While the Gold Derby odds overwhelmingly favor freshman soap opera Beyond the Gates to win Best Daytime Drama Series, the race is not over for projected runner-up General Hospital.
Digging into the nominations, General Hospital received a nod last week for Best Directing Team, as did Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless. But the Beyond the Gates directors were snubbed.
That could prove to be the pivotal nomination for GH, as the last 16 series winners in a row were all nominated for directing — and 11 of them won both categories.
In 2009, The Bold and the Beautiful won Best Daytime Drama Series despite missing a directing nomination, but that kind of outlier hasn’t happened since. The pattern suggests the Daytime Emmys‘ directing branch has a sharp sense of where the broader voting body is headed. For whatever reason, Beyond the Gates just didn’t resonate with that group in the same way.
Best Drama Series
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The Young and the Restless
Beyond the Gates currently has an 81% chance of winning its inaugural trophy for Best Daytime Drama Series. It would be the first brand new soap opera to triumph at the Daytime Emmys in this category. General Hospital is in the runner-up position at 11%, but, due to the directing factor, the race may be tighter than the odds suggest. Rounding out the category are Days of Our Lives at 6% and The Young and the Restless at 2%.
While BTG missed a key directing nod, it did receive an impressive eight acting bids: lead actresses Karla Mosley and Tamara Tunie, supporting actress Trisha Mann-Grant, supporting actors Timon Kyle Durrett and Mike Manning, emerging stars Ambyr Michelle and Arielle Prepetit, and guest performer Jasmine Burke.
To compare, General Hospital only received six acting nods: lead actor Steve Burton, supporting actress Amanda Setton, emerging stars Braedyn Bruner and Giovanni Mazza, and guest performers Jeff Kober and Eva LaRue. Notably, the hospital-set program missed the lead actress category for the first time in 12 years.
Best Drama Directing Team
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The Young and the Restless
For Best Directing Team, General Hospital has the edge with 87% support, with Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless tied in the runner-up position.
General Hospital is enjoying an unparalleled hot streak at the Daytime Emmys, claiming the series prize five years in a row (since 2021) and 18 times overall. Clearly, voters aren’t worried about repeating themselves in this top category, and trophy No. 6 is a possibility. However, as Beyond the Gates is untested, it’s still anyone’s guess as to what soap will win on Oct. 30.
