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Sesame Street executive producer Carol-Lynn Parente (left) accepts the show's lifetime achievement award as characters Big Bird (right) look on at the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, on Sunday. [Reuters]
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The Bold and the Beautiful won drama series honors at the Daytime Emmys on Sunday, the CBS soap opera's first such victory in 22 years on the air.
It was a poignant victory for executive producer Bradley Bell, whose late father William J. Bell co-created The Young and the Restless, a show that was honored seven times in the same category. The younger Bell's mother, Lee Phillip Bell who worked closely with her husband and also on her son's show, cheered him on.
"It's incredibly exciting because I grew up going to visit that show," Bell said backstage. "It's sweeter after 22 years, it didn't come in five or 10 or 15 years. I think my dad is here in spirit. He would probably say, 'It's about time.' I took out the expletive."
The live telecast on the CW went off the air just as the cast and crew was assembling on the stage to accept its trophy.
"That's fine with me," Bell said. "The less of me at a microphone the better. It was your run-of-the-mill acceptance speech."
Drama series lead acting honors went to Christian LeBlanc of The Young and the Restless, and Susan Haskell of ABC's One Life to Live.
LeBlanc scored his third career trophy, taking a playful bite out of the globe on the trophy.
"You cannot resist the excitement," he said backstage.
Guiding Light earned one of its last trophies before it leaves the air after 72 years. Jeff Branson, who plays Shayne Lewis on the CBS soap, tied for supporting actor.
"This is so bittersweet," he said backstage.
He tied with Vincent Irizarry of ABC's All My Children, who got his soap start on Guiding Light in the early 1980s.
"I have such affection for that show. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of television history," Irizarry said backstage. "What other medium is producing product that lasts 72 years? It has entertained not only generations, but employed generations of people."
Singing, dancing, comedy and a touch of pathos set against the glitzy backdrop of a historic theatre were part of the 36th annual Daytime Emmys in an attempt to lure an eroding audience for award shows.
Sunday's broadcast relocated to the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, leaving its recent home at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. Opened in 1926, the venue has hosted everyone from Judy Garland and Jack Benny to Duke Ellington and Stevie Wonder.
Honoring everything from soaps to talk shows to game shows, it's the first time the awards weren't on one of the major three networks. They had alternated between ABC and CBS the last four years.
Host Vanessa Williams' singing and dancing chops were on display in the opening number, a parody set to Can't Take My Eyes Off of You from the Broadway musical Jersey Boys in which she was comically inserted into scenes from soaps and game shows.
Later, she sang and danced with Dancing With the Stars runner-up Gilles Marini.
The Daytime Emmys paid tribute to Guiding Light, which CBS canceled after a 72-year run that predates television. The low-rated soap will air its final episode in September, leaving just eight daytime dramas on the air. CBS and ABC will have three weekday soaps, with NBC having one.
That lone show, Days of Our Lives, scored two trophies. Tamara Braun earned supporting actress honors, the show's first victory in the category in 23 years. Darin Brooks gave the show just its second win in 21 years in the younger actor category. He used an expletive in his acceptance speech that was bleeped on the telecast.
"I'm so happy to have this for them," Braun said backstage. "I wasn't there that long and they opened their hearts to me."
Betty White introduced the Guiding Light tribute, with more than 30 past and present Guiding Light actors participating and earning a standing ovation.
"I've been watching Guiding Light ever since it went on the air in 1776," the 87-year-old TV icon said jokingly.
