Soap Opera Awards

History of Soap Opera Awards

There are two types of soap opera awards currently available for daytime performers, writers and directors: the Daytime Emmys and the Soap Opera Digest Awards. Both awards are distinctions among peers and fans. Though they pull from a relatively small pool of talent, the Daytime Emmys also include game shows, talk shows and children’s programming.

Daytime Emmys

In 1972, the first Emmy award was given to a daytime show when The Doctors won Best Daytime Show. Mary Fickett of All My Children received the first soap opera award for an actress by winning Outstanding Achievement by an Individual in a Daytime Drama. There was an option to nominate and award a daytime type Emmy in 1968, but the judges elected that no one nominated was deserving of the statue and thus daytime was snubbed. John Beradino (Dr. Steve Hardy) of General Hospital campaigned to honor daytime talent with recognition for their work rather than a single category lost amidst the prime time Emmys. In 1974, a separate awards show dubbed the Daytime Emmys was broadcast from Rockefeller Center. The distinction of the Daytime Emmys allowed the program to focus on the creative talent of daytime television, of which soap operas were a primary part.

In 1991, the Daytime Emmys were aired during the evening for the first time. Due to declining ratings for awards shows across the board, the airtime was reduced from three hours to two. Among the great soap opera award history associated with the Daytime Emmy is the 19 year losing streak of actress Susan Lucci. Lucci, an original cast member of All My Children in the iconic role of Erica Kane was nominated every year in the Outstanding Leading Actress category and lost, over and over again. When she won in 1999, the entire theater stood up to give the actress a lengthy and well-deserved standing ovation as much for her work as for finally having that work rewarded with an Emmy.

Soap Opera Digest Awards

Originally, the Soap Opera Digest Awards were called Soapies. The Soapies, and the later renamed the Soap Opera Digest Awards, allowed fans to honor their favorite shows, actors and even storylines. The awards were first begun in 1977, with the first Soapies being handed out on The Merv Griffin Show after the winners were announced in the magazine. The trend of presenting the awards via other television shows continued through the 70s and into the early 80s.

In 1984, the Soapies vanished and were replaced with the Soap Opera Digest Awards and a specialized presentation of their own. The categories were expanded to include prime time soap operas (such as Dallas, Dynasty and Falcon Crest) as well as Outstanding Villain and more. The awards show was hosted by Catherine Hickland and her then husband Knight Rider and former Young and the Restless star David Hasselhoff.

The awards show moved to the SOAPnet network in 2003.

First Soapies Winners included:

• Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes (Doug and Julie on Days of our Lives) – Best Actor & Actress
• Days of our Lives – Favorite Show
• Agnes Nixon – Outstanding Achievement in the World of Daytime Drama