Steve Harvey is syndication’s host with the most, having taken home two Daytime Emmys June 22—one for outstanding informational talk show on NBCUniversal’s The Steve Harvey Show, and another for outstanding game show host for Debmar-Mercury’s Family Feud.
Warner Bros.’ Ellen won its eighth trophy for outstanding entertainment talk show, while Dr. Mehmet Oz and Katie Couric tied as outstanding talk show host, even though Couric’s show, Disney-ABC’s Katie, will not return for a third season.
Perhaps as an indication of the dwindling importance of the Daytime Emmys, none of those stars were on hand to accept their awards. This was the first year since 1984 that the awards ceremony did not air on a broadcast or cable network, after being unable to find a network partner. That’s been a constant struggle for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS), which for the last two years created an awkward partnership with 24-hour cable news network HLN to keep the show on the air in some fashion.
Executives at NATAS have indicated that once word was out that there was no partner, a few networks expressed interest in airing the show next year, but this year’s unruly ceremony did not lend confidence to that notion.
The Daytime Emmys were once a paean to the glamour of daytime soap operas as well as to the power of programs such as Oprah. But with only four daytime dramas left on the air, there are fewer stars on which the show can focus. Meanwhile, less has been more for the soap operas, with all four series gaining ratings as their audiences have become less fragmented.
Y&R Takes Top Honors
The Daytime Emmys’ top award-winner also was TV’s highest rated, with CBS’ The Young and the Restless winning six awards, including outstanding drama.
NBC’s Days of Our Lives, the lowest-rated of the four, claimed three awards, including outstanding actress in a drama, which went to Eileen Davidson. Davidson is moving back to the more popular Y&R, having flip-flopped between the two soaps throughout her career.
Other acting awards went to Y&R’s Billy Miller, named outstanding actor in a drama. Days’ Chandler Massey, who has departed the show, was named outstanding younger actor for the third year in a row, after playing one of daytime television’s first prominent gay roles. Y&R’s Hunter King was named outstanding younger actress.
Days’ Eric Martsolf and Y&R’s Amelia Heinle were named outstanding supporting actor and actress, respectively.
Both CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful and ABC’s General Hospital were shut out of the main awards, while ABC’s One Life to Live took home one award for directing.
YouTube’s Venice the Series was named outstanding drama—new approaches, which honors shows that air on non-traditional platforms.
Rivalry Continues As ET, Extra Tie
Among syndicated shows, CBS Television Distribution’s Entertainment Tonight and Warner Bros.’ Extra, entering its 20th season, tied to win the first-ever Daytime Emmy for outstanding entertainment news program. In the past, entertainment news programs have competed in a little-watched special-class category as part of the Primetime Emmys. This is the first time those shows have competed in their own category.
CBS Television Distribution’s Jeopardy!, which has been on a ratings roll, was named outstanding game show for the 13th time. Jeopardy! started winning Emmys in 1990 and dominated the game category through most of that decade. The quiz show won four more in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006, and tied with Wheel of Fortune for the win in 2011. The last time Jeopardy! won was in 2012, with The Price Is Right taking the trophy for the first time since 2007 in 2013.
Although Harvey was named best game show host, he had no shot in this category since Family Feud was not nominated.
Warner Bros.’ The People’s Court was named outstanding court show, shutting out CTD’s ratings leader Judge Judy, which finally won the Emmy last year on its 15th nomination.
ABC’s Good Morning America was named outstanding morning show.
Daytime Emmys were also given out in three new categories: outstanding talent in Spanish, outstanding entertainment program in Spanish and outstanding talk show in Spanish. Those awards were won by Rodner Figueroa, a correspondent on Univision’s El Gordo y la Flaca; Telemundo’s Un Nuevo Dia; and CNN en Español’s Clix.
BLUE DOESN’T MEAN BETTER FOR DAYTIME EMMYS
Just because you can drop an f-bomb doesn’t mean you should. That was the lesson out of the Daytime Emmys, which aired over a live-stream only on June 22. The show was preceded by a red carpet and social-media lounge, hosted by Brittany Furlan, Lauren Elizabeth, Jessica Harlow and Meghan Rosette. The four were widely criticized on Twitter and by media trades for not knowing their subject matter and making offensive comments to people they were interviewing.
Furlan told General Hospital’s Ryan Paevey, “We’re going to get you away from us before we rape you.” Harlow asked The Bold and the Beautiful’s Lawrence Saint-Victor, “What’s it like to be a black man on a soap opera these days?,” after describing him as a “beautiful chocolate man.” On Twitter, reaction to the red carpet show was widely negative, with comments including:
“The worst red carpet show ever in history!! I feel sorry for the actors trying to get thru this!! HORRIBLE!!” tweeted Sonia VanPevenage @sadvp.
“This is so disrespectful,” tweeted Sharon Washington @Shawas001. “I am literally embarrassed for everyone crossing paths with these girls right now,” tweeted @SoapsInDepthABC.
As the red carpet ended, the hostesses admitted to not knowing what they were doing and joked that viewers “needed to be drinking to be watching this.”
Once inside the Beverly Hilton, things improved somewhat, with the ceremony moving at a good clip. However, host Kathy Griffin felt free to use the f-word, noting, “It’s not even a real show, it’s like Twitter, relax.”
And The Talk’s Sharon Osbourne dropped about as many f-bombs as actual words, in between encouraging the audience to “get f---ing pissed,” and “go f--- everyone you work with” as she and Talk cohost Sheryl Underwood handed out the award for outstanding actor in a drama.
Griffin also took on the role of orchestra, screaming people off stage— including Entertainment Tonight’s Linda Bell Blue and The Young and the Restless’ Jill Farren Phelps—who Griffin felt had gone on too long.
