The 41st Daytime Emmy Awards might forever be remembered as the one with the online buffering.
The best in daytime talk, soap operas and news gathered Sunday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the annual ceremony, hosted by crude funnywoman Kathy Griffin. The #trendingtopic throughout the night was the online elephant in the room.
This year marked the first time that the ceremony did not air on TV. Unable to secure a broadcast home, the long-running awards show, which drew as many as 20 million viewers in its heyday, instead was streamed live online — which didn’t go unacknowledged.
Eric Martsolf, upon accepting the night’s first award for supporting actor in a drama for his work as Brady Black on “Days of Our Lives,” wondered if his sons were “watching me on [their] iPads, but I know [they’re] not.”
Griffin, during a comedy bit later, calmed the rowdy audience by saying, “It’s not even a real show; it’s like Twitter. Relax.” Sharon Osbourne, a co-host on CBS’ “The Talk,” meanwhile, encouraged folks to “throw up in a toilet” since the ceremony was not being televised.
But awards, bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, were indeed handed out during the commercial-free webcast.
“The Young and the Restless,” which led all contenders heading into the ceremony, took six trophies Sunday night, including the top prize as best drama.
Keeping its streak going, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” took the Emmy for entertainment talk show.
“Good Morning America” won best morning show, and Telemundo’s “El Nuevo Dia” won best morning show in Spanish.
In the legal showdown, “The People’s Court” won its case. Steve Harvey left with two trophies: one as game show host for “Family Feud,” the other for “Steve Harvey,” best informative talk show.
Syndicated veteran “Jeopardy!” was named best game show. Elsewhere, Dr. Mehmet Oz tied for best talk show host with Katie Couric, whose daytime talker was canceled after two seasons.
Given the ceremony’s platform, achievements in the online space rightfully received airtime. In the category of drama series with new approaches, online serial “Venice: The Series” took a trophy. “One Life to Live,” the long-running ABC soap that made its short-lived move to online in 2013 by producer Prospect Park, won for its directing team.
“We faced many challenges working without a network infrastructure,” said Jill Mitwell, one of the drama’s directors. “We’re certainly sorry it didn’t last longer.” Production was halted indefinitely pending a lawsuit between Prospect Park and ABC.
That was one of six Emmys that “OLTL” and “All My Children,” another broadcast veteran revived online, won this weekend. Creative categories were handed out on Friday.
The Creative Arts Emmys honored PBS with 12 awards, six of which were for “Sesame Street.” Nickelodeon wasn’t far behind with 10 awards, including prizes for teams behind “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Peter Rabbit.”
@villarrealy
