Friday, May 14, 2010

Some Thoughts On The Daytime Emmy Nominations

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) announced the final nominees for the 37th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Awards on Wednesday. Based on the pre-nominees from each show, we already had an idea of who had a chance. Sadly, some of the best performances of 2010 didn't even make it that far for one reason or another - Grant Aleksander, Beth Maitland and Justin Deas come immediately to mind. Here are my thoughts about the final cut.

LEAD ACTRESS
Thankfully Crystal Chappell was nominated. Not only was her performance the best of 2009, she represents one of three nominations for GUIDING LIGHT in its last year of eligibility. I was hoping Terri Colombino would make this list. She had a terrific year and is often underestimated because of Katie's lame storylines. Sarah Brown, who like Chappell appeared in the top 10 of our 50 Greatest Soap Actresses list, was wonderful as Claudia on GENERAL HOSPITAL, whether you liked the character or not, and has the best chance at beating Chappell in this category.

LEAD ACTOR
Hooray for Michael Park. He's doing AS THE WORLD TURNS, two indie soaps and an Off-Broadway musical all at the same time. The hardest working man in the biz! I couldn't be happier for Doug Davidson. He made the most of his screen time in 2009. I'm surprised Maurice Benard and Tony Geary did not make it this year. When is the last time at least one them wasn't nominated? 2005. It would have been nice if David Canary was nominated as he retires. Perhaps next year he'll get one more nod.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Beth Chamberlin! Not only was she wonderful in 2009 dealing with Coop's death and the return of Phillip, she had never been nominated for an Emmy before. About time. Where the heck is Betty White? Sometimes Daytime just can't get anything right. Betty is such a hot commodity, even if she didn't deserve the nomination (and she did!), it would have added so much buzz to the telecast had she been included. Perhaps she'll be part of the show again anyway. It's nice to see Carolyn Hennesy's work recognized. She is a supporting actress on GENERAL HOSPITAL, versus a lead who thinks they have a better shot in supporting. Arianne Zucker deserves it and I'm glad her hard work in 2009 paid off. But she was definitely not a supporting actress in 2009. She was pretty much the lead of the entire show.

SUPPORTING ACTOR
There was no doubt Jonathan Jackson was getting a nomination for his return to GENERAL HOSPITAL as Lucky. And he's already done enough in 2010 to earn a nomination next year too. In my mind, Billy Miller is a lead actor on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and not supporting. But that is probably more a pecking order decision by the show. Davidson is lead and Miller is supporting? Jeff Branson was robbed! Again, Brian Kerwin is a true supporting actor, what this category used to be about.

YOUNGER ACTRESS
No offense to anyone but when I looked at the final nominee list my first thought was that Julie Berman has this in the bag. This category wasn't particularly strong even expanding to the entire pre-nomination list. I'm happy for Molly Burnett. She works hard and is a class act. Marnie Schulenberg is a wonderful actress. She had good material last year, even though most of it did not make Alison a very sympathetic character. Where's Kirsten Storms?

YOUNGER ACTOR
Drew Garrett was a fabulous addition to GENERAL HOSPITAL and he held his own with the big guns in 2009. He is probably the frontrunner. Zack Conroy was another relative newcomer that had some good material on GUIDING LIGHT. When I saw Scott Clifton's name, my first thought was, "Is he under 25?" He is. Scott Evans didn't make the final list, so sadly neither half of "Kish" will be represented at the Emmys.

DRAMA SERIES
GUIDING LIGHT had a wonderful comeback year in 2009 but submitted its final episode instead of one of the powerhouse "Otalia" moments (Frank and Natalia's wedding anyone? Coop's death?) and didn't make it. ALL MY CHILDREN was nominated for the "Who Shot Stuart?" episode which wasn't one of my favorites. I would have given that slot to DAYS OF OUR LIVES. This category is always a crapshoot because one episode out of an entire year is judged.

GENERAL THOUGHTS
Christel Khalil is the only African-American actor to be nominated. Get with the program daytime!

Last year IMAGINARY BITCHES was nominated in the New Approaches category. I was hoping some of the indie soaps would get a nomination this year. Sadly, none did.

So what did YOU think? Who was the biggest snub? Did the voters get it right? Who do you want to win? Weigh in and let us know.

12 comments:

  1. Crystal definitely deserves that Emmy. I agree that Grant Aleksander should have made the list. I wasn't aware of his work prior to his return, but he is a talented actor.

