Lynda Hirsch on Soaps

If this year's Daytime Emmy Awards show is the last to be televised, then the 37-year-old television tradition went out with a bang. Literally. "Bold and Beautiful" won for best show, its first such award in its 22-year-old history, for its heartbreaking suicide story line. Much-loved Katie Logan was mistakenly shot due to her brother Storm's misdeeds. A bereft Storm committed suicide so he could be the donor of the heart his sister needed to live. The Emmy show, which aired on the CW, was running a bit long. So as the "Bold and Beautiful" cast and crew gathered to accept the award, the show ended abruptly.

Through its history, the ways in which the award winners are selected and nominated have had more twists than a Friday sweeps soap opera cliffhanger. This year's voting process was the sparest: Each show made nominations. From that list of nominations, the finalists were culled. Each finalist submitted one episode and members of the television academy voted. That determined the winner. In other years, multiple episodes were submitted. After the submission, blue-ribbon panels convened and the winners were announced. The panel process sparked many issues. One year, a panel consisted of two publicists for soap actors and two writers from the soap press — there goes fair and balanced. In other years, the blue-ribbon panel was a group of souls who were willing to spend several days in a bat cave eating donuts and watching hour after hour of soap tapes.

This year's road to winning a Daytime Emmy took a pretty straight route. The results were as easy to understand as a MapQuest guide.

The winners were spread throughout networks and shows.

Susan Haskell (Marty, "One Life to Live"), newly returned to the show after a long absence, has the gold to prove you can go home again. "Young and Restless''" Christian LeBlanc (Michael) took home his third best actor Emmy. Upon receiving the award, he displayed his endearing real-life funny side when he did a mock Jerry Lewis take by faking a bite of the statuette's golden globe.

The double supporting acting win of Jeff Branson (Shayne, "Guiding Light") and Vincent Irizarry (David, "All My Children") showed that acting in the soap world can be as incestuous as a soap character's life. Irizarry got his start on "GL" playing Lujack and later Nick. Branson got his daytime start on "All My Children" as Jonathan Lavery. On soaps, it is an allemande left, all-change-partners sort of world.

Backstage, Irizarry remarked that it was wonderful seeing so many of his former "GL" co-stars even though the reason was sad. After a 72-year run, "GL" goes off the air in early September. The actor noted that throughout its history, it not only entertained several generations; it employed as many.

Earlier this year, it looked as though no one was going to broadcast the program. CW came to the rescue. Except for the overtime issue, the show was glitch proof. Vanessa Williams, who served as host, showed her talent as an emcee, singer and dancer. The production number honoring 40 years of "Sesame Street" was a delight. Betty White, who presented the life achievement award, showed why everybody loves Betty. She was feisty, funny and freewheeling. In fact, those words describe what a good awards show should be. Hopefully the show will survive to air another year and be what an Emmy show — daytime or nighttime — should be.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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