This year, each of the five soaps that aired in 2012 was nominated in the Outstanding Drama Series. The list included television's "youngest" soap -- The Bold and the Beautiful, the top-rated soap -- The Young and the Restless, the longest-running soap -- General Hospital, and a soap that went off the air earlier in the year -- One Life to Live.
But it was NBC's sole remaining soap, Days of our Lives, that took home the top prize for only the second time in its 47-year history.
"Pinch me. Somebody, pinch me," executive producer Ken Corday said in wonderment as he took to the stage. "Wow. Really worth the wait."
As a seemingly endless parade of the show's stars joined Corday on stage, he pleaded with producers not to play him off stage.
"This is a dream. This is a dream to be here for me and for all of us. Just a moment to tell you a quick story. Ted and Betty Corday started this show in 1965. It received its only Emmy award for best Daytime show in 1978, 35 years ago," Corday reflected. "Today [we] break the ice again. Today is thank you to all the other nominees. Today is Father's Day. Today is my birthday. And today is a great day to celebrate. Thank you."
This was Days of our Lives' 17th nomination as Outstanding Drama Series. On two different occasions in the show's history, it went a full decade without a nomination in this category. The first dry spell ran from 1985 to 1995, and the next was from 1999 to 2009. The 35-year gap between Outstanding Drama Series wins surpasses Guiding Light's 25-year drought, which lasted from 1982 to 2007.
