Daytime Emmys Preview: Yeah, They Still Do Those

Suppose they gave an awards show and no one cared.

That’s the situation that the Daytime Emmys have been facing for years.

The Daytime Emmys cover pretty much everything that’s on before 8pm (7pm Central): soaps, game shows, morning news, children’s programming, syndicated talkers – all those shows that don’t register in the ratings, because viewers have the audacity to time-shift their viewing. When I worked in daytime tv, the rule of thumb was that somewhere between two and three times the number of viewers captured by Neilsen watched the shows, and that was before DVRs were widespread.

Somewhere along the way, the Daytime Emmys utterly lost respect for themselves. Maybe it was when NBC pulled out of the network rotation for them, when they realized that none of their shows ever won; maybe it was when daytime ratings fell below some Mendoza line; maybe it was when Susan Lucci finally won an Emmy and took away the only reason that people who don’t care about daytime television ever had to watch the show.

As CBS and ABC have shown less interest in broadcasting the show (last year it ended up on the CW, for heaven’s sake), industry interest has waned to the point that NATAS must be having trouble finding judges. There’s no other way to explain the recent prevalence of ties in major categories. The judges that do turn out have an obvious love for the familiar; there is no better predictor for winning a Daytime Emmy than having won one before.

Coupled with that is utter obliviousness to the rest of showbiz. NATAS had an opportunity to get people watching again this year by nominating Betty White for her work on “The Bold and the Beautiful” — stellar work by one of the most popular actors working right now, on what by many measures is the most popular show in the world — but, no. They nominated four solid, worthy daytime vets, and Bree Williamson of “One Life to Live.” (Williamson has done some decent work since joining the show a few years back, but by all accounts, that was not reflected in her nomination reel.)

This year, the show will be hosted by Regis Philbin. Everyone loves Regis Philbin, right? And it’s coming from Las Vegas. Who doesn’t love Vegas? Parts of the show are likely to seem more like a presentation from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce than a television awards show, but I’ll take the Blue Man Group and the cast of “Jersey Boys” over another tortured attempt to have morning show hosts and soap opera stars present a musical tribute to “Sesame Street.” (This really happened.) The program will also feature tributes to Dick Clark and Agnes Nixon and, oh yeah, some awards.

You want predictions? In any category, if a previous winner is nominated, that’s the favorite. In performance categories, if more than one previous winner is nominated, go with the one who won second-most recently; the voters do like switch things off. Failing that, or in case of a tie, go with a nominee from the late, great “Guiding Light.” For those of you who haven’t been following along, this predicts wins for GL’s Crystal Chappell (Lead Actress), GH’s Jonathan Jackson (Supporting Actor), GL’s Beth Chamberlain (Supporting Actress), GH’s Julie Berman (Younger Actress) and GL’s Zack Conroy (Younger Actor – though he was enough of a latecomer that I think this one’s more likely to go to OLTL’s Scott Clifton, nominated so many times in his GH days that he might as well have been a winner).

The only soap category in which algorithm presents a problem is the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category: GH’s Anthony Geary and “The Young and the Restless’” Christian LeBlanc have alternated wins for past six years. (I know LeBlanc kept himself out of the running this year, but Geary made the first cut. What’s up with that? Probably not as much angst in his submission tape as in the five ultimate nominees’.) Y&R’s Peter Bergman last won in 2002, but who remembers that far back? And no one from GL in sight. If I had to make a pick, I’d go with “As the World Turns’” Michael Park, an industry favorite who only has one more shot to get nominated for this role. (And who, by the by, is said to have had a killer submission tape. Yeah, I guess that helps, too.)

The Daytime Emmy Awards air tonight on CBS at 9 Eastern/8 Pacific. You already know who’ll win, but enjoy the show anyway. It should be entertaining.