Awards / Published 2026-10-31

General Hospital Takes a Sixth Straight Daytime Emmy for Best Drama

General Hospital won best daytime drama at the 53rd Daytime Emmys for the sixth year running, with four awards, level with first-year entry Beyond the Gates. The Kelly Clarkson Show led with five.

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THE SHORT VERSION

  • General Hospital won best daytime drama at the 53rd Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, its sixth consecutive year in the category, and finished with four awards.
  • Beyond the Gates matched that total in its first year of eligibility, led by Tamara Tunie’s first Emmy for lead actress in a daytime drama.
  • The Kelly Clarkson Show had the biggest haul with five awards, though Clarkson did not appear and lost the host prize to Sherri Shepherd.

A sixth straight year for General Hospital

General Hospital won best daytime drama at the 53rd Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday, the sixth consecutive year the ABC soap has taken the prize. Variety reported that the show finished the night with four awards, level with CBS newcomer Beyond the Gates, which reached the same total in its first year of eligibility. The ceremony was held at the Hollywood Palladium, The Hollywood Reporter reported. Variety noted that the telecast was streamed on YouTube.

The Hollywood Reporter counted 13 nominations going into the evening for General Hospital. Three of those turned into wins to go with the drama series prize, the site reported, and the show's tally was matched rather than beaten by a series in its first year of eligibility. Beyond the Gates took four awards as well, including a lead actress trophy for Tamara Tunie. Variety's series tally put The Kelly Clarkson Show first with five, then General Hospital and Beyond the Gates on four, then The Young and the Restless and A Different Breed on three.

The awards beside the top prize

Variety's list names two of the other General Hospital wins: the writing team for a daytime drama, and the guest performer prize for Jeff Kober, who plays Cyrus Renault. The trade publication noted that Kober also earned a Primetime Emmy nomination this year for The Pitt, a rare double nomination at both ceremonies in the same year. The Hollywood Reporter reported the same count, describing three other awards without listing them.

The other General Hospital honor of the night went to Genie Francis, this year's Lifetime Achievement recipient, who was presented by her husband, the actor Jonathan Frakes. “The joy of doing the work has never left me,” she said, according to Variety, adding that the caliber of the cast “inspires me every day and keeps me humble.”

Beyond the Gates arrives with four

Beyond the Gates won four awards in its first year of eligibility, a run Variety itemized: lead actress in a daytime drama for Tamara Tunie, emerging talent for Ambyr Michelle, lighting direction, and hairstyling and makeup. Tunie's win was her first Emmy. “This is the best ‘welcome back to daytime’ ever,” she said, according to Variety, which noted that she began working in the genre in 1987.

The Hollywood Reporter recorded a longer acceptance speech. Tunie, it reported, paid tribute to the “host of Black actresses who paved the way for me, and I feel them as I stand here tonight”, naming Cicely Tyson as the first Black woman to appear on a daytime television show. The site also noted that Heather Tom, nominated in the same category, was seeking a seventh trophy that would have made her the most awarded actress in daytime history.

Five for Kelly Clarkson, in its last year

The Kelly Clarkson Show won five awards, the most of any program, including best daytime talk series. Variety listed the others: directing for a daytime studio non-fiction series, hairstyling and makeup, art direction, set decoration and scenic design, and sound mixing and editing. The Hollywood Reporter noted that Clarkson did not appear to be at the ceremony, and that she lost the host prize to Sherri Shepherd.

Both winning talk shows had already been canceled. Variety reported that, because of the eligibility window, The Kelly Clarkson Show and Sherri will still be eligible next year, as both produced original episodes in 2026. Shepherd's win came in the daytime talk host category. Her show was canceled after four seasons, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Records in the supporting races

The Young and the Restless led the nominations with 18, The Hollywood Reporter reported, and converted three of them. Two came in the supporting categories: Roger Howarth as best supporting actor and Beth Maitland as best supporting actress. Variety noted that the gap of 32 years since Howarth's last Daytime Emmy is the longest in the awards' history. Scott Clifton of The Bold and the Beautiful won best actor.

Star Jones won her first Daytime Emmy on her 14th nomination, in the daytime personality daily category, for Divorce Court, Variety reported. The same night brought a first for The Hollywood Reporter: its Off Script roundtables took best arts and popular culture program, the site's first Daytime Emmy. IndieWire, a fellow PMC brand, won best editing for a daytime studio program for its craft roundtables, with Trevor Wallace accepting.

A speech about the press, and the tally

Midway through the ceremony, the NATAS chair Terry O'Reilly gave a speech days before the midterm elections. “The free press in 1800 was not saved by a court. It was saved by citizens who were engaged and informed,” he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He went on to warn: “It is not much of a leap, from silencing political speech, to suppressing creative expression,” he added. He closed by asking the room to “stand together to resist those who would seek comfort in a quieter media.”

CBS led the network tally with eight wins, Variety reported, and its syndication arm CBS Media Ventures added two more. NBCUniversal Syndication took five, all of them from The Kelly Clarkson Show, and ABC four. There was no host this year; Matthew Hoffman served as announcer, and the ceremony ran as a single show on Friday after the awards moved to mid-fall last year. Related coverage on this site includes the fifth-season renewal of The Diplomat, the Ghosts season 6 Halloween special, Criminal Minds ending with its 20th season and the one-day production start for Big Little Lies season 3.

Sources & reporting limits

  1. 'Kelly Clarkson,' 'GH,' 'Beyond the Gates' Lead Daytime Emmy 2026 Wins — Variety
  2. 2026 Daytime Emmys Winners List — The Hollywood Reporter
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