    Am surprised that GL entered the last episode...totally agree with you Roger that scenes from the wedding week should have been submitted...it was tv gold!

    Also wished that Jessica Leccia had submitted a reel. She gave some powerful performances in 2008/2009.

    Also if GL had submitted stuff from the wedding week, I think they might have stood a better chance of being nominated in the writing category.

    However, with GL's doors shut forever, I am deligthed that Crystal, Beth and Zach have been nominated. I think that Crystal stands the best chance of bringing the Emmy home out of the three, but I'll certainly be keeping my fingers crossed for all of them.

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  2. Crystal Chappell and Michelle Stafford are my favorites, so either one taking the Emmy home will be alright by me. Both are superb actresses, true professionals who give their all no matter what! Good luck, ladies!

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  3. ILENE KRISTEN (OLTL)! I am always surprised that this venerable veteran is continually ignored in the supporting category, given that she is truly a supporting actress who promotes and enriches lead stories.

    Also, I sure wish Don Hastings (ATWT) had FINALLY gotten some recognition for his profoundly moving performances. I know the story was short circuited, but his "ice cream melting down the sleeve" moment was one of the moving and disturbing scenes I have ever seen on daytime.

    And yes, I am pissed Alison Sweeney (DAYS) didn't make the cut. I know she is not everyone's cup of tea, but her scenes after Grace's death were raw, powerful, and demonstrative of the craft she has learned to master.

    Plus Aaron Refvem (Morgan GH) brought more soul, depth, and older-wisdom to his young character than any of the other nominees in that category. How could Emmy voters overlook this incredible young talent?

    Other messed up omissions (in addition to what Roger wrote): Colleen Zenk Pinter, Suzanne Rogers, Stacy Haiduk, and YES, Austin Peck (His last month as Dead Brad was utterly heartbreaking).

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  4. Crystal Chappell's graveyard scene was the best I've seen since Karen Wolek on the stand so I obviously hope that she wins. Beth Chamberlin brought me to tears numerous times with her work surrounding Philip's illness; everytime that she cried, I cried.

    I understand that Grant Aleksander chose not to submit himself for consideration. His work during the storyline with his illness and Alan's death was tremendous.

    How TPTB at GL could have failed to have submitted the Otalia wedding scenes for consideration for Best Drama is beyond me.

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  5. Thank you Damon for being the only person to call out Alison Sweeney's major diss. I can't even put into words how pissed I am about that. A real disappointment.

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  6. So glad Crystal was nominated! Those scenes of the graveyard confession were superb; raw emotion. It's the first time in years that I've cried watching a soap.

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  7. CONGRATS to all the nominees.

    Crystal's graveyard scenes were simply superb. Just wish Jessica had submitted the gazebo scenes as supporting actress, and that GL had submitted Otalia rather than the final show. CC & JL together were absolutely amazing in most every scene.

    ...and the winner is...Crystal Chappell !!!

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  8. Seems to me, TPTB figured if they submitted the final show of the series, they could close the door and say a definitive "Goodbye" to the show. After all, if the show doesn't get nominated, then their decision to end the series was correct. Talk about a cop out.

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  9. I totally agree Alison Sweeney deserved a nomination, but my understanding is that she submitted the Sami/Nicole confrontation slap-athon. Great scenes, lots of fun, but not as strong (and not at all heart-tugging) as the death of Baby Grace material. I'm surprised at her choice.

    Guiding Light was just plain stupid not to submit something from the Frank/Natalia wedding week. That entire week of shows (as I think Roger pointed out in the year in review) was the best "episode" from 2009. One solid week of classic, brilliant soap at its best. And it wasn't just about Otalia (though that was the focus): that was also the week Edmund kidnapped Colin and Reva left her hospital bed and took Eddie down with a hypodermic needle! And it was the week that Alan schemed to have Phillip committed. What a shame the show, that had a such a creative resurgence in 2009, won't be among the nominees in its last year of eligibility.

    Crystal deserves the Emmy by a mile, IMO, but the decision process is so flawed any one of the nominees in any of the categories could win.

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  10. So glad about Drew Garrett. Perhaps ABC is realizing the big mistake in letting him go!

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  11. Marnie Schulenburg is a great talent among many outstanding actors and actresses on ATWT. Sad that show will not be picked up by another network. Michael Park is excellent as well. They should let the actors and actresses showcase their singing talents more often.

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