On one of those rare nights of television when soap operas share the stage with Sesame Street and scripted slaps in the face are almost as prevalent as impromptu pats on the back, an esteemed comedian proved that straightforward self-deprecating banter will get 'em every time.

Ellen DeGeneres once again set the gold standard for daytime television, scooping up her third award in a row for Outstanding Talk Show and her second for Outstanding Talk Show Host at the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards Friday night in Hollywood.

"This means a lot to me...Thank you for never looking me directly in the eye," DeGeneres said with her trademark deadpan timing during her acceptance speech as she thanked her crew and staff for continuing to make her syndicated chatfest a success. She also gave an "I love you" shout-out to girlfriend Portia de Rossi, who was sitting in the audience.

After DeGeneres' hosting win, the first award of the night, the evening's hosts, Tom Bergeron and Kelly Monaco, joked that it was a good thing Meredith Vieira, Star Jones Reynolds, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Barbara Walters didn't win for The View because of all the effort they had put into celebrating not winning for the ninth time.

Last month, they held a "Watch the Ladies Lose" contest in which three viewers would receive trips to Hollywood to attend the ceremony at the Kodak Theater.

This is the first year in the event's history that it has been held outside of New York. The show was also expanded to three hours to accommodate more individual interviews with nominees (held outside the theater in full view of the adoring crowd) and clipfests celebrating the 40th anniversary of Days of Our Lives, 66 years of Guiding Light and other soap-centered milestones achieved this year.

ABC's General Hospital won its record ninth Emmy for Outstanding Drama and picked up five awards total, including Outstanding Drama Series Directing and an Outstanding Lead Actor win for veteran star Anthony Geary, who picked up his first Emmy for playing the now iconic role of Luke Spencer in 1982. Laura's other half has now won five times.

Kim Zimmer won her fourth Outstanding Lead Actress Award for her role as Reva Lewis on CBS' Guiding Light.

The Young and the Restless on CBS, the most nominated show of the night with 18 mentions, took home Outstanding Drama Series Writing honors. CBS led the networks this year with 59 nominations.

Alex Trebek kept it real when accepting his award for Outstanding Game Show Host for his work on the Q&A, or in this case, A&Q, favorite, Jeopardy!

"I want to thank myself," he said. "Forty-five years ago, I graduated from the University of Ottawa and had a few career opportunities available, but I chose television, and I've never, ever regretted that decision."

Brought to you by the letters "E," "M," "M" and "Y," Barbara Walters presented the evening's Lifetime Achievement Award to Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird, or rather to Carroll Spinney, the man behind the muppets who has voiced those classic characters for more than 4,000 episodes of Sesame Street, which also picked up its 12th win for Outstanding Preschool Children's Series. The PBS favorite, which will begin its 38th season next year, has won 110 Emmys.

Walters was then joined by Rosie O'Donnell onstage, and they used the opportunity to confirm those Internet rumors that, come September, O'Donnell will be joining The View. "Well, thank God, because it was either that or Celebrity Fit Club," O'Donnell joked. And maybe some of her Daytime Emmy-winning luck--she picked up six hosting honors for The Rosie O'Donnell Show--will rub off on her so-far uncelebrated View cohosts. (However, the show has acquired 28 Emmys in other categories.)

O'Donnell will be taking Meredith Vieira's post, who will replace Katie Couric (who's heading off to anchor the CBS Evening News) on the Today show in the fall. During Friday's ceremony, Bergeron pointed out Vieira in the audience, calling the talk-show and game-show host the answer to the question, "Who wants to be a multimillionaire?"

Here's a rundown of the 2006 Daytime Emmys big winners:

Drama Series: General Hospital Talk Show: The Ellen DeGeneres Show Game Show: Jeopardy! Service Show: 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray Lead Actor, Drama Series: Anthony Geary, General Hospital Lead Actress, Drama Series: Kim Zimmer, Guiding Light Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Jordan Clarke, Guiding Light Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Gina Tognoni, Guiding Light Younger Actor, Drama Series: Tom Pelphrey, Guiding Light Younger Actress, Drama Series: Jennifer Landon, As the World Turns Achievement in Video Content for Nontraditional Delivery Platform: AOL, Live 8 on AOL Preschool Children's Series: Sesame Street Children's Series: Zoom Performer, Children's Series: Kevin Clash, Elmo on Sesame Street Performer, Children's Special: James McDaniel, Edge of America Talk-Show Host: Ellen DeGeneres, The Ellen DeGeneres Show Game-Show Host: Alex Trebek, Jeopardy! Service-Show Host: Suze Orman, Suze Orman: For the Young, Fabulous & Broke Drama Series Directing Team: General Hospital Drama Series Writing Team: The Young and the Restless Lifetime Achievement Award: Carroll Spinney