For only the fourth time in 14 nominations, Guiding Light was honored for its writing. It's been quite a long time since the show picked up its last win in the field -- 1993, to be exact. The show also tallied wins in 1990 and 1986.
In its Emmy reels, Guiding Light took two different approaches. The first reel was heavily dramatic as Reva (played by Emmy winner Kim Zimmer) learned that she had cancer. The second reel was much lighter, as least by comparison. In those scenes, Dinah suffered a series of mishaps during her first date with Mallet.
The Guiding Light writing team did not appear in the press room.
Like Guiding Light in this year's Writing field, As the World Turns has an extensive history of being nominated in the Outstanding Directing Team category. The CBS soap has a respectable 12 nominations in the category. However, prior to this year the show had only won in this field one time.
Noting that there are many spokes in the wheel of any successful daytime program, Maria Wagner, one of the show's directors, took time out to thank everyone involved in the day-to-day production of the show.
"I would like to thank all of our fabulous cast members, our fabulous writers, our arts department, our writing team, Procter & Gamble Productions, CBS and our terrific producers," Wagner said.
For its Emmy consideration, As the World Turns selected two very different episodes. Its first focused heavily on last summer's slasher storyline. Much of the storyline was filmed remotely, allowing the show to use new camera and filming techniques. The second episode was a special stand-alone episode that marked As the World Turns' 50th anniversary. The episode featured slightly revised looks at popular sitcoms of years gone by, including "Happy Days," "I Love Lucy" and "The Munsters."
Wagner explained that viewers can expect more new things in the future.
"We are going to take some chances and do different things," Wagner teased, as she tip-toed around exactly what those different things would be. "It will be fun for everyone."
IN-DEPTHRead a comprehensive recap of ATWT's Emmy-winning "classic sitcoms" episode.
