After being dumped by the broadcast TV channels two years ago, the Daytime Emmy Awards were rescued by the CW network in 2009, but will return to CBS on Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT/PDT. The ceremony will be held in Las Vegas, emceed by Regis Philbin.

Who's going to win? We set up a special forum thread where our posters carefully studied the episodes submitted to judges by the nominees as examples of their best work. After duplicating the voting process, our experts made gutsy predictions in all top races. We spotlight some races here at Gold Derby: best drama series, lead actor, lead actress and talk show/entertainment. See more in our forums.

Nelson Branco of TV Guide Canada agrees with our pundits that Crystal Chappell ("Guiding Light") will win best actress, but he disagrees with our gurus who say Michael Park ("As the World Turns") will triumph as best actor. Branco predicts the gold will go to three-time past champ Peter Bergman ("The Young and the Restless").

Branco picks "General Hospital" to prevail as best drama series for a record-setting eleventh time. ("The Young and the Restless" is in second place with seven victories.) So does one of our pundits, who is known as BC in our forums.

However, Matthew "Boidiva02" Cormier picks "The Bold and the Beautiful." See more of Branco's predix here.

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Photo credit: National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

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Over the last month, many posters in our forums volunteered to view the episodes submitted to Daytime Emmy judges as examples of their best work. In an earlier post, they made informed predictions covering whidh show will win best drama series. Below, our poster named GL Fan and our message-boards moderator Matthew "Boidiva02" Cormier analyze and forecast the best-actress derby. Both agree that past winner of best supporting actress, Crystal Chappell ("Guiding Light"), will prevail in lead. See analysis of other categories in our special forum. 

BEST ACTRESS: GL FAN'S PREDIX
(Ranked by likelihood to win)
1.) Crystal Chappell, "Guiding Light"
2.) Maura West, "As the World Turns"
3.) Michelle Stafford, "The Young and the Restless"
4.) Bobbie Eakes, "All My Children"
5.) Sarah Brown, "General Hospital"

GLFAN'S COMMENTARY: All of this year's nominees are previous nominees in either the lead, supporting or younger actress categories. In fact, the only person in this category without a bronzed winged lady is "All My Children's" Bobbie Eakes. It doesn't look like Ms. Eakes will be taking home the Emmy this time around either, but her competition isn't nearly as severe as it has been in the past. Emmy heavy-hitters like Kim Zimmer, Susan Flannery, and Erika Slezak aren't on 2010's final ballot of five. What is even more shocking is that only two of these ladies had that "it" moment in their tape — you know, that shocking revelation that makes a tape jump alive from the regular boring hum drumness that can put Emmy voters to sleep after watching so many tapes.

Previous supporting-actress Emmy winner Crystal Chappell has one of those tapes. Her declaration of love to her "friend" Natalia is not only one of the most talked about moments in soaps last year, it's also one of the best played in all of these leading ladies' reels. Coupled with her poignant monologue in the graveyard and two earlier scenes with Jessica Leccia's Natalia and Emmy winner Justin Deas' Buzz, Chappel's tape is wrought with that soap-opera angst. The writing is surprisingly strong and gives the actress something to really sink her teeth into. It is in that tombstone monologue and later that pivotal scene where Olivia admits to Natalia on her wedding day that she is in love with her that Chappell shines brightest and secures this award.

Everything old is new again -- at least when it comes to television. So the news that a revamped version of the game show "Pyramid" -- which first hit the airwaves in 1973 -- could be replacing the canceled soap "As the World Turns" on CBS comes as no surprise.

Last year, the classic game show was in the running to replace the axed soap "Guiding Light" but Eye execs instead went with another 1970s game show staple -- "Let's Make A Deal." The success of the new edition of that show, with Emmy champ Wayne Brady as host, has inspired CBS to try its luck again.

In one of those ironies of the TV biz, the Dick Clark-produced game show was canceled by CBS after the first season, only to be resurrected by ABC and flourish. The "$10,000 Pyramid," as it was called back then, ruled as the top-rated game show on the air for three consecutive seasons.

During its second season on ABC, the show doubled the jackpot, and the renamed "$20,000 Pyramid" won a Daytime Emmy as best game show. This incarnation would win the top Emmy twice more, tying with "The Hollywood Squares" in 1980 and winning for its final season on ABC in 1981.

After one season in syndication as the more generous "$50,000 Pyramid," the show returned to CBS in 1982 as the "$25,000 Pyramid" and ran till 1988, winning the Emmy five years in a row (1983-1987) and then again in 1989 for its final season on CBS. The following year, "Jeopardy" began a six-year winning streak and to date has earned a record 11 Emmys as best game show.

Dick Clark won three of his 10 Emmy bids for hosting in 1979, 1985 and 1986. The short-lived "$100,000 Pyramid" of 1991, emceed by John Davidson, as well as the Donny Osmond version of "Pyramid," which ran from 2002 to 2004, failed to impress Emmy voters.

Photo: Dick Clark on the set of "The $10,000 Pyramid." Credit: CBS

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