(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — The 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards and “One Life to Live.”
Greetings soap opera connoisseurs. Once more procrastination has become my Kryptonite. It’s so hard to set down and write a column this time of year because there is so much to do outside. But then again, it is hot, and typing is a painless activity while cooling off under the air conditioner. So sorry this column is a little behind schedule, but you know what they say…..better late than never.
Ha ha. Anyway, on to the Llanview lowdown…
Last Friday night, the 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were handed out in their typical lackluster fashion. Hosts Cameron Mathison and Sheri Shepherd made for a grueling two-hour snooze fest block of time that we will never get back.
Two thoughts first came to mind as I turned on ABC to watch the debacle. First, Sheri Shepherd seems really annoying and overanxious, and second, is there any program that ABC won’t use as an opportunity to pimp Cameron Mathison?
But beyond the oblivious, there were a few other things about this year’s Daytime Emmy Awards that really grinds my gears.
First is the severe lack of any “One Life to Live” recognition in all but one of the acting categories. In fact the only “OLTL” actor even nominated for anything was Brian Kerwin (Charlie Banks), and he lost. I don’t get it. “One Life to Live” has the best cast on daytime, yet they are routinely shut out year after year after year. Granted other soaps have some terrific actors as well, but “OLTL” appears to have cornered the market in that regard. So how is it that they get shut out of the Emmys when “General Hospital” gets nominated for nearly everything?
Remember last year when Genie Francis won an Emmy for only a month’s worth of episodes? Or this year when Anthony Geary won an award for a sub par six-month performance?
And the kicker of it all was when “GH” won the Daytime Emmy for ‘Outstanding Daytime Drama,’ and hearing Executive Producer Jill Farren Phelps rudely proclaim while prancing on stage to accept her undeserved statue that “This was expected.” That one left me scratching my head and repeating “REALLY?!?” I kept watching the clock and waiting and hoping for the network to cut off her acceptance speech like they did in 2005. I have nothing but contempt for this woman and this soap. Although my mother watched “GH” while I was growing up, and that I was named after two characters on the soap, I have slowly manifested a hatred of all things “General Hospital.” I suppose it is due in part to the royal treatment it receives in comparison to “All My Children,” and especially to “One Life to Live.” It boggles my mind how “General Hospital” can receive a Daytime Emmy for crap on a stick, when there were three other, much more deserving, nominees. There was “The Young and the Restless,” who has long been daytime’s number one sudser, next there was “Guiding Light,” the longest running soap who celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, and then there was “One Life to Live,” who has increased substantially since the dismissal of Head Writer Dena Higley (and the promotion of Ron Carlivati to that position). But once again, “GH” wins an award they do not deserve. But what else is new? The Daytime Emmy Awards have been a joke for years now. It’s no wonder the over-the-top broadcast losses viewers and interest with each consecutive year. And, as if Phelp’s snarky comment was not a big enough slap in the face to the other three nominees (especially “OLTL”), then seeing ABC Daytime President Brian Frons setting
in his usual spot at the “GH” table certainly took the icing on the cake. Hey Mr. B.S. Frons (and yes, those are his actual initials), “GH” wasn’t the only ABC soap nominated for the top honor you know. But seriously, he is slowly sucking the life out of ABC’s Daytime schedule. And what does his terrible job performance earn him from his bosses? One promotion after another. Imagine that. And the most frightening part in all this is that, except for our last names and one letter in our first names, both Frons and I have the same name. His first and middle names are Brian Scott, whereas mine are Bryan Scott…. that’s some freaky stuff if you ask me. And I just think God that Jill Farren Phelps got out of Llanview when she did. Just imagine what “OLTL” would be like today had she still been in charge. Yikes. But anyway, I digress…
