Ellen the talk of Daytime Emmys

Ellen Degeneres has won Daytime Emmy awards for best talk show and best host for the second successive year. "This means a lot to me," she said collecting her awards in Hollywood on Friday night, telling her partner actress Portia de Rossi: "I love you." Long-running soap opera General Hospital was named best drama with star Tony Geary named as best actor. It also earned an Emmy for best direction. Four actors in soap opera Guiding Light took home Emmys. Sesame Street won the award for pre-school children's series, the 12th time the series has picked up the award. "This is not too shabby for a show that's starting its 38th season," senior producer Carol-Lynn Parente said. Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, received the lifetime achievement award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. DeGeneres has moved successfully from comic actress to presenter 

Is Ellen's Reign About To End? (Los Angeles, California) As Ellen DeGeneres walked onto the stage Friday night to pick up her umpteenth Daytime Emmy Award - the second year in a row she swept up at the Emmys - people began to wonder if her reign as the queen of talk was about to end. This fall she'll be up against the empress of gab - Rosie O'Donnell. Granted Rosie has been out of the talk limelight for a couple of years. But like they say, TV talk is like riding a bike or driving a car - you never forget. The Rosie hiring by Barbara Walters' The View was all the talk at the awards and that could spell trouble for O'Donnell. With all the hype she has a lot to live up to. Look for Rosie to be in the center spot at the View table too - not at the end where Meredith Vieira sat. And check out the hair. Neither Rosie's people nor ABC is commenting, but according to Fox news she has to get permission to cut her hair. It's going to be a fun fall season. And, while I'm on about Ellen, she did us proud Friday. In accepting her best talk show award she looked at partner actress Portia de Rossi and said: "I love you.'' A lot of buzz about Marlee Matlin joining the cast of "The L Word". Marlee is one heck of an actress and I've admired her for years. The hearing-challenged Matlin will play an artist who gets paired up with Jennifer Beals' character, Bette Porter. Showtime said the fourth season of L Word will premiere early next year. Out in Maryland's Prince George's County - where most of those anti-gay marriage politicians in the state call home - officials are miffed by an episode of ABC's "Commander in Chief" that depicts a small town as a backward, crime ridden community. 

The show which stars Geena Davis as the nation's first female president, focused on protests over 11 unsolved homicides in Hyattsville, just outside Washington, D.C. Davis' character, President Mackenzie Allen, visits the community to try to calm the unrest. "We haven't had 11 homicides in Hyattsville in the past 10 years," fumes county PR guy Jim Keary. A word of advice Jim: Get over it. Speaking of getting over it, Rush Limbaugh has gotten a stay out of jail card but he'll still have to take drug counseling and complete an offenders program. I wonder if that mug shot the cops in Florida took will make it to his Web site? It's just about everywhere else on the Web and its a real prescription for a good laugh. The conservative talk show host who likes to bash gays was slapped with drug fraud charge over doctor-shopping for painkiller scripts. Yup those goody goodies who insist we're immoral are just sooo pure and holy.

*by Meg Allen, 365Gay.com