For the first time in three years, on June 18, 2022, the stars of daytime television gathered together for an in-person ceremony that honored the behind-the-scenes talent that makes all of our favorite programs come to life. But while the ceremony might have looked the same, there were plenty of changes since the last in-person ceremony.
The biggest change this year involved a realignment of categories. With the number of daytime drama series down to just four, this year, all the technical and craft categories were opened up to all daytime programs. Categories that used to be dominated by soaps -- like the Outstanding Music Direction and Composition -- this year featured no soaps among the nominees. The Outstanding Hairstyling category featured five talk shows and just one daytime drama series.
Other changes involved which programs are eligible to compete in the Daytime Emmys ceremony. Any "multi-camera, weekday daily serial, spin-off or reboot" programs are considered eligible. That means Days of our Lives' Peacock spinoff Beyond Salem is eligible to compete at the Daytime Emmys alongside its NBC parent, but previous winners, like the streaming series The Bay and Anacostia, have been moved to the Primetime Emmy competition. Last year, those programs competed in a "Fiction & Lifestyle" ceremony under the Daytime Emmys umbrella.
Children's programming, morning news programs, and some talk shows have been removed from the Daytime Emmys this year. Programming geared toward children will now compete in the newly minted Children's & Family Emmys (previously called a "Children's" ceremony under the Daytime Emmys banner) competition. Newsy morning shows, like Today and Good Morning America, will be part of the News & Documentary Emmys. Depending on their format, some talk shows will be moved to the Primetime Emmys ceremony.
One thing that hasn't changed? The recently renamed Daytime Creative Arts & Lifestyle Emmy ceremony still honors the best that daytime has to offer.
It was a rough night for soaps in the new format. There were just two wins by soaps in categories that were open to programs other than drama series -- and both went to The Young and the Restless. The CBS soap won for Outstanding Casting. Casting Director Nancy Nayor accepted the award on behalf of herself and Casting Associate Greg Salmon. The scene showed in the category package introducing Y&R as the winner showed Ashland Locke (played then by Richard Burgi) and Tara Locke (played by actress Elizabeth Leiner) squaring off about Tara's affair with Kyle Abbott.
"This is an incredible show to work on -- so many incredible people in front of the camera [and] behind the scenes. Such a beautiful team," Nayor said as she accepted the Emmy. "It's just a thrill. I'm so proud of this show and so proud of the work we do."
Y&R's other win had all the suspense of a Sweeps storyline. There were three nominees in the Outstanding Original Song category. Two were for songs from Y&R. The third? The theme song to the Facebook Watch series Talks With Mama. It's performed by someone you might just have heard about. Beyoncé. When the envelope was opened, Y&R picked up the win for "Grateful For It All," a song that was featured during a Neil Winters/ Kristoff St. John tribute. The recipients of the award were composers Gaye Tolan Hatfield and Brad Hatfield, and composer and lyricist Jeff Meegan. In his acceptance speech, Meegan thanked "the whole production team at The Young and the Restless. I am grateful you chose to use our tune for such a beautiful tribute to Kristoff St. John."
The night's other win by a soap came at the very end of the ceremony: the Outstanding Guest Performer category. The Emmy was awarded to Ted King for his work as Jack Finnegan on The Bold and the Beautiful. A complete rundown of his storyline is available in our Who's Who in Los Angeles character profile. The short version is that Jack and wife Li adopted a son named Finn and raised him through adulthood. It was revealed on Finn's wedding day that Jack was actually Finn's biological father. He had fathered Finn while having an affair with the evil Sheila Carter. Eek!
King received a warm embrace from co-star and fellow nominee Naomi Matsuda (Li Finnegan) as he headed to the stage. After accepting his award, King confessed that his fear of not winning had kept him from submitting himself for Emmy consideration in the past. It was a shocking admission from the long-time soap vet who made his first soap appearance on Loving in 1995. His character was then moved to the Loving spinoff, The City, for a couple of years. King eventually ended up playing twins Lorenzo and Luis Alcazar on General Hospital and Tomas Delgado on One Life to Live.
"I am very proud to be part of this category. A little quote. 'Our doubts are traitors that make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.' William Shakespeare. I just want to say that I doubted I would win this for years. It kept me from participating. I teach my kids not to fail and yet I was afraid to participate," King said with his voice cracking. "Inevitably, as you all know it's the failures that make us better creators."
King went on to thank the cast and crew of The Bold and the Beautiful and gave "a special shout-out to Eva Basler, Vice-President of Communications of The Bold and the Beautiful, who put this reel of my work together and demanded that I submit it because I was too chicken to do so."
We've updated our list of Daytime Emmy nominations to reflect the results of the Creative Arts & Lifestyle ceremony. You can view that list here.
