniston appeared on tape to congratulate her father John Aniston, on his Lifetime Achievement award. John Aniston also couldn’t attend, but his co-star Suzanne Rogers accepted the award on his behalf.
Overall this year, CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” received the most Daytime Emmy nominations, with 18, followed closely by ABC’s “General Hospital,” with 17. Among outlets, syndicated fare earned the top tally, with 48 nods for various program distributors, followed by two broadcasters tied on top: ABC and CBS, both with 31. (Netflix was next, with 27.)
Among this year’s other key highlights: The Daytime Drama category — which has been shrinking since the broadcast networks reduced their serial output — has expanded back to five nominees for the first time since 2014, thanks to the addition of “Days of Our Lives” spinoff “Beyond Salem.”
Meanwhile, this reps the first year under the agreement between the two major TV academies in which several categories have been realigned to focus on genre, rather than dayparts, as a way to divide eligibility between the Primetime (administered by the L.A.-based TV Academy) and Daytime Emmys (handled by the NY-based NATAS). It’s also the first year that children’s and family programming categories have been removed from both shows and relocated to a new Children’s & Family Emmy Award competition and ceremony, the first new Emmy show since 1979. (That event will take place in December.)
