I’ve just gone to We Love Soaps, where Roger Newcomb has posted the Daytime Emmy nominees that were announced this morning on TODAY.
(Sorry, kids. I’m willing to do a lot for my art, but watching Kathie Lee Gifford is not a sacrifice I’m willing to make.)
Here are my brief observations:
The main four acting categories seem rather solid this year. There are a few nice surprises (kudos to Tamara Braun for her nomination as Ava for Days). There are also a few omissions, but I’m looking at these twenty names and there’s no who-did-they-pay-or-sleep-with-to-get-THAT-nomination moments.
The younger actor/actress categories seem pretty solid too, with one exception: I can’t understand how EJ Bonilla, who spent half the year off-canvas and has been playing a resoundingly unpopular character for GL, was nominated.
On the other hand – ALL MY CHILDREN? For Best Show? In what alternate universe would that be? AMC was in freefall for most of last year. B&B – okay, I’m not the biggest B&B fan, but it’s solid. Days? Are you kidding? No OLTL or Y&R?
And yes – I am looking over into Otalialand, and I see the lit torches and throngs gathering to protest Crystal Chappell’s omission.
And yes, I agree Crystal Chappell (a.k.a. “The Goddess”) should be nominated every year; in fact, the Emmys overlooked Gina Tognoni and Kim Zimmer this year too (although all three have won Emmys before).
But I think much of 2008 for Olivia (and for Crystal) was a lot of laying the foundation for the wonderful Otalia story we see now. (These awards account for January 1 to December 31 of 2008.)
I know that much of the second half of 2008 was a nice, slow burn build up for Olivia and Natalia, but I think as much as fans love EVERY beat of the story, the moments most likely to get the attention of Emmy voters all happened in 2009.
I love those small moments – I think they’re some of the best reasons to watch any story – but they don’t always translate into nominations.
Emmy voters tend to go for the dramatic. (Susan Haskell – a deserving nominee – had the benefit of a very dramatic, controversial story.)
I know Olivia had the heart transplant in this time frame, but since that was the beginning of the story, I think the context of how important an event it was may have been lost on the voters. So though I’m somewhat disappointed that Crystal wasn’t nominated, I am hoping the amazing work she is doing now WILL be recognized next year.
I do worry that all of the phenomenal work Guiding Light is doing this year will be ignored by next year’s Emmys, especially if the show doesn’t find a new home.
There are easily a half-dozen or more current performances on GL worthy of recognition: Chappell and Jessica Leccia, Jeff Branson and Tognoni, Grant Aleksander, and Justin Deas to be sure. (Kim Zimmer is always nomination-worthy, as well.) I’d throw in a nomination for Orlagh Cassidy as Doris Wolfe, too – she defines awesome supporting actress!
A | THOUSAND | OTHER | WORLDS 
I am truly disappointed also at the omisson of Crystal she should have been nominated! Crystal is truly deserving, she puts so much heart & passion into her role as Olivia, and it’s a shock she was not nominated, what more can the woman possibly put into her character she is phenomenal!
One of the fundamental flaws of the current Emmy system is that it is supposed to recognize work that may be as longs as 21 months previous by the time the show airs.
The genre is geared for big, flashy, fast. Great work that doesn’t fit that sensibility gets overlooked.
Also I think voters tend to want to fit actors with categories rather than work — so actors seen as lead-types in a supporting category seem out of place and are at a disadvantage. It happens everywhere.
Let’s all just keep hoping that GL finds a new home and all of 2009s amazing work gets a shot in 2010.
Oh wait — one more thing… Lit Torches and gathering throngs? Don’t you know the motto at Big Purple Dreams? Only Love Can Save the World. The torches and the gathering throngs are for a really big beach party/campaign cards/phone call making/ postcard writing/ CBS streaming/ positivity channeling beach party for Friday night…
Did you know they had those? Come on over and join the Peaceful Purple Daytime Revolution!
http://z8.invisionfree.com/otaliafans/index.php?act=Search&CODE=getactive
Kate, I know, I shouldn’t joke about it! BPD is a very passionate group – but a very peaceful one.
I’m a person who liked much of AMC last year (which was a complete surprise). If they submitted Jesse and Angie’s wedding I can understand why they got a best show nomination. Please don’t shoot… If Days submitted the plane crash, I get their inclusion as a best show nominee too. I do wonder if there was a tie for best show causing them to choose to have only three nominees instead of five or even six.
I think part of why ABC and specifically AMC got so many acting nods this year was due to a backlash from 2008’s nominations. I’ve included the numbers to show what I mean.
This year’s nominees (acting):
ABC – 13 nods.
