The 17th Daytime Emmy Awards were held on Thursday, June 28, 1990, on ABC, to commemorate excellence in American daytime programming between March 6, 1989 and March 5, 1990. The event aired from 3-5 p.m. EST, live from the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. It preempted General Hospital.

• All My Children
• Guiding Light
• Santa Barbara
• The Young and the Restless

• David Canary (Adam Chandler & Stuart Chandler, All My