Some fans may think that holding the Daytime Emmys in late October is too late in the year, since the ceremony honors the best and brightest from soap operas and other daytime programming from the previous calendar year.
But the good news for nominees, attendees and the press was the mild weather: Temperatures reached around 71 degrees during the ceremony, held at the Hollywood Palladium — a welcome change from the sweltering heat of the previous summer’s awards ceremonies in Pasadena.
Better yet, the five serials — Beyond the doors, The Bold and the Beautiful, The days of our lives, General HospitalAnd The Young and the Restless — left the 2026 edition as winners.
Beyond expectations
Hopes were high for Beyond the doorswhich entered the night with 15 nominations, a record for a soap opera in its first year of Emmy eligibility. (In 1988, The Bold and the Beautiful earned six nominations and won three, all in the Creative Arts categories.)
Beyond the doors did not disappoint, taking home four awards on Friday night. The show’s biggest win went to Tamara Tunie, who won Best Lead Actress for her role as Anita Dupree. The actress submitted scenes related to Anita’s breast cancer story.
“It’s amazing to have more than two black actors on a show,” Tunie told Gold Derby on the red carpet outside the Palladium before the show. “We are able to tell many stories and delve into different issues and situations. »
Golden girls
The Young and the RestlessBeth Maitland won her second Daytime Emmy for best supporting actress on Friday night for her role as Traci Abbott. She had won the same award for the same role 41 years earlier, in 1985.
“It’s a representation of feeling relevant,” Maitland tells Gold Derby of his victory. “You can still be seen and heard. »
The Bold and the Beautiful‘s Scott Clifton, who won Best Leading Actor for his role as Liam, told Gold Derby that he won four awards. In fact, he has won five times but only has four statuettes.
“When I won my first Daytime Emmy (for Best Young Actor in 2011 for playing Liam), they sent me home with it, but there was a clicking noise in the statuette,” Clifton recalls. “I called NATAS and said, ‘Hey, I think there’s something wrong with my award. What should I do?” They said, ‘It happens. No problem. We’ll send you a new Emmy, and we’ll also send you a box to return the old one.’
Alas, the replacement reward arrived, but the box never arrived. “I called,” Clifton recalled. “Then I gave up. The (first Emmy) is sitting in my attic, collecting dust.”
Clifton’s script aired in the first half of 2025, but actors submit reels from the eligibility period for consideration the following year, so the timing of a script during that period does not determine whether it can be submitted.
“It’s a really clever point,” Clifton told Gold Derby. “If you give a brilliant performance in a film that comes out a week after the Oscars (you might not get noticed). The day protects us.”
The rules allow actors to submit up to 15 minutes of their work, but Clifton used about half that time. “I wanted to keep it to eight minutes,” he says.
Clifton’s reel included scenes establishing Liam’s “deadly” brain tumor; scenes with his father, Bill (Don Diamont), in which Liam broke down; and a third set of scenes in which Liam and Hope (Annika Noelle) admit that they both know he is dying.
Living and dying at the Daytime Emmys
The death and dying stories have also served other Emmy contenders well. THE General Hospital the writing team won for episodes involving the death of Monica (the late Leslie Charleson). The series also won its sixth consecutive Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series for its dark storyline.
THE The days of our lives the directing team won for episodes involving John Black’s (late Drake Hogestyn) memorial.
“John was a huge story and he was very close to everyone, the cast and crew, on screen and off. What you saw was also a real-life celebration of (Drake’s) life,” Noel Maxam said. The days of our lives co-executive producer and director.
“Most people don’t know that Drake and my wife (Abby) both died of pancreatic cancer, so the day and the episode took on a different meaning for me,” says Maxam.
The days of our lives“The victory in this category closed the General Hospital six straight years of back-to-back director wins.
“I applaud General Hospital and all the directors there, and the directors of The Young and the Restless“, says Maxam. “Our administrators work closely with each other. I am so proud of our directors.
In addition to telling some of the most romantic stories in soap operas, The days of our lives is also known for its memorable villains, including Stefano DiMera (the late Joe Mascolo) and Vivian Alamain (Louise Sorel). Maxam teases that another antagonist is joining the series’ roster of villains.
“There is so much to come,” says Maxam. “We introduced, I think, one of the greatest supervillains ever seen in daytime.”
Casting on
General Hospital Casting director Mark Teschner won his 12th Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Casting in a Daytime Drama Series. Her reel included artists new to Port Charles in 2025, including Erika Slezak (Ronnie, General Hospital; ex-Viki, A life to live), Rory Gibson (Michael), Carlo Rota (Jenz) and Chris McKenna (Jack). “We put 15 actors on our reel and we started with Erika,” Teschner tells Gold Derby. “I think we’ve had a really good year. I love the cast. This cast is incredible.”
Think of Laura
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to the legendary General Hospital actress Genie Francis. She won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2007. Her husband, Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation), presented the prize.
Although Laura Spencer is Francis’ iconic role, the tribute video also recognizes her other roles in the soap: Diana in The days of our livesCeara on All my childrenand Geneviève on The Young and the Restless. It also included Brett in the nighttime miniseries North and South.
Francis tells Gold Derby that she was deeply touched by the number of co-stars, past and present, who paid tribute to her in the video package. Among those sending out shoutouts was Jonathan Jackson (ex-Lucky, General Hospital), Mary Beth Evans (Kayla, The days of our lives), and Parker Stevenson (Billy Hazard, North & South).
Frakes referred to Francis’ late leading man, General Hospital star Anthony Geary (Luke), who proclaimed in his acceptance speech after winning his first Daytime Emmy in 1982: “Genius Francis! Half of this is yours!”
“Wasn’t that nice?” Francis spoke about the video tribute to his career. “I had no idea all these people were going to talk. It touched me.”
Few images of Francis’ early years General Hospital appears to exist, but the package included the first scenes of Francis and his television mother, the late Denise Alexander (Lesley).
“I really didn’t want to disappoint her,” Francis says of working with Alexander. “She was a really big star and I was there to be her daughter.”
Persistence pays off for one Beyond the doors star
Tunie’s victory came later during the awards ceremony. Ambyr Michelle became the first acting winner of Beyond the doorswinning the Best Emerging Talent award for her role as Eva Thomas.
“I don’t just see a reward. I see every audition, every rejection, every promise kept,” she said in her speech.
Gold Derby asked Michelle backstage about her speech and its universal appeal to anyone struggling to thrive professionally.
“Everyone may think it’s all butterflies and rainbows, but the journey to a victory like this is very difficult,” says Michelle. “I wanted my speech to be authentic and real. I feel like we broke out in our first year with 15 nominations. I want the show to continue for over 100 years. I feel like this is just the beginning.”
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