The 2025 Daytime Emmys: The Pajama Game

I attended my first Daytime Emmys as a soap journalist in 1981. The winners were two powerhouse performers: Best Actor Douglass Watson, who played Mackenzie Cory on “Another World” and Best Actress Judith Light, who played Karen Wolek on “One Life to Live.” Both were so terrific, they won the same awards again in 1982.

For all of us who cover daytime, the Daytime Emmys are the highlight of our professional year. I used to buy a special dress, get myself all dolled up and head out to the Awards with a reporter’s notebook and cassette tape recorder in hand. (How quaint these standard tools seem now!) The Daytime Emmys were always held in New York, joyous competition aplenty, a celebration of our cherished daily drama. Until the great stories that seemed like they could go on forever, well … didn’t. Sadly cancelled, one by one, were “As the World Turns,” “Guiding Light,” “Another World,” “Edge of Night,” “All My Children,” “One Life to Live” and “Ryan’s Hope.”

This year’s show was broadcast from Pasadena. Well, not literally broadcast (boo!) the show was only available online, brought to us by the TV Academy. On Friday night I sat down at my computer to watch and five minutes into the show our phone rang (we still have one, and it still rings). It was my best soap reporter friend Jeffy S. Pearlstein, a veteran interviewer who also had also covered the Emmys for years.

“Marlena,” he said, “are you watching the Emmys?” And I said, “Yes Jeffy, I’m in my pajamas,” and Jeffy said, “I am, too.”

Okay, so no dress up anymore, but we were both relaxed for the rest of the show. I thought the Academy did a very good job on producing the familiar ceremony. Mario Lopez ably hosted it. I interviewed him back in the day when he was on “Saved by the Bell.”  I’m also a big fan of his nightly entertainment show “Access Hollywood” on NBC. And he has great dimples!

The show went along at a nice clip and covered a lot of TV land because the awards were not only for soaps but for other fare, like cooking and informational shows. “General Hospital” broke out of the of the pack immediately with seven awards, including Best Show (Frank Valentini, producer); Best Writing (Chris von Etten and Elizabeth Korte, headwriters); Best Guest Role for Ally Mills’ able shot as Heather, and Best Supporting Actor for Jonathan Jackson’s Lucky.

I was happy for all these winners because these days “General Hospital” is the only soap I watch right now for pleasure. I’ll enumerate why in my next column which I’ve already named “General Hospital: Still the One.”

I was so happy that Nancy Lee Grahn won for Best Actress as Alexis Davis on “GH.” I’ve been an admirer of Nancy’s work going back to her memorable days as Julia Wainwright on “Santa Barbara.” In real life I surmise she’s very much like Alexis: smart, independent, and outspoken. And human, too. This year Alexis’ daughter Sam (played by Kelly Monaco) died a premature death. Her other daughters Kristina (Kate Mansi) and Molly (Kristen Vaganos) aren’t the easiest to contend with. I call them the whining brats. That’s really what they are, but Alexis manages admirably, all the time.

Other statuettes went to players on different shows. Paul Telfer won Best Actor as Zander on “Days of Our Lives) and Susan Walters took home Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Diane Jenkins on “The Young and the Restless.”

Of Ms. Walters, I have a special memory. One day I was heading over to the ‘Loving” studio to do an interview and the great Douglas Marland, co-writer of the show with Agnes Nixon, picked me up in his limo. He raved all the way about the great young actress playing Lorna Forbes. It was a new character, played by a newcomer, Ms. Walters. Doug started out as an actor and knew great acting when he saw it in a very young actress just starting out.

And history was made at this year’s Emmys as Lisa Yamada, who plays Luna the murderer on “The Bold and the Beautiful,” was named Best Emergent Talent, the first recipient in this new category,   Now I’ve repeatedly written that “B&B”’s fixation on this character (for two straight summers and more) has literally ruined the show. (As of last week, the character finally went to jail). But Yamada is a young and very beautiful actress who done a fine job in the central role. Yamada also wore the best dress of the ceremony — a white sparkly gown in which she looked gorgeous.

This year the Academy presented special awards in the Gold and Silver Circle to performers and others on Daytime TV. The great Jane Elliot (Tracy Quartermaine, “GH”) took home the gold for her career body of work that includes Carrie Todd on “Guiding Light, Angelica Deveraux on “Days of Our Lives” and Cynthia Preston on “All my Children.”  Elliot, who is always superb, has been giving a tour de force performance currently now that Erika Slezak, ex-Viki on “OLTL,” has joined “GH” for three weeks playing Veronica (Ronnie) Bard, sister of the late Monica Quartermaine (as played by Leslie Charleson.) Veronica   incredulously has inherited the Quartermaine mansion. The explosive meeting between Slezak’s and Elliot’s characters has been the absolute highlight of the soap year so far. I will discuss this at length in my next column on “GH.”

A Silver Circle award went to Star Jones, an original member of “The View” team and now a judge on “Divorce Court.” Kate Linder, who has long played Esther Valentine the maid on “The Young and Restless,” was also honored with membership in the Circle. So were James Reynolds who plays Abe Carver on “Days of Our Lives,” and Judy Blye Wilson, the longtime casting director on “Y&R.”

And so went the 2025 Daytime Emmys. A grand show befitting a grand industry that is still fun to cover.