Our Daytime Emmy Take: Have Some Respect for Soaps and Their Fans

Sunday night soaps and daytime television in general celebrated their annual big night at the 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. However, it was difficult to impossible for fans–the people who keeps the four remaining soaps on the air–to celebrate with them the right way.

Due to financial reasons, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) chose not to broadcast the ceremony on TV this year, angering fans far and wide. Social media was the only option with red carpet coverage and behind the scenes coverage on Periscope’s Parachute TV.

It would have been nice if BOTH Parachute hosts (rather than just one) actually knew something about soaps. The ridiculous questions coupled with the shots of laminated paper cards telling the hosts who was up next made this coverage an unprofessional affair, indeed. Sometimes they remembered to get fashion shots (which we all love for red carpet glam), but that was typically an afterthought at the end of a bad interview where even the actors seemed perplexed.

[relbar link=”http://soaphub.wpengine.com/general-soap-news/your-43rd-annual-daytime-emmy-award-winners/” text=”Your 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Award Winners!!!”]

If you wanted to know who won the Emmys in real time–well, it was good luck with that one because it essentially wasn’t happening. Instead, you had to follow various social media feeds to learn who won several minutes after the fact and hope someone in the ballroom took some footage with their smartphones to post winner announcement reactions and acceptance speeches.

In addition, the behind the scenes Parachute interviews with actors had horrid audio and kept turning upside down and sideways, making it unpleasant and frustrating to watch.

NATAS, this is not what these shows deserve. If four soaps have managed to remain on the air, it’s for a reason. It’s because they are somehow the cream of the crop and the ones the networks and fans have faith in. That doesn’t take anything away from the many outstanding soaps WRONGLY cancelled over the last two decades, but if there are four soaps left, celebrate them–and let fans celebrate them–the right way.

To us, your social media experiment was a fail. It’s heartening to hear that plans are already in the works to bring the Emmys back to TV in 2017, but we won’t get our hopes up until its official.