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Which of the four daytime dramas took home the Emmy for best soap opera in 2021? That’s what we decided to find out. With the Emmys in full swing this weekend, we decided to take a look at the Daytime Emmy Awards, which took place this past summer. But of the four soap operas that are left on television, which of them took home the coveted gold?

Best Soap Opera 2021 General Hospital's cast
The cast of ‘General Hospital’ | Rick Rowell/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images

‘General Hospital’ took home the Emmy for the Best Soap Opera in 2021

Technically, there is no such Emmy as the “Best Soap Opera in 2021” Emmy. The “highest-ranking” Emmy is actually called the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy. And, this year, General Hospital took home the top prize.

General Hospital also holds the record for the show that won the top Daytime Emmy the most times. In total, the longtime soap opera has won the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy a total of 13 times. However, The Young and the Restless has the distinction of being the soap opera that has been nominated in this category the most times. Y&R has been nominated for this Emmy a total of 33 times.

The Young and the Restless has won the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy a total of 11 times. Days of Our Lives has taken home the award four times. And The Bold and the Beautiful has taken home the award three times.

‘GH’ also took home other Daytime Emmys in 2021

Even though General Hospital took home the coveted Emmy for Best Soap Opera in 2021, the beloved daytime drama received other accolades, as well.

According to TVLine, Maurice Benard — who plays Sonny Corinthos — took home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at this year’s Daytime Emmys. He was first nominated for this Daytime Emmy back in 1996. However, he wouldn’t win the Emmy until 2003.

In total, Maurice Benard has been nominated for Daytime Emmy Awards eight times. Of those eight times, he was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series once, and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series seven times. He won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series three times: 2003, 2019, and 2021.

Looks like the Daytime Emmys judges love them some Sonny Corinthos!

‘GH’ is also a ratings winner

In addition to being named the best soap opera of 2021, General Hospital is also a rating winner. While soap opera viewers have fluctuated through the years, the Neilsen ratings (via TVSeriesFinale) reveal that GH has consistently had millions of viewers across various demographics.

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The outlet reveals that amongst 18-49-year-old women, General Hospital has an average of 2.118 million viewers a week, or .35 of the market. GH beats out Days of Our Lives in that same demographic, which has an average of 1.697 million viewers a week. However, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful both beat out GH in the ratings.

On average, The Young and the Restless has 3.255 million viewers a week. The Bold and the Beautiful, meanwhile, has an average of 2.823 million viewers per week. And while these numbers show a consistent decrease in soap opera viewership year over year, the “soaps” continue to be loved, and watched, by dedicated fans of the genre.

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