A typical soap opera airs over 250 original episodes per year. When it comes to Emmy night, determining the best of the best comes down to a single episode. These are the episodes submitted by this year's Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress contenders.
Here are the clips submitted by the Lead Actor and Lead Actress nominees this year for Emmy consideration. To view the Lead Actor reels, click here. We've provided synopses for each clip and provided links to our comprehensive recaps of those episodes so you can get a better feel for what action took place. To get all the additional details, just click on the appropriate links.
Episode Synopsis: At Sonny and Will's wedding, Caroline gave what was perceived to be a rambling speech. Tears streamed freely when those in attendance realized her speech was incredibly poignant.
Episode Synopsis: Samantha saw a photo of her husband, E.J., and Abigail kissing and learned that it had gone much further than kissing. Sami was enraged when E.J. called it a mistake and wondered if he was still in love with Abigail.
Episode Synopsis: After finding Morgan and Kiki having sex, Ava headed to the Quartermaine mausoleum, where she and Sonny had a heart-to-heart talk. Their comforting eventually led to passion.
Episode Synopsis: Carly was stunned when, during their wedding, Franco announced that he had no plans to marry a "lying whore." Carly railed against Franco for having learned of her affair with Sonny and not confronting her privately.
Peggy McCay (Caroline Brady, Days of our Lives)
Alison Sweeney (Samantha Brady, Days of our Lives)
Gina Tognoni (Phyllis Summers, The Young and the Restless)
Maura West (Ava Jerome, General Hospital)
Laura Wright (Carly Jacks, General Hospital)
