If you think the Daytime Emmys have grown stale over the decades, buckle up.
The 2026 race for Best Daytime Drama Series is one for the record books. General Hospital, the 18-time winner that has swept this category for the past five years, faces off against Beyond the Gates, the first-year contender that would make history with a debut victory.
Thus, voters are faced with a never-before-seen choice: extend a beloved veteran’s winning streak, or anoint something exciting and new?
Gold Derby’s Daytime Emmy odds give the edge to BTG with a 78% chance of claiming victory on its first at-bat. However, GH is still very much in this race with a 16% shot of extending its record as the winningest soap opera in history. Fellow nominees The Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives share the remaining 6% of the predictions pie.
Best Drama Series
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The Young and the Restless
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With 15 nominations, Beyond the Gates already is the most-nominated freshman soap in Daytime Emmy history. A win for Best Daytime Drama Series would make it the first new program to win that category in the organization’s 53-year history.
The BTG noms are for series, lead actress x2 (Karla Mosley and Tamara Tunie), supporting actor x2 (Timon Kyle Durrett and Mike Manning), supporting actress (Trisha Mann-Grant), emerging talent x2 (Ambyr Michelle and Arielle Prepetit), guest performer (Jasmine Burke), casting, lighting direction, makeup/hairstyling, music direction, technical direction, and writing team.
Despite all the love, Beyond the Gates had two major snubs: lead actor (Clifton Davis) and directing team. Over the past 16 years, every soap that won Best Daytime Drama Series also had a corresponding directing nomination. Could that be a major warning sign that General Hospital is about to win its 19th series trophy?
GH‘s 13 nominations are for series, lead actor (Steve Burton), supporting actress (Amanda Setton), emerging talent x2 (Braedyn Bruner and Giovanni Mazza), guest performer x2 (Jeff Kober and Eva LaRue), casting, cinematography, directing team, lighting direction, makeup/hairstyling, and writing team.
The Young and the Restless (this year’s nominations leader with 18) last won the series category in 2020, its 11th overall. Days of Our Lives (eight bids this year) is a four-time series champion, having last prevailed in 2018. Notably, they both have directing nods.
Which program will win? The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is not showing any favoritism, having invited one cast member from each nominated soap to present at next week’s ceremony: Katelyn MacMullen (General Hospital), Paul Telfer (Days of Our Lives), Tamara Tunie (Beyond the Gates), and Susan Walters (The Young and the Restless). See the complete list of presenters.
The 2026 Daytime Emmys take place Oct. 30 at the Hollywood Palladium.
