Stupidly, these are 11 months away, and let’s face it, long irrelevant, but for a nostalgic giggle, I had ChatGPT do a Michael Logan-style “Best of” for 2025. Not sure about the choices, but the overwritten style seems nearly spot-on:
Best Soap: (tie) General Hospital and Beyond the Gates.
Talk about a wake-up call. CBS’s miraculous, hungry rookie, Beyond the Gates, burst onto the scene this year as the first soap in a quarter-century—and, belatedly, the first hour-long predominantly Black soap—with chutzpah from creator Michele Val Jean, putting the lazy storytelling elsewhere on the dial (cough Y&R cough B&B) on immediate notice. The show’s fearless deep dive into the Martin/Vernon racism arc wasn’t just a "very special episode"—it was a tour-de-force that felt terrifyingly all-too-relevant in 2025.
But don’t count the old girl out yet. General Hospital—the grand dame of the genre—finally remembered she’s the boss. After months of aimless drifting, GH delivered a knockout year anchored by the heartbreaking death of Monica Quartermaine (the sensational, dearly missed Leslie Charleson). Combine that with the exquisitely messy, history-rich reveal of Gio’s parentage—dragging Dante, Lulu, Lois, and Brook Lynn into a vortex of glorious angst—and you have a show firing on all cylinders. The oldest soap and the newest soap are currently the only soaps worth watching.
Best Actress: Deidre Hall, Days of Our Lives.
It is a crime against humanity that this daytime legend hasn't been Emmy-nominated since 1985. Seriously, voters, what are you waiting for? With the death of John Black (the late, stalwart Drake Hogestyn), Hall reminded us why she is the Queen of Salem, giving us a deep excavation of marital grief that ranged from those gut-wrenching bedside vigils to the quiet, crushing despair of receiving John's final voicemail. She took a plot we’ve seen a thousand times and turned it into a masterclass. Give the lady her gold. Runner-Up: Tamara Tunie, Beyond the Gates.
Best Actor: Paul Telfer, Days of Our Lives.
The naked torso is nice, but Telfer has the depth to back it up. He makes a compelling argument for back-to-back Emmy victories with a year that saw Xander Kiriakis run the emotional gauntlet—from his struggle with anger management and the collapse of his marriage to that explosive confession about attacking Phillip. Telfer finds the humanity in the hunk, making Xander’s journey from villain to broken man one of the most watchable arcs on daytime. Runner-up: Steve Burton, General Hospital.
Best Supporting Actress: Jane Elliot, General Hospital.
The sharpest tongue in Port Charles got uncharacteristically—and beautifully—tied. Elliot was simply divine this year, peeling back Tracy Quartermaine's crusty exterior to reveal the beating heart underneath. Her eulogy for Monica was a tearjerker, but it was her tender, welcoming scenes with newcomer Gio that really had us reaching for the Kleenex. She proves you don’t need hysterics to dominate the screen; you just need class. Runners-Up: Amanda Setton, General Hospital, and Susan Seaforth Hayes, Days of Our Lives.
Best Supporting Actor: (tie) Brandon Claybon and Mike Manning, Beyond the Gates.
A double dose of brilliance from the new kid on the block. As BTG’s gay power couple, these two played off each other with an effortless, lived-in chemistry. Claybon did the heavy lifting with a harrowing PTSD arc following a racist attack, while Manning provided the perfect counterweight, turning Smitty’s investigative journalism beats into a subtle, grounding performance. In a genre that often goes for camp, these two kept it painfully, wonderfully real. Runners-up: Rick Hearst, General Hospital, and Carson Boatman, Days of Our Lives.
Best Newcomers: Trisha Mann-Grant and Ambyr Michelle, Beyond the Gates.
If you aren't watching these two, you aren't watching daytime. As the toxic mother-daughter duo Leslie and Eva, Mann-Grant and Michelle are a walking, talking disaster area—and I mean that as the highest compliment. Mann-Grant is having the time of her life as the mustache-twirling villainess, serving us vintage Sheila Carter vibes with a delicious, comedic edge. But she roots the madness in real pain, especially when revealing the twisted history of Eva’s parentage.
Michelle, meanwhile, matches her beat for beat as the collateral damage of Leslie’s schemes. Their confrontations are electric, ugly, and impossible to turn off. In a landscape often cluttered with boring characters going through the motions, this pair brought the noise.
By
Faulkner ·
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