Since Daytime Emmy Awards were first handed out in 1972, the majority of past and present soap operas have won the category of ‘Outstanding Daytime Drama’ at least once. “General Hospital” tops the list with 10 wins in the category (1981, 1984, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2005, and 2008). Next up on the list is “The Young and the Restless” with 7 wins (1975, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1993, 2004, and 2007 [tied with “Guiding Light”]). Third is “As the World Turns” with 4 wins (1987, 1991, 2001, and 2003). In a three-way tie for fourth place on the list are “All My Children” (1992, 1994, and 1998), “Guiding Light” (1980, 1982, and 2007 [tied with “Y&R”]), and “Santa Barbara” (1988, 1989, and 1990). In fifth place is “Ryan’s Hope,” with wins in 1977 and 1979, and “The Doctors,” with wins in 1972 and 1974. The sixth place spot is a four-way tie between “Another World” (1976), “Days of Our Lives” (1978), “The Edge of Night” (1973), and “One Life to Live” (2002), each with one win. And seventh place consists of “Passions,” “Loving,” “The City,” “Port Charles,” and all other since cancelled soaps who never won a Daytime Emmy for ‘Outstanding Daytime Drama.’ On a related note, also fitting into that last category is “The Bold and the Beautiful,” which holds the distinction of being the only one of the eight current daytime dramas to have never won the category.
I believe that “OLTL” would have had a decent shot at winning the category this year had they submitted two good episodes from the past year, instead of just one. They made a good decision to submit the episode featuring the death of Asa Buchanan. But their kiss of death was with their second submission, one of the craptastic “Prom Night: the Musical” episodes. For those of you who have valiantly attempted to erase that vomit-inducing memory from your craniums, I’m going to rub a little salt in the wound. “Prom Night: the Musical” was a week’s worth of episodes centering around Starr and Cole’s high school prom. And yes, for any who may have missed it, it was as good as it sounds. It was like nails on a chalkboard. And not even the wonderful performances of Kathy Brier, Jason Tam, and Brittany Underwood could save the sinking ship. I think that, by submitting that episode as their second choice, “OLTL” sealed their fate in losing the ‘Outstanding Daytime Drama’ category at last week’s Daytime Emmy Awards. After doing a little research, I discovered that 2008 marked “OLTL’s” sixth nomination for ‘Outstanding Daytime Drama’ in the Daytime Emmy’s 35-year history; it also marked their fourth loss in the category. “OLTL’s” other nominations occurred in 1973, 1983, 2000, 2002 (in which it won), and 2007). And, while “OLTL” has lost more times than it has one, it is interesting to note that four out of its six nominations in the category have occurred within the past eight years.
On the plus side, “OLTL” was nominated in several technical categories, winning six of them. Nominations included the categories of “Outstanding Achievement for Casting for a Drama Series,” “Outstanding Achievement for Multiple Camera Editing for a Drama Series,” “Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition in a Drama Series,” and “Outstanding Original Song.”
Wins for “OLTL” came in the technical categories of “Outstanding Achievement for Costume Design for a Drama Series,” “Outstanding Achievement for Lighting Direction for a Drama Series,” and “Original Song” (two “OLTL” songs won in this category, ‘Chemistry’ and ‘Little Starr’). Also, “OLTL” was nominated fro and won in the “Best Directing” and “Best Writing” categories. It feels so good to be able to say Award Winning Head Writer Ron Carlivati. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? I think it does. Congratulations to everyone at “OLTL” who won Daytime Emmys this year, especially the directing and writing staffs. It was well deserved and long overdue. Keep up the good work! I am so proud of “OLTL” right now, and cannot wait for the 40th anniversary celebration next month.
With the 40th anniversary of “OLTL” coming up on July 15th, please share your thoughts and memories of the soap’s long history. I just may use some of your comments in a special edition of the column on July 15th.
Well, that’s all for this edition of the column. I hope you enjoyed this edition of the column. Thanks for reading and patiently enduring my twice a month ramblings. Take care and see you next time.
And until next time remember, we only have “One Life to Live” …..
