2002 may very well be remembered as a year when Emmy reform earned more attention than the ballot itself. Seemingly everyone, from the soap press to executive producers to leading soap stars, demanded some sort of change to the way that Emmy ballot is determined.
While the nominations were, by all accounts, skewed, the end result provided Emmy victories for seven of the ten soap operas currently airing. Only ABC's Port Charles and NBC's Days of our Lives and Passions were shut out of the winner's circle.
Like last year, ABC's All My Children and CBS's As The World Turns were the most highly decorated programs. The two soaps also earned the most nominations, with 21 and 17 nominations, respectively. With four wins apiece in the Creative Arts categories, the two soaps were halfways towards a record - eight Emmy wins in a single year, a feat set by General Hospital in 1999 and equaled by As The World Turns last year.
For the second time in 4 years, the Daytime Emmy ceremony was moved from New York City's Radio City Music Hall to the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Unlike previous years, all Emmy-related events were contained within the host venue. At Radio City Music Hall, the pre-Emmy dinner is held down the street and the stars make their way down the red carpet to Radio City Music Hall from the dining hall. At Madison Square Garden, however, the dinner was held within the sprawling entertainment complex.
Heather Tom's (Victoria Newman, The Young and the Restless) 3:30pm arrival on 31st Street marked the first of the red carpet arrivals. Over the next hour, a trickle of daytime stars made their way down the carpet. By 5:15, however, a torrent of stars bottlenecked the red carpet. Legions of fans screamed their love and devotion to their favorite stars from across the street. At least half a dozen cagey fans took up a more strategic residence on the second floor of an eatery cattycorner to the venue.
There were two noticeable changes implemented to this year's Emmy telecast. The first was a new method to help lure a larger audience to the ceremony, while the second was designed as a way to give viewers insight into the nominees.
For the first time in Emmy history, fans were allowed to pick the winners in two categories. Those categories - Favorite Villain and Favorite Couple - were given honorary awards rather than the traditional Emmy statue. The viewers' favorite villain was Days of our Lives' Sami Brady (played by Alison Sweeney). Days of our Lives also picked up the award in the favorite couple field, with Bo and Hope Brady taking the debut prize.
This year each of the acting nominees were asked to describe what motivates their characters. The pre-recorded clips were shown prior to the actors' clips.
