If our pundits are correct, a breakthrough will occur at the Daytime Emmys on Aug. 30. After airing 22 years on CBS, "The Bold and the Beautiful" will finally claim its first victory as best soap. "The Bold and the Beautiful" has only been nominated for the top Daytime Emmy several times and it's never been given much hope to win in the past because of its screen-time disadvantage. It's a half-hour series competing against one-hour rivals.

However, two gurus from our forums believe it will prevail: our moderator Matthew "Boidiva02" Cormier and poster Edward "Bamaed" Applegate. They arrived at this decision based upon careful scrutiny of the same sample episodes submitted by nominees to Emmy judges. Below, their analysis, starting first with Boidiva02. Read more noodling on this race and others in our forums.

BEST DRAMA SERIES: BOIDIVA02'S PREDIX
(Ranked in likelihood of winning)
1.) "The Bold and the Beautiful"
2.) "Days of Our Lives"
3.) "All My Children"

BOIDIVA02'S COMMENTARY: After viewing the tapes for this category, I believe that the only show worthy of a win is "The Bold and the Beautiful," which submitted two excellent episodes about the suicide of Storm Logan.

In the episodes, Katie Logan (Heather Tom) is in the hospital after being shot by her brother Storm (by accident) and needs a new heart to survive. After all possibilities have been exhausted and Katie is still without a heart, a guilt-ridden Storm takes a gun to his head and kills himself, after leaving a note expressing he wants his heart to be transplanted into his sister. Katherine Kelly Lang as Brooke Logan is the centerpiece of these episodes. She is the one who finds Storm (her brother) following his death and is the last one to have seen him alive -- when she became angry with him, thinking he had purposely shot Katie.

The episodes use some very effective acting to make the characters come to life. A flashback sequence, which utilizes childhood home videos of him and his sisters, effectively captures Storm's anguish in making his decision to kill himself for his sister's sake. The last few moments of Storm's heart being transplanted into Katie and then finally beating are a fitting end to an emotional hour. This is the only Emmy submission that resonates after you've watched the tapes.

"All My Children" submitted an episode in which a tornado hits Pine Valley. Although it's a good example of special effects and is done well in that regard, the overall result is boring, with too many characters shown on screen without any powerful moments or any big effect. It could have been a masterful submission but, with special effects at center stage, no character interaction is strong enough to capture viewers' attention. The most affecting moment comes near the end of the tape, when, after the storm has passed, J.R. Chandler's wife, Babe, and son, little Adam, are trapped underneath some rubble. The only way to save little Adam is to move a piece of rubble that has trapped Babe. However, removing it would kill her. In this moment, Amanda Baker as Babe and Jacob Young as J.R. do a good job of showing an emotional current that lingers. But this lackluster tape doesn’t have any true emotional arch and fails to make a lasting impact in the way that "B&B's" tape did.

"Days of Our Lives" did a wonderful job of matching "B&B's" tape, with an episode that very well could have been produced as a prime-time drama episode. In the show, various citizens of Salem are trapped inside a plane that has been rigged with a bomb. They are losing oxygen and have almost no fuel left. They're about to crash. During the chaos, Kayla's father, Shawn, decides to take off his oxygen mask to save it for other people, and he ends up dying because of it. This is one of a handful of affecting moments that take place on this plane. The timing is right on, and it has all the makings of a great episode, but ultimately the character interactions are just too few and far between. It's a solid effort, but I don’t think it will match "B&B's" bold choices.

Both "Days" and "Bold" make strong episode selections, and it will come down to viewer preference. Some will prefer the more heartfelt writing of "Bold" and others the more action-packed writing of "Days." In the end, I think CBS will win. If "AMC" wins, it is not based on watching these tapes at all.

BEST DRAMA SERIES: BAMAED'S PREDIX
1.) "The Bold & the Beautiful"
2.) "Days of Our Lives"
3.) "All My Children"

BAMAED'S COMMENTARY: To me, this should be clear cut. All three shows sent in a spectacle but done in three completely different ways. "B&B" should win by a mile. Despite the fact that it starts off with Ronn Moss trying to emote (painful), then William deVry comes on screen and grounds everything in realism. This is true soap opera. It involves family, drama, tragedy, history and repercussions. The acting, writing and direction were spot-on perfect. The shock of Storm's suicide wasn't over the top. It was touching and sad. But to use that as a springboard to save Katie was brilliant. Katherine Kelly Long played comfortably numb to perfection. A mix of stunt with family drama, which was done well. It should win.

If "B&B" doesn't take it, "Days" should win. Another spectacle with the sabotaged plane, but it allows the focus to be on just a few characters, and family at that. Yes, it does feature Drake Hogestyn trying to emote (painful), but he wasn't the focus. The drama was spread across the passengers on the plane, but nobody got shortchanged. Each had their moments, especially Mary Beth Evans when Shawn Brady made his ultimate sacrifice. The family waiting back in Salem was good, and the direction wasn't dependent on special effects to get the point across.

Limping home in third place is "All My Children." This episode was all spectacle and no substance (except for Rebecca Budig, on too briefly). In the tornado, it seems like the whole town is affected. This didn't allow any one character to shine, or to reach out and touch the audience. It was all about spectacle, which left the whole thing a pretty, but empty, shell. It was a jumbled mess with no sense of purpose or direction. Plus, the acting was over the top and the writing was lackluster and choppy. That being said, if voters like big spectacle, they may vote for the "All My Children" disaster.
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