Hoping to leave the controversy of last year's ceremony behind it, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards. In just about a month and a half, the television community will once again gather at the storied Pasadena Civic Auditorium to celebrate the best in daytime television.
For the fifth year in a row, the official nominees were announced on CBS' soap-friendly The Talk.
To skip ahead to this year's list of nominees, click here
"We are very excited today to announce the nominees for the 46th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards," said, Adam Sharp, President & CEO of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). "We look forward to a grand celebration honoring the best of Daytime television both in front of the camera and behind as we return for the third year in a row to the classic Pasadena Civic Auditorium."
"The incredible level of talent and craft reflected in our nominees continues to show the growing impact of Daytime television and the incredible diversity of programming the viewing audience has to choose from," said, Executive Director, Daytime, Brent Stanton. "With the help of some outstanding new additions to our staff, Rachel Schwartz and Lisa Armstrong, and the continued support of Luke Smith and Christine Chin, we have handled another record-breaking number of entries this year. Many thanks to our hundreds of great judges, who through their hard work and dedication, have come up with a stellar list of nominees that exemplify the best in Daytime!"
With just four soap operas left on broadcast television, all four soaps -- The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless -- once again received nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing Team, and Outstanding Directing Team. In a switch from the past few years, most of the Creative Arts categories contained just three nominees instead of defaulting to all four soaps.
Some changes were made this year to clarify the rules for eligibility in each category. The changes were brought about by a threatened boycott of the Daytime Emmys by the four daytime soaps.
One of the most notable changes occurred in the Guest Performer category. In previous years, nominees had to have made their first appearance as a given character during the calendar year of eligibility. If a performer appeared in their role at any time prior, they were ineligible to compete in the Guest Category. For example, if a performer made their on-screen debut in March 2016 -- even if the appearance was in a single episode -- they would not have been eligible to compete in the 2018 Daytime Emmys.
The new rule states that a performer who made "a limited number of appearances" during the eligibility year could enter as a Guest Performer. There is no definition or quantification of the term "limited number" in the official rules. This rule change is what allowed a handful of daytime favorites, including Kate Mansi -- who earned a 2017 Daytime Emmy for her work as Days of our Lives' Abigail in 2017 -- to enter as a Guest Performer this year.
Soap Central will have reactions from the nominees in the days to come. Be sure to keep an eye here at soapcentral.com, on our Facebook page, on Twitter, and on our Instagram page.
The 46th Annual Daytime Emmys will be held on Sunday, May 5, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The ceremony will once again be livestreamed on the Internet.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW A COMPLETE LIST OF THIS YEAR'S NOMINEES
FIND OUT WHICH STARS WERE PRE-NOMINATED FOR AN EMMY
What do you think about the official nominees for this year's Daytime Emmy race? Who are you especially excited to see make the list? Is there anyone you hoped would make the final list but unfortunately did not? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
