What a year, huh?
A year of turmoil, betrayals, romance, affairs and evil — and that was just behind the scenes, soap folks!
Despite the daytime shenanigans we love to say we hate but secretly enjoy, the soap opera medium — online and onscreen — delivered some unforgettable moments and achievements.
At the end of the hour, the soap world is still pretty groovy — when it wants to be.
Below, TVGuide.ca presents our second annual Soap Opera Spirit Awards nominations. The eligibility time period is between Dec. 18, 2007 and Dec. 19, 2008.
A panel of TV Guide.ca editors chose the winners and nominees. Winners will be announced on a special podcast edition of Daytimeconfidential.com on Jan. 21, 2009 and in our weekly Suds Feature on tvguide.ca, natch! Tune in and log on for both — we have a few surprises planned, with guest stars to boot!
Also, we’re introducing several new categories this year to highlight the changing landscape of the daytime-TV experience. Some of them include: outstanding podcast/radio/soap-related non-daytime series/performer; outstanding script and breakdown writing; outstanding costume design; outstanding set design (which, is now an art form — thanks to reduced budgets); and outstanding ensemble — in all categories.
In total, there are 134 nominations in 23 categories — in addition to our two special honourary awards!
The tallies are listed below. But to put the whole soap race into perspective, we’d be remiss in not highlighting that there are some major record breakers this year. For starters, there are a handful of nominees with double nods and they include: AMC’s Eden Riegel (Bianca), Debbi Morgan (Angie), and Darnell Williams (Jesse); OLTL’s Robin Strasser (Dorian) and Erika Slezak (Viki); and Y&R’s Eric Braeden (Victor), Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki), Greg Rikaart (Kevin), Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe), and Michael Graziadei (Daniel).
Moreover, in an SOS first, Tamara Braun (Reese, AMC; ex-Ava, DAYS) is competing with herself in the same category as outstanding actress in a new role or recast. She also scored an outstanding performance by a duo nod — making her the second most-nominated performer this year, just behind DC.com’s Jamey Giddens and Luke Kerr.
Network tally:
ABC — 53
CBS — 44
Internet — 23
SOAPnet — 10
NBC — 3
A — 2
The Big Winners:
ONE LIFE TO LIVE — 30
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS — 25
ALL MY CHILDREN — 16
AS THE WORLD TURNS — 11
GENERAL HOSPITAL: NIGHT SHIFT — 11
GENERAL HOSPITAL — 9
DAYTIMECONFIDENTIAL.COM — 6
IMAGINARY BITCHES — 5
LIFE IN GENERAL — 5
SCRIPTS & SCRUPLES — 5
GUIDING LIGHT — 4
DAYS OF OUR LIVES — 3
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL — 2
SOAPS UP! — 2
CLAIRE AND KYLE — 1
PASSIONS — 0
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
General Hospital: Night Shift
One Life to Live
The Young and the Restless
OUTSTANDING HEAD WRITER(S)
Sri Rao, General Hospital: Night Shift
Karen Harris, Life In General
Ron Carlivati, One Life to Live
Maria Bell, Hogan Sheffer and Scott Hamner, The Young and the Restless
OUTSTANDING SCRIPT AND BREAKDOWN WRITING
General Hospital: Night Shift
Life In General
One Life to Live
The Young and the Restless
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING TEAM
All My Children
General Hospital
General Hospital: Night Shift
One Life To Live
The Young and the Restless
OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN
All My Children
The Bold and the Beautiful
Guiding Light
One Life to Live
The Young and the Restless
OUTSTANDING PODCAST/RADIO/WEBISODE/SOAP-RELATED NON-DAYTIME SERIES
Daytimeconfidential.com’s Podcast Series
Imaginary Bitches, YouTube.com
Claire and Kyle: Night Shift, SOAPnet.com
Life in General, STRIKE.TV
Scripts & Scruples, scriptsandscruples.com
Soaps Up!, A
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS
Debbi Morgan (Angie Hubbard, AMC)
Martha Byrne (ex-Lily Snyder, ATWT)
Robin Strasser (Dorian Lord, OLTL)
Erika Slezak (Viki Davidson, OLTL)
Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman, Y&R)
Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor/Marge Cotrooke, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR
David Canary (Adam/Stuart Chandler, AMC)
Darnell Williams (Jesse Hubbard, AMC)
Jon Hensley (Holden Snyder, ATWT)
Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio, GH:NS)
Trevor St. John (Todd Manning, OLTL)
Eric Braeden (Victor Newman, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ellen Dolan (Margo Hughes, ATWT)
Elizabeth Hubbard (Lucinda Walsh, ATWT)
Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke Logan, B&B)
Jane Elliot (Tracy Spencer, GH)
Marcy Rylan (Lizzie Spaulding, GL)
Susan Haskell (Marty Saybrooke Thornhart, OLTL)
Kathy Brier (Marcie McBain, OLTL)
Judith Chapman (Gloria Bardwell, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR
Daniel Cosgrove (Bill Lewis, GL)
John-Paul Lavoisier (Rex Balsom, OLTL)
John Brotherton (Clint Buchanan, OLTL)
Greg Rikaart (Kevin Fisher, Y&R)
Michael Graziadei (Daniel Romalotti, Y&R)
Ted Shackelford (Jeffrey Bardwell, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTRESS
Kirsten Storms (Maxie Jones, GH)
Julie Marie Berman (Lulu Spencer, GH)
Kristen Alderson (Starr Manning, OLTL)
Farah Fath (Gigi Marasco/Emma Bradley, OLTL)
Melissa Fumero (ex-Adriana Balsom, OLTL)
Emily O’Brien (Jana Fisher, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTOR
Van Hansis (Luke Snyder, ATWT)
Blake Berris (ex-Nick Fallon, DAYS)
Brandon Buddy (Cole Thornhart, OLTL)
Austin Williams (Shane Spencer, OLTL)
Eddie Alderson (Matthew Buchanan, OLTL)
OUTSTANDING FEMALE GUEST STAR OR RECURRING ACTRESS
Shirley Jones (ex-Colleen Brady, DAYS)
Genie Francis (ex-Laura Spencer, GH)
Carolyn Hennesy (Diane Miller, GH)
Ilene Kristen (Roxy Balsom, OLTL)
Catherine Hickland (Lindsay Rappaport/Olympia Buchanan, OLTL)
Pamela Peyton-Wright (Addie Cramer, OLTL)
Lea DeLaria (ex-Madame Delphina/Delbert Fina, OLTL)
Tricia Cast (ex-Nina Chancellor, Y&R)
Signy Coleman (ex-Hope Adams, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING MALE GUEST STAR OR RECURRING ACTOR
William DeVry (ex-Storm Logan, B&B)
Chad Allen (ex-Eric Whitlow, GH:NS)
Kin Shriner (ex-Scotty Baldwin, GH)
Peter Bartlett (Nigel Bartholomew-Smythe, OLTL)
Tuc Watkins (David Vickers, OLTL)
Greg Rikaart, (Mark, Imaginary Bitches)
Jerry Douglas (John Abbott/Alistair Wallingford, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A NEW ROLE OR RECAST
Tamara Braun (Reese Williams, AMC)
Yaya DaCosta (ex-Cassandra Foster, AMC)
Julie Pinson (Janet Snyder, ATWT)
Tamara Braun (ex-Ava Vitali, DAYS)
Lisa LoCicero (Olivia Falconeri, GH)
Kathleen Noone (ex-Patricia Julian, GH:NS)
Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe Ashby, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A NEW ROLE OR RECAST
JR Martinez (Brot Monroe, AMC)
Cornelius Smith Jr. (Frankie Hubbard, AMC)
Eric William Morris (ex-Matt, ATWT)
Billy Magnussen (Casey Hughes, ATWT)
Kane Manera (Grady Foley, GL)
Mark Lawson (Brody Lovett, OLTL)
Billy Miller (Billy Abbott, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A DUO
Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams (Angie and Jesse, AMC)
Eden Riegel and Tamara Braun (Bianca and Reese, AMC)
Austin Peck and Terri Colombino (Brad and Katie, ATWT)
Kimberly McCullough and Jason Thompson (Robin and Patrick, GH:NS)
Luke Kerr and Jamey Giddens, Daytimeconfidential.com
Robin Strasser and Erika Slezak (Dorian and Viki, OLTL)
Michael Graziadei and Adrienne Frantz (Daniel and Amber, Y&R)
Eric Braeden and Melody Thomas Scott (Victor and Nikki, Y&R)
OUTSTANDING PERFORMER IN A PODCAST/WEBISODE/SOAP-RELATED SERIES
Jamey Giddens, Daytimeconfidential.com
Luke Kerr, Daytimeconfidential.com
Tina Guilford, Daytimeconfidential.com
Eden Riegel, Imaginary Bitches
Arianne Zucker, Life in General
Jack Finigan Davis (Henry Davis, Scripts & Scruples)
Anne Sayre (Teri Dean, Scripts & Scruples)
Amanda Wilson, Soaps Up!
Elizabeth Hendrickson, Imaginary Bitches
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE — ALL CATEGORIES
Daytimeconfidential.com
General Hospital: Night Shift
Imaginary Bitches, YouTube.com
Life in General, STRIKE.TV
One Life to Live
Scripts & Scruples, scriptsandscruples.com
The Young and the Restless
OUTSTANDING CASTING DIRECTION
All My Children
General Hospital: Night Shift
One Life to Live
Scripts & Scruples
The Young and the Restless
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
All My Children
General Hospital
One Life to Live
The Young and the Restless
THE IRNA PHILLIPS SPIRIT AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THE SERIAL ART FORM
Agnes Nixon
THE DOUGLAS MARLAND MEMORIAL AWARD
Beverlee McKinsey
James E. Reilly
Want to dish the soaps with Nelson Branco? Join The Suds Report discussion group today on Facebook.com.
Nelson Branco is a Toronto freelance entertainment journalist, who regularly contributes to Hello! Canada, The National Post, The Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com, TV Guide USA, tvguide.com, Inside Entertainment, OUT, and fab magazine, along with spearheading the soap coverage for TVGuide.ca's popular daytime TV hub. After graduating from Ryerson University in 1997, he moved from Toronto to New York in 1998 to take on the roles as senior news editor at Soap Opera Update. Branco first freelanced for Soap Opera Weekly as an intern in 1994, and after leaving Soap Update to help create and launch Bauer Publishing's In Touch Weekly in 2003, Branco continued to freelance occasionally for its sister publication, Soaps In Depth. Most recently, he helped create and launch Canada's first celebrity magazine, Weekly Scoop in 2005 as its news and entertainment director. Branco is also a contributor to a new TV show titled Planet Soap to air in Canada and America.
