2014 EMMY WRAP-UP – THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE PRETTY & THE UGLY … MOMENTS THAT WILL BE REMEMBERED

By Michael Fairman

The 41st Annual Daytime Emmys certainly will be remembered when people look back on Daytime Emmys ceremonies and red carpets past. For the second time in its history, NATAS did not have a television deal in place to broadcast the ceremonies, so they secured a way at the eleventh hour to bring to soap fans, and the daytime community, a ceremony that would be live-streamed via the Internet for the first time! This would become a global way for the audience around the world to watch the proceedings at the same time, and by doing so, the Daytime Emmys would have an opportunity to get with the times and deliver a wallop through social media, since viewer engagement and excitement could thus be generated via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the like.

2014 Emmy Wrap-Up Photo Gallery

Photo Credit: JPI Studios

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Photo Credits: HutchinsPhoto.com, JPI Studios, and AP

Kathy Griffin was named the host of the Daytime Emmys, and that was received with mixed reviews from: soap stars who were excited that she would be delivering her racy brand of comedy; to some soap fans who were thinking by having Griffin the whole Emmys would wind up, for better lack of a better word (as was used by The Talk’s Sharon Osbourne) “in the toilet.” Ironically enough, it wasn’t Griffin who put a black cloud over the Emmys, but millennial social media hosts brought in by the red carpet live stream producers. In an attempt to reach a wider audience, pull in a younger demo and get some “social media” hype, they hired Brittany Furlan, Lauren Elizabeth, Meghan Rosette and Jessica Harlow to capture the fun, excitement, and for viewers at home to see their favorite soap stars chatting it up. Problem was: These four girls were unequipped to handle such duties. In fact, Brittany Furlan decided to make a You Tube video on just how clueless she was to who all the daytime actors are, and thought that was sooo funny! Unfortunately for the gals, it wasn’t funny to the soap fans, or the press, or the poor daytime stars whose big night was greeted by “rape” jokes, innocuous questions, and moments of listening to these young women say, “Wow”, “Awesome”, “OMG”, or the final toss of the night when Jessica Harlow announced (when trying to kill time before the cameras went inside the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton for the presentation) that she was so excited that she was going to (and to paraphrase her banter), “pee on herself.”

Inside during the live-streamed ceremonies, there were highlights and lowlights: Linda Bell Blue of Entertainment Tonight’s six minute plus acceptance speech while disgracing a young girl with her, whom she handed pages of her scripted speech as she finished topped the list! General Hospital presenter Kelly Monaco (Sam) saved that moment after Blue’s mic had been turned off, when the soap favorite made a comment about having been told to “Wrap six times!” The ladies of The Talk once again made Emmy news! Last year, it was via Aisha Tyler who made the infamous envelope save when she noticed she had been handed the wrong category envelope and almost announced a winner to another category! This year, it was Sharon Osbourne who became a “water cooler moment” when she dropped the “F-bomb” so many times after listening to Linda Bell Blue’s speech, and basically saying a “toilet joke.”

And then there was Chandler Massey, the former DAYS star won for his third year in a row for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his performance of Will Horton. However, he was seated so far back in the ballroom that it took several minutes for the poor guy to get on stage! To add injury to insult, when the nominated clip package was played, they showed a scene of Guy Wilson, Chandler’s successor in the role. Chandler made a comment on the miscue/mistaken edit when he began his acceptance speech. Later, Chandler made the decision to not speak to the press at all following his victory, only posing for pictures with the photographers from various photo agencies and outlets.

But there was plenty of heart and soul to this year’s Daytime Emmys amidst all of the mess! And that was the fact that so many of our dearest colleagues, and we truly mean that, walked away with Daytime Emmys being honored for their work for some incredible performances! In the Winners Walk area, as you have probably seen by now in our videos, we shared moments of joy, and happy tears, and hugs with Days of our Lives, winners Eric Martsolf and Eileen Davidson … The Young and the Restless winners, Billy Miller, Amelia Heinle, and Hunter King … and Venice the Series winners, Crystal Chappell, Katherine Kelly Lang, and Hillary B. Smith, and many more!

When we finally got home to watch the live-stream ceremonies after a long day and night, there were three moments in three acceptance speeches that touched us the most. Here are a few excerpts:

Supporting Actress winner, Amelia Heinle: “I would really like to thank my husband, Thad and my children who are at home. Thank you, guys! Billy Miller, thank you, thank you so much, this is partly due to you because you inspire me. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my sister Jane, and I am going to dedicate this to her. She is fighting extremely hard against cancer, and I just wanted to give this to her tonight because I love her so much. She reminds me every day of what matters, because sometimes I forget and she reminds me. Thank you to the fans, too! Thank you!”

Supporting Actor winner, Eric Martsolf: “Thank you for taking a boy from Passions, and bringing him on to your show. (Referencing DAYS producers). That was brave and I appreciate it … and there is a little vision of white sitting over there (Eric’s wife Lisa) and that is my rock and my girl. Thank you. I love you more than I can say. You have been with me from the beginning … soap community, thank you! The resurgence of soap operas … Here’s to it!”

Lead Actor winner Billy Miller: “I miss you guys! Y&R has been my family for a long time. Peter Bergman, you’re like my brother. Amelia Heinle, we have done a lot of great work. What do these things mean? I am sorry Kathy Griffin I may get a little heavy-handed … but for those of us who have to take three steps to make one that everybody else can make, I guess if you keep love in your heart and determination in your head, you will look up and you won’t be behind, and you won’t be amongst the group, but sometimes you’ll lead. So… thank you very much.”

After a hectic, exhausting night of conducting red carpet and winners walk video interviews, and being on my feet for God knows how many hours … I took some time to enjoy the CBS Daytime After-Party at the Beverly Hilton Poolside. Many of your favorite stars were hanging out, and there was some much needed sugar available! Yes, great sweets … and coffee, or if you needed a stiff drink that was available, too! I needed both …but only got as far as the coffee! After saying my congratulations and goodbyes for the night to the party-goers, I headed over to Boa in West Hollywood for the DAYS after-party, but by the time I arrived, there were only a handful of cast members still here, but I still got the chance to talk with buds: Casey Moss, Guy Wilson, Kate Mansi, Arianne Zuker, Shawn Christian, and more!

Daytime Emmys 2014 though was much more than Sunday’s big ceremonies! There was the Creative Arts Emmy held on Friday night, where we chatted it up with your favorite stars on the red carpet, and in our special winners area, which you have probably now seen the clips NATAS has been rolling out on their You Tube channel. And of course, we were able to get a few photos to share from the annual Leading Ladies Luncheon, this year given by last year’s Lead Actress recipient Heather Tom that was held on Saturday.

So, that’s a wrap for Daytime Emmys 2014! It’s always great to see the daytime community come out in full force, and support one another, and to celebrate their achievements. It is our sincere hope that next year does not play out like this year, and that changes will be made in the choices, decisions and execution of the Emmy festivities by the academy, and their chosen producers. Perhaps they should listen to some daytime experts next time more thoroughly and use them more inclusively … just sayin’!

Now, check out our photo gallery of some of the memorable moments and sights of the 41st Annual Daytime Emmys and surrounding events! *To view the Emmy Wrap-up Photo Gallery click on the NEXT GROUP button located next to the + symbol to see all the images, or you can just let it play as a slideshow.