Nighttime star Regis Philbin shunted off to Daytime Emmys

Wednesday, March 15th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) -- Now that Susan Lucci has won, Regis Philbin is the new lovable loser searching for his first Daytime Emmy award. Strangely enough, he can win this year with a show that airs in prime-time.

The host of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" earned Daytime Emmy nominations on Wednesday for best game show host and best talk show host.

Philbin has been nominated seven times before for his role on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee," but has never won an Emmy. Caught flat-footed by the success of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Emmy administrators shunted the show off to the Daytime Emmys, even though it is routinely the top-rated show in prime-time. They said it's because there's no game show category in the prime-time Emmys, but there is in daytime.

The decision aggravated ABC, the show's producer and Philbin, who called it "silly." "These things have aggravated me for years," Philbin said on Wednesday. "Who cares?"

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences won't decide until October whether "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" will be eligible for prime-time awards in the future, a spokeswoman said.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" was nominated for best gameshow, along with "Hollywood Squares," "Jeopardy," "The Price is Right" and "Win Ben Stein's Money."

Philbin was nominated for best talk show host with partner Kathie Lee Gifford, who recently announced she was quitting this summer. They'll compete against Donny and Marie Osmond, Rosie O'Donnell, Martin Short and "The View" crew: Barbara Walters, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Joy Behar and Lisa Ling.

After winning 15 Daytime Emmys, Oprah Winfrey took herself out of the running for best talk show host and best talk show.

Lucci won her first Daytime Emmy as best soap opera actress last year after losing in the category 18 straight times. This year, she wasn't nominated for her role as Erica Kane on "All My Children."

The soap opera "The Young and the Restless" earned a staggering 28 nominations, more than twice its closest competitor," Sesame Street," which had 13. "All My Children" and "The View" each had 12.

Nominees for best actress on a daytime soap opera were Finola Hughes of "All My Children"; Susan Flannery of "The Bold and the Beautiful"; Hillary B. Smith of "One Life to Live"; Jeanne Cooper of "The Young and the Restless"; and Jess Walton of "The Young and the Restless."

Best actor nominees for soap operas were David Canary of "All My Children"; Anthony Geary of "General Hospital"; Robert Woods of "One Life to Live"; Peter Bergman of "The Young and the Restless"; and Eric Braeden of "The Young and the Restless."

The awards will be given out May 19 in a ceremony at Radio Cit yMusic Hall in New York, televised by ABC.
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