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!