'Y&R' gets 23 nominations for Daytime Emmys

NEW YORK -

The CBS soap "The Young and the Restless" earned a leading 23 Daytime Emmy nominations yesterday, including three of the four competitors for best actor, while ABC rival "General Hospital" had 19 nominations.

The 40th annual Daytime Emmy awards will be held June 16.

PBS' venerable children's show "Sesame Street" earned 17 nominations, including one for Kevin Clash, who played the Elmo character and resigned last November amid allegations that he sexually abused underage boys.

Top actor nominees are Peter Bergman, Doug Davidson and Michael Muhney, of "The Young and the Restless," and Jason Thompson, of "General Hospital."

Nominated for top actress in a daytime drama were Susan Flannery and Heather Tom, of "The Bold and the Beautiful"; Peggy McCay of "Days of Our Lives"; and Michelle Stafford of "The Young and the Restless."

Kelly Ripa will have a chance for a repeat award with a different co-host this year. Her new collaboration with Michael Strahan was nominated for best entertainment talk show, competing with "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "The Talk" and "The View."

Anderson Cooper, Steve Harvey, Ricki Lake, Mehmet Oz and Rachael Ray were nominated for best talk-show host.

Katie Couric's new daytime program was nominated in the best informative talk show category, against two medical shows: "The Doctors" and "The Dr. Oz Show."