It's easy for a fan that watches the soaps every day to determine who was the best actor or actress on a particular show over the course of a year. However, in order to win an Emmy, a performer only has to put in two really good episodes in a calendar year. Is that fair? It depends on who you ask. Some critics have suggested that the media, the folks who watch every episode for their jobs, actually vote for the winners. Others say it is impossible to get a panel of judges to watch a year's worth of episodes.
Here are the clips submitted by the nominees this year for Emmy consideration.
Outstanding Lead Actor
Thorsten Kaye (Zach Slater, All My Children)
Original Air Date: April 24, 2008 Episode Synopsis: Kendall confronts Zach and demands that he tell her how he feels about her having slept with Aidan. Afterwards, they burn down their house.
Peter Reckell (Bo Brady, Days of our Lives)
Original Air Date: March 25, 2008 Episode Synopsis: Bo comes to term with his the death of the man he thought of as a father, Shawn Brady. His family assures him that Shawn died a hero, but Bo is weak from battling an illness.
Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer, General Hospital)
Original Air Date: January 3, 2008 Episode Synopsis: In the hospital, Luke "codes" and his an afterlife vision that puts the way he has lived his life on trial.
Daniel Cosgrove (Bill Lewis, Guiding Light)
Original Air Date: July 3, 2008 Episode Synopsis: Just before he is about to get married, Bill finds out that Ava's baby isn't his.
Christian J LeBlanc (Michael Baldwin, The Young and the Restless)
Original Air Date: July 17, 2008 Episode Synopsis: A Y&R take on It's A Wonderful Life has Michael learning what life would be like if he had not been born.
Outstanding Lead Actress
Debbi Morgan (Angie Hubbard, All My Children)
Original Air Date: July 4, 2008 Episode Synopsis: Angie learns that Jesse isn't dead and has been in hiding for 20 years. As she prepares to see him for the first time, his train pulls away and he doesn't see her. Later, the two come face to face.
Maura West (Carly Tenney, As the World Turns)
Original Air Date: October 24, 2008 Episode Synopsis: Carly tries to stop Jack from proposing to Janet by reminding him of their past and promising that things will be different if he gives her another chance.
Susan Flannery (Stephanie Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful)
Original Air Date: September 11, 2008 Episode Synopsis: The Forresters gather as Eric is near death. Stephanie washes Eric's feet and does her best to comfort him.
Susan Haskell (Marty Saybrooke, One Life to Live)
Original Air Date: November 12, 2008 Episode Synopsis: Marty learns that Cole is her son
Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor, The Young and the Restless)
Original Air Date: October 27, 2008 Episode Synopsis: Cooper plays the dual roles of sophisticated Katherine and dowdy Marge
36th Annual Daytime Emmys
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36th Annual Daytime Emmys