Last year, All My Children was the big winner at the Daytime Emmy Awards as it was crowned Outstanding Drama Series. This year, the program won only two awards---but once again AMC stole the show.
In ceremonies held before the actual Emmy telecast, AMC received an Emmy award for Outstanding Music Direction. This would be the only technical award the show would receive.
AMC had a two-in-five chance of winning an Emmy in the Outstanding Supporting Actress category. Jennifer Bassey (Marian) and Kelly Ripa (Hayley) were both vying for the award. Going into the ceremony, experts picked Ripa as the front-runner. Both, however, were denied as The Young and the Restless' Sharon Case (Sharon Newman) won the award.
Then it came time for the Outstanding Supporting Actor award. AMC's entry into this field was previous winner Michael E Knight (Tad). Among the scenes that Michael submitted for consideration were the scenes in which he and Dixie (played by Cady McClain) traveled to New York to try to re-ignite their romance. In the scenes, Tad pressured Dixie to "get angry" with him for having slept with Liza a few years prior. Perhaps you'll remember the three times that Dixie smacked him... I know that I can still feel it! Unfortunately, odds-makers had selected General Hospital's Stuart Damon as the would-be winner. And when the envelope was opened, Damon earned his first win in seven nominations.
The writing and directing categories also had entries for AMC, but in both AMC was once again denied. Writing went to General Hospital and the directing nod with to Y&R.
And then there were only three chances left for at least one AMC victory. But things were looking very dim. A sound mix-up provided what looked like the only ray of light of AMC fans. As Rosie O'Donnell's show was named Outstanding Talk Show, AMC's theme song mistakenly played instead of Rosie's theme! Someone apparently had pressed the wrong button.
The Outstanding Lead Actor category once again featured the venerable David Canary (Adam and Stuart). David has won this award four times in the past---more than any other actor. This year, all of the men nominated in the Lead Actor category were previous winners---something that has never happened before. General Hospital's Anthony Geary was awarded the prize, besting Canary, AMC alum Peter Bergman (former Cliff Warner and now Y&R's Jack Abbott), Eric Braden (Y&R's Victor Newman), and Robert S. Woods (Bo on One Life to Live).
Shemar Moore took to the stage amid the whooping of adoring fans to announce the prize for what he said was the year's top diva. The Lead Actress category draws perhaps the most interest every year as fans wonder if Susan Lucci will win the Emmy. This year Lucci's competition included, Y&R's Jeanne Cooper and Melody Thomas Scott, Guiding Light's Kim Zimmer, and As The World Turn's Elizabeth Hubbard. Zimmer was said to be a favorite in the category, but many other outlets chose Lucci as the winner. Shemar opened the envelope and shouted, "The streak is over!" There was a silence that lasted only a millisecond, but it seemed to last for an eternity as the audience tried to figure out exactly what it was that he meant. Then came the two words that had never been heard after the tearing of the Emmy envelope: Susan Lucci.
