‘General Hospital’ Takes Best Daytime Drama at 53rd Daytime Emmys

‘General Hospital’ won Outstanding Daytime Drama Series at the 53rd Daytime Emmy Awards, presented Friday, Oct. 30 at the Hollywood Palladium. The ABC soap took the top prize from a field in which it entered with the third-most nominations.

‘The Young and the Restless’ led all nominees with 18 nominations, including best daytime drama. ‘Beyond the Gates’ followed with 16 nods, ‘General Hospital’ earned 13, and ‘Days of our Lives’ rounded out the drama field with eight. The result hands the flagship award to the show that did not lead the nomination count, and gives ‘General Hospital’ wins in drama series, writing team, casting and guest performance on the night.

Who won the performance awards?

Tamara Tunie won lead actress for playing Anita Williams Dupree on ‘Beyond the Gates’; Scott Clifton won lead actor for Liam Spencer on ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’. Beth Maitland (Traci Abbott) and Roger Howarth (Matt Clark), both of ‘The Young and the Restless’, took the supporting prizes. Ambyr Michelle of ‘Beyond the Gates’ won emerging talent, and Jeff Kober won guest performance for Cyrus Renault on ‘General Hospital’.

The craft divides split predictably: ‘General Hospital’ won writing and casting, while ‘Days of our Lives’ took the directing team award.

What happened outside the drama categories?

Sherri Shepherd won best daytime talk host for her since-canceled syndicated show ‘Sherri’, beating hosts from ‘The View’, ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ and the Jennifer Hudson and Tamron Hall programs. ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ itself won talk series.

Tracee Ellis Ross won best travel and adventure program for ‘Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross’ on Roku. Keke Palmer won a non-daily personality award for ‘Glam Through the Ages’ on KeyTV, a show she executive produces; that program also won short-form program of the year.

‘Entertainment Tonight’ won entertainment news series. Ina Garten won culinary host and her ‘Be My Guest with Ina Garten’ won culinary instructional series; ‘Lucky Chow’ won culinary cultural series. ‘Justice For The People with Judge Mathis’ backstopped the legal/courtroom field.

Which trade outlets picked up Emmys?

The Hollywood Reporter won its first Daytime Emmy, for best arts and popular culture program, with its ‘Off Script’ roundtable series on IFC. Fellow PMC brand IndieWire won editing for a daytime studio program for its craft roundtables, with Trevor Wallace accepting. The result places two trade brands in the winner column of a ceremony usually dominated by networks and syndicators.

Who received the career honors?

Genie Francis of ‘General Hospital’ received the lifetime achievement award. NATAS also inducted new members into its Gold and Silver Circle Society, which recognizes industry figures with 50 or 25 years of contribution to television.

The 2026 Gold Circle inductees are:

• Byron Allen, CEO of Allen Media Group
• Performer Patrika Darbo
• Actor-director-producer Francesca James
• Host-producer Meredith Vieira

The Silver Circle inductees are Stephen Brown, executive vp of programming and development at Fox TV Stations, and announcer and warm-up host Rubin Ervin.

What does the night’s tally show?

‘General Hospital’ converted 13 nominations into the drama series title plus writing, casting, and a tie in hairstyling and makeup with ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’. ‘Beyond the Gates’, a first-year CBS drama, spread its 16 nominations across performing, lighting, and a hairstyling tie of its own. ‘Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade’ won three technical awards: music direction, technical direction and video.

‘The Young and the Restless’ led the nominations but left the drama race empty-handed, collecting wins only in the performance and craft categories such as costume design and live sound mixing.

The writing awards produced the only tie of the night outside hairstyling: ‘Expedition Unknown’ and ‘This Old House’ shared non-fiction writing honors.

In the end, the 53rd ceremony rewarded the nomination leader in the crafts but not in the category that carries the headline.