Edward J. and Melody Thomas Scott and Lidia Bastianich will receive Lifetime Achievement honors at the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards in June, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) said Monday.
With all of their years of service combined, the husband-and-wife team of Edward J. and Melody Thomas Scott have been working in daytime television for nearly a century. Melody Thomas Scott has starred as Nikki Newman on CBS’s The Young and the Restless for 45 years, having joined the daytime drama in February 1979. Along the way, she has worked on stage and in numerous television shows as well as being a subject of Lifetime Television’s series Intimate Portrait. She married Edward J. Scott, a six-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning producer, in 1985. Edward, currently a supervising producer on CBS drama The Bold and the Beautiful, joined The Young and the Restless as an associate producer in 1976, moving up the ranks to serve as that show’s executive producer for decades. Prior to joining The Bold and the Beautiful, he was an executive producer on NBC’s Days of Our Lives. The Scotts have three daughters and five grandchildren.
“We’ve long wanted to honor the legendary daytime duo of Melody Thomas Scott and her husband Edward J. Scott,” Adam Sharp, NATAS president and CEO, said in a statement. “With a combined 93 years of contributions to our community, they are true institutions in the world of daytime television.”
“We are honored and humbled to receive this recognition from NATAS. Throughout our decades-long careers in front of and behind the cameras, we have had the opportunity to work not only with each other, but also with an incredibly talented pool of people who excel in their crafts and are passionate about the art we create in daytime television,” Melody Thomas Scott and Edward J. Scott said in a combined statement.
Lidia Bastianich is a Daytime Emmy award-winning public television host, best‐selling cookbook author, restaurateur and chef, as well as owner of a food and entertainment business. She has created and starred in several Daytime Emmy award-winning cooking programs over the last 25 years, including Lidia’s Kitchen, Lidia’s Family Table, Lidia’s Italy and Lidia’s Italy in America, as well as the three-time James Beard Award-winning series Lidia Celebrates America. Along with her television series, Bastianich has published numerous cookbooks, co-authored with her daughter Tanya, as well as a memoir, “My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family and Food.” She also has a line, called Lidia’s, of all-natural sauces as well as a cookware line with HSN.
“Lidia Bastianich’s astounding success combines her love of cooking while simultaneously entertaining millions each day. It is an honor for us to say ‘grazie’ for the many fine meals borne from her TV kitchen and cookbook pages,” Sharp said.
“It is a tremendous honor to be recognized and receive the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award for having shared my passion for food with TV audiences for over 25 years,” Bastianich said in a statement. “Cooking together and sharing food remains a common denominator of all cultures. Food nurtures, it connects diverse people and it brings families, friends and strangers together. There is no better place to be on this earth, especially in these trying times, than sharing food at a table with others. That simple idea has been the basis of my life’s work.”
The Scotts and Bastianich will receive their awards in person on Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8 during ceremonies at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles. The Daytime Emmys will air live on Friday, June 7 at 8 p.m. ET/delayed PT on CBS and will stream live and on-demand on Paramount Plus.
