Our posters Daniel "742" Montgomery and Matthew "Boidiva02" Cormier completely — as in totally, utterly — disagree when handicapping the Daytime Emmy race for best soap directing. They give the three contenders opposite ranking.

Also check out our posters' predix in these races: best drama series, lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, younger actor, younger actress, talk show (entertainment). talk show (informative), talk show host, game show, drama writing, drama directing. See more Daytime Emmy predix in our forums.

BEST DRAMA SERIES DIRECTING: 742's PREDIX
(Listed by likelihood of winning)
1. "One Life to Live"
2. "Days of Our Lives"
3. "All My Children"

742'S COMMENTARY: Herein lies a battle for the soul of daytime drama ... OK, maybe not, but this race does present an interesting microcosm of daytime's best and worst impulses. It's obvious to me which show should win, but less obvious which will.

"All My Children" delivers a stunt: A tornado is a-comin' to Pine Valley, and its citizens are scattered about town in various forms of distress. The direction emphasizes the production values, and that's unfortunate. The episode is a showcase for lousy CGI, unconvincing green-screen backgrounds, and people and objects falling down in slo-mo. The performances were clearly an afterthought. Even consummate pros like David Canary and Darnell Williams seem like they can scarcely remember their lines. "AMC" was surely inspired by "General Hospital," which has had much success at the Emmys by submitting episodes of hotel fires and train crashes, and Emmy voters liked this mishmash enough to nominate it, so it might win just on the basis of being the most directed.

"One Life to Live" submitted a gimmick. As Rex (John-Paul Lavoisier) is treated for a gunshot wound, he dreams that he is a contestant on a game show to prove he is a worthy father (the dream scenes were filmed on the set of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"). There are moments of visual wit (Rex's life-support monitors transition into game-show monitors) and emotional impact (an overhead shot of a prayer circle), but overall I wasn't impressed. It feels like little more than an excursion to a neighboring set ("OLTL" and "Millionaire" both film in Manhattan), making what should be a life-or-death struggle more an exercise in quirkiness. But perhaps I'm missing something. This episode won the Directors' Guild of America Award.

"Days of Our Lives" submitted good storytelling. Period. To compare it to "AMC" and "OLTL's" submissions is an object lesson in how to do more with less. "Days" also submitted a catastrophic event: an impending plane crash. But unlike "AMC," "Days" keeps it simple. I counted only two sets: the interior of the plane and an office on the ground where family and friends wait for news. Intense turbulence is suggested by effective rattling noises from the fuselage. The emotional urgency is sold by the actors, shown frequently in tight, evocative close-ups. There are no ostentatious effects, no sparks flying, no pyrotechnics, no exterior shots of a CGI plane plummeting. You don't need them. You could have filmed these scenes in a cardboard box and the cast and crew could have sold it.