Q: Why didn't you make predations for this year's Daytime Emmy Awards? -- Carlotta, Knoxville, Tenn. A: I have as much luck picking Emmy's winners as I do in picking men or stocks. With my abilities to choose any of these things, I might as well throw darts at a board or get opinions from a rhesus monkey. There are also inherent problems with making predictions on any award.
If there are five contestants in a category, you have less than a 25 percent chance of being right. Ask any gambler, that is a real sucker bet. Now, there are other problems in guessing Emmy wins. A journalist is supposed to be impartial. Not easy. If an actor you hate is up for an award, it's hard not to dismiss his acting ability. If a nominee is a real sweetheart, try not to give the performance a few more points. It is better if you have not met the actor; then your opinion is not tainted. After a gazillion years in the business I have been lucky enough to meet the good, bad and very ugly in the world of soaps. Then there is the nominating process.
An actor has to pick two full episodes that he thinks merit the Emmy. If an actor cannot pick two shows out of 160 performances a year, he should be installing television, not acting on it. If you know an actor is a two-show wonder, how can you give him the nod? If a wonderful actor submits two terrible tapes, try not to put that in the mix. Report, yes. Predict, no.
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Q: Has anything outrageous ever happened at the Daytime Emmys? -- Elwood, Toledo, Ohio
A: Not as outrageous as the streaker who ran past David Niven at an Oscars show. There was one bizarre happening at the Daytime Emmys. Robert Gentry (Ross Chandler, "All My Children") was waiting to hear the announcement for Best Actress. Susan Lucci (Erica) was up. The actress was nominated for the fifth time and really wanted to win. When the winner was announced, Gentry became agitated. Gentry knew Lucci was not going to win. He was mad -- not just because Lucci was not getting the statuette. A few minutes earlier, Gentry left the table to have a smoke. On the sidewalk he noticed a headline on the front cover of the Daily News: "Lucci loses." Gentry could not believe the headline was out before the award was presented. Seems someone at the awards office leaked the information to the press the morning of the show. Terry Lester (original Jack, "Young and the Restless") attended a private afterparty that night and showed off a new solid gold Dunhill lighter he had purchased for himself. "I was at a newspaper office doing an interview when I saw the copy for who had won and lost the award. I knew I was a loser," he told me. "I decided to make myself a winner and buy this," he said, flicking the expensive lighter.
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Q: Who was the first actress to win the Daytime Emmy for Best Actress? -- Rachida, Camden, N.J.
A: In 1972, Mary Fickett (Ruth Martin, "All My Children") won the honor. Fickett's character gave a speech about her son Phillip having to serve in Vietnam. It was an amazing speech about mothers sending their precious sons off to war. Nowadays daytime dramas are afraid to give an opinion. Heck, when Jack on "Young and Restless" (Peter Bergman) ran for state senator, they never mentioned which party he represented. On "General Hospital," Edward (John Ingle) gave a touching speech about Joseph Kennedy Sr. losing five children to death or mental illness. A "not that I always agreed with his politics" was thrown into the scene. As of yet, no soap opera character has mentioned that a gallon of gasoline costs more than ever. Soap operas, it is time to get real. If anything kills daytime drama, it will be the "let's play it safe" attitude.
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