Television
“General Hospital” Winner At Daytime Emmys
By LaDale Anderson
Jun 23, 2012 - 7:15:07 PM

BEVERLY HILLS—ABC’s last remaining soap “ General Hospital” led all nominees for the 39^th Daytime Emmy Awards with a total of 23 nominations and it cleaned house on Saturday winning multiple awards including Outstanding Drama Series.  I thought with Lucci presenting the award that perhaps it would go to “All My Children,” but “GH” definitely deserved it.  The soap has been doing wonderful things in the past year and looks to continue doing so in the coming months.

Anderson Cooper and “ Sesame Street’s” Oscar the Grouch kicked off the ceremony with a hilarious hoot by giving the audience and viewers at home a recap of infamous moments from Daytime TV; Cooper was on the happy side, Oscar the Grouch, not so much. 

Outstanding Younger Actor nominees Nathan Parsons, Eddie Alderson, Chad Duell and Chandler Massey presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series to Anthony Geary for his portrayal of Luke Spencer on “ General Hospital.”  This is Geary’s seventh Emmy Award.  He thanked his GH family and fellow nominees while on stage.  The ladies of CBS’s “The Talk” poked fun at themselves for being compared to the ladies of ABC’s “The View.” It’s ironic as both shows are pretty similar in themselves.

Anthony Geary took home his seventh Emmy Award for Lead Actor for his work on "General Hospital."

What was with the music that was played throughout the ceremony?  It just gave me an awful feeling every time I heard it.  I was hoping throughout the ceremony that the music would change at some point.  Celebrity chef Bobby Flay won the award for Outstanding Culinary Program for “Bobby Flay’s Barbeque Addiction;” a heartfelt speech from the culinary genius.  

The award for Outstanding Talk Show Informative went to The Dr. Oz Show for the second year in a row.  “Live with Regis and Kelly” took home the award for Outstanding Talk Show Entertainment.  It was sad to see that Regis and Kelly were not able to attend the ceremony to partake in the show’s win.  The award for Outstanding Talk Show Host was given to a well-deserving Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa for “Live With Regis and Kelly.”

Chandler Massey took home the award for Outstanding Younger Actor for his work as Will Horton on “Days of Our Lives.”  He was a bit flabbergasted as he accepted his award, still in shock for his win, but well deserved for the actor who has been doing tremendous work on the soap this year. 

The award for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team went to NBC’s “Days of Our Lives.”  The last time the soap won the award was back in 1976, so it was a welcome win.  Jonathan Jackson picked up his second Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his work as Lucky Spencer on “ General Hospital.”  Jackson has won a total of five Emmy Awards since his start on the soap back in 1993.

Outstanding Younger Actress nominees Molly Burnett, Shelley Hennig, Christel Khalil and Jacqueline MacInnes Wood presented the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series to Heather Tom for her exceptional work as Katie Logan on “The Bold and the Beautiful.” 

“My baby is going crazy right now,” joked Tom as she accepted her award.  She also thanked her daytime community while on stage. 

Finola Hughes presented the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series to her “ General Hospital” co-star Nancy Lee Grahn for her work as Alexis Davis.  It was unfortunate that Grahn was not at the ceremony to collect her trophy, but I’m sure the cast will have a huge party for the actress on set.  Susan Lucci took the stage to pay tribute to the dearly departed “All My Children” “Guiding Light,” “As the World Turns” and “One Life to Live” with fellow soap alums Cameron Mathison and Erika Slezak. 

"General Hospital" took home the award for Outstanding Drama Series.

“Days of Our Lives” alum Deidre Hall presented the award for Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team to “ General Hospital.”   Kristin Alfonso from “Days of Our Lives” presented the award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series to Christel Khalil for her work as Lily on “The Young and Restless.”  After four nominations it was a well deserved moment for the actress. 

While the 39^th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards was not the most exciting ceremony, it was great to see soaps receive accolades they so deserve.  The genre has definitely taken a beating in the recent year, but as Erika Slezak said best the soap opera defines what many of us consider Daytime TV.  May it live forever!