HOLLYWOOD—It was a big night for the ABC soap opera “General Hospital.” The drama walked away with four trophies at the 2024 Daytime Emmy Awards including outstanding Drama Series. The soap opera also took home prizes for writing and directing team for a Daytime Drama Series.

When it comes to the acting races, Robert Gossett claimed the Emmy for Supporting Performance by an Actor in a Daytime Drama Series for his work on “General Hospital.” Actor Dick Van Dyke became the oldest winner at the Daytime Emmy Awards at the age of 98. He won the Emmy for Guest Performance in a Daytime Series for his work on Peacock’s “Days of Our Lives.”

Now a race that was loaded with competition, Supporting Performance by an Actress in a Daytime Drama, it was Courtney Hope, who portrays Sally Spectra on the CBS sudser “The Young and the Restless” who walked away with the trophy. I did see the race between Hope, Linsey Godfrey “Days of Our Lives” and Jennifer Gareis “The Bold and the Beautiful.” This just proves that “The Bold and the Beautiful” made a terrible mistake allowing Sally Spectra to relocate from Los Angeles to Genoa City.

For the second consecutive year, Thorsten Kaye won the Lead Actor Emmy for his work on “The Bold and the Beautiful.” I’m not upset with Kaye’s win, but I was really hoping Eric Braeden or John McCook, who portray Victor Newman “Y&R” and Eric Forrester “B&B” would be shown a bit of love. Perhaps the biggest shocker for many soap fans was the Lead Actress race in a Daytime Drama Series.

All of the women nominated were worthy of a win, but Michelle Stafford from “The Young and the Restless” winning over Finola Hughes “General Hospital” and Cynthia Watros “General Hospital” left me baffled. Stafford is a terrific actress, but I don’t think her work in the last year, ran circles around Hughes and Watros. I just need someone from the membership to explain to me this victory. All I can say, is I hope the writers on “Y&R” realize the talent they have and as a result give Stafford a serious storyline that she can sink her teeth into because as of late it has been underwhelming.

Other big winners at the ceremony included “The Kelly Clarkson Show” winning the Emmy for Daytime Talk Series, “Entertainment Tonight” winning for Entertainment News Series and Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa winning for Daytime Talk Series Host for “Live with Kelly and Mark.”

The ceremony was held over two nights on Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. The sad thing is the Daytime Emmy Awards used to be an event to watch. Hell, I don’t even recall an advertisement for the ceremony. It is amazing how a few years can change things drastically in the awards arena.