HOLLYWOOD - The 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards nominations were announced Wednesday, with the ABC soap All My Children leading the pack with 17 nominations--more than any other show on daytime TV. CBS' Guiding Light was close behind with 14 nods while PBS' Sesame Street earned 13. ABC was also the winner in the network race, collecting 59 nominations. CBS was followed with 52 nods and PBS with 47.
The major categories were announced live on the ABC morning talk show The View, which snagged nominations in the categories of talk show and talk show host (for Barbara Walters, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Joy Behar and the now-departed Lisa Ling). The show, which debuted in 1996, has never won an Emmy.
As the World Turns, The Bold and the Beautiful, Port Charles and The Young and the Restless all received nominations for best drama, while last year's winner, One Life To Live, was shut out.
For lead actor in a drama series, the nominees were Anthony Geary (General Hospital), Maurice Benard (General Hospital), Grant Aleksander (Guiding Light), Ricky Paull Goldin (Guiding Light), Thorsten Kaye (Port Charles) and Doug Davidson (The Young and the Restless).
For lead actress in a drama series, the nominees were Susan Flannery (The Bold and the Beautiful), Nancy Lee Grahn (General Hospital), Kim Zimmer (Guiding Light), Eileen Davidson (The Young and the Restless) and Michelle Stafford (The Young and the Restless).
Conspicuously missing from the nominations was All My Children star Susan Lucci. Carolyn Hinsey, Soap Opera Weekly Executive Editor, told The Associated Press that Lucci wasn't among those on the list because her character, Erika Cane, had relatively little exposure on the soap last year.
Oprah Winfrey protégé Dr. Phil McGraw received a nomination in the talk show host category for his syndicated self-help program, Dr. Phil. Comedian Wayne Brady also received a talk show nod for The Wayne Brady Show.
Hollywood Squares, Jeopardy!, The Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune and Win Ben Stein's Money were nominated in the game or audience participation category.
Art Linkletter, former host of Kids Say the Darndest Things, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award this year when the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences hands out The 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on May 16 at Radio City Music Hall. ABC will broadcast the ceremony live.