CBS – 12 nods.
NBC (Days) – 5 nods.
Acting in 2008:
ABC – 3 nods. (one male actor from each show)
CBS – 23 nods.
NBC (Days) – 4 nods.
At last year’s Daytime Emmy awards, no ABC actress was worthy of a nomination. That’s ludicrous and I bet the voters took what happened into account influencing where the votes went. Compare that to 2006 and 2007 (would have included 2005, but that was the weird year where there were six nominees in supporting actor/actress and lead actor category and eight in lead actress).
Acting in 2007 (Supporting actress had 6 noms so a total of 31):
ABC – 9 nods.
CBS – 21 nods.
NBC (Passions as Days was not nominated) – 1 nod.
Acting in 2006:
ABC – 9 nods.
CBS – 21 nods.
NBC – 0 nods.
ABC getting less than 33% of nominations isn’t that great, but that’s better than only getting 10%. I have to concede that ABC got a lot of nominations for the acting awards years back and CBS was shut out, so it goes in cycles. This year for whatever reason there was a bit more parity (at least on a network level.)
BL, you make some good points. I could see AMC’s nomination if they submitted the Jesse/Angie wedding, or even better, those amazing reunion scenes, which WERE phenomenal. THAT was classic soap!
I understand your points Patrick. Olivia’s story line last year was all building up to this year’s Otalia story and of course when you submit one epi for consideration, it has to be big and confrontational, even if its intimate. I think its harder to swallow that none of the women on GL were nominated. Interesting that three of GLs noms came from younger/newer – none of the GL veterans were acknowledged (and yes, I still consider Daniel Cosgrove to be one of the *newer* cast).
I wonder who was doing the nominating this year. Year after year of complaining that CBS was block voting and then all of sudden – WHAMO – a NBC and ABC windfall.
Just saying.
And I too worry that GL will get ignored for what has been a complete 180 from stumbling around the new format to stellar story and production in a way that should be making the industry smarter.
I also find it hard to believe that the ratings for the Emmy’s this year are going to be all that considering the major players (the aforementioned GL actresses being some) and shows (Ouch – no Y&R???) excluded
Unbelievable that Crystal Chappell should be passed over…she’s always good, but her work of the past 18 months or so has been phenomenal. There is no other actor on daytime right now who hits it out of the ballpark as consistently, or as powerfully as she does.
And Rafe? Seriously?
I’m disgusted.
I am happy that three of the guys from Guiding Light were nominated. I am extremely displeased that none of the women were. And I am beyond displeased that Crystal Chappell was snubbed! Crystal has graced our tv screens for many years with her enormous talent and 2008 was no exception. Olivia’s heart transplant was the beginning of what is now the Otalia phenom! Crystal has always been an incredible actress, but she has been phenomenal in this Otalia storyline! She is giving the performance of a lifetime! Next year…graveside confession…Emmy goes to Crystal Chappell!
I hope so, Ahhiker – those scenes were magical!
Here’s to Crystal Chappell, Jessica Leccia, and GL getting everything they deserve at the 2010 Emmy’s.
These noms are such a mess, it’s not even worth trying to make sense of it all. The three shows nominated for best drama are, IMO, the three *worst* shows on daytime, right now. As I posted at BPD: B&B is to GL as The Hills is to Knots Landing. For my money, the three contenders for best drama *should* be: Y&R, OLTL, and GL. All three shows had some bumpy times but, overall, they pack the most wallop. Y&R went from unwatchable to must-see last year….GL’s Olivia/Gus/Natalia and Otalia story lines were and continue to be must-see-tv.
I really, truly would love to see long time soap fans – people like us, who have watched for years and have a real investment in this genre – get together and host our own awards. Awards based on merit.
B&B is just so schizophrenic. Some of it is really great soap, and anything with Susan Flannery is amazing. But it’s painful to watch some of the “actors,” and I have no interest in Brooke/Ridge/Taylor or Nick/Brooke/Bridget/Katie because the people in those stories switch allegiances every other day. And not in the subtle, old-school soap way, which is the way it SHOULD be, but, one day Nick LOVES! Bridget. And then two days later it’s Brooke. And the week after that it’s….the UPS man. There’s no way to believe when it turns that quickly!
I wanted recognition for how amazing GL has been, but even for me, who’s been out there as a GL cheerleader….I found the show difficult to watch until fall. So I can understand why it may not have been nominated.
I agree Crystal Chappell should have been nominated – she’s been the lynchpin of the show for a few years now and did some amazing work even pre-Otalia.
I just hope she, and the show, are not forgotten in 2010.