DeGeneres, Harvey, Ferguson, Willard Win Big At The Daytime Emmys
onstage during The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Warner Bros. Studios on April 26, 2015 in Burbank, California.
The Daytime Emmys returned to regular television after a year off and comedians were taking home the trophies.
An exciting moment of the night was when Craig Ferguson who ended his run as host of the Late Late Show on CBS last December, picked up an Emmy for his work during daytime. Ferguson won Outstanding Game Show Host for his syndicated show, “Celebrity Name Game”. He beat out seasoned game show hosts, Steve Harvey for “Family Feud”, Todd Newton for “Family Game Night” and Pat Sajak for “Wheel of Fortune”. According to Variety, Ferugson said, “There comes a point where you have to move on and do something else, and that’s why I’m so excited about getting this. It makes me feel encouraged. There may be a future for me.” Craig Ferguson had been nominated for a Primetime Emmy for the Late Late Show in 2006.
Ellen DeGeneres added to her giant collection of Daytime Emmys with a win for Best Talk Show – Entertainment. Ellen won the Emmy over heavily favored “Live with Kelly and Michael”. Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan did go home with the Best Entertainment Talk Show Host award. Ellen wasn’t the only comedian with talk show Emmy gold at the ceremony on Sunday evening. Steve Harvey won for Best Talk Show – Informative.
Betty White was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in daytime television. Part the presentation included a parody of the game show “Password” hosted by Tom Bergeron with Marie Osmond, Regis Philbin, Charo and Fred Willard. The game show was originally hosted by Betty White’s husband Allen Ludden. The two met on the show in the early 60s. Betty was honored for decades of appearances on daytime television. Besides “Password”, she was also a game show favorite on shows like “Make The Connection”, “To Tell The Truth”, “What’s My Line?”, “Match Game”, “You Don’t Say” and “Hollywood Squares”.
Betty White’s comments come in at the 8:15 mark.
What could be one of the more unexpected parts of the night was Fred Willard being recognized for his dramatic work. He won as part of a three-way tie for Outstanding Special Guest Performer in a Drama Series for his guest spots on “The Bold And The Beautiful”. Fred shared the award with Donna Mills for “General Hospital” and Ray Wise for “The Young & The Restless”. The odd people out in the category that didn’t make the multiple tie win were Meredith Baxter for “The Young & The Restless”, Sally Kellerman for “The Young & The Restless” and Linda Elena Tovar for General Hospital. Fred Willard played John Forrester on B&B, the younger brother of fashion mogul Eric Forrester. His character was described as a traveling salesman-inventor and party boy.
The evening included a special In Memoriam tribute for the late Joan Rivers introduced by her daughter Melissa. It opened with Joan’s Daytime Emmy win in 1980 for her afternoon series, “The Joan Rivers Show”. Melissa Rivers said how getting the daytime show “invigorated her career” after the death of her husband Edgar Rosenberg and that it was “the only Emmy she would ever win”.
Due to dwindling ratings, last year the Daytime Emmys were only broadcast online. This year, the new Pop Network brought them back to regular television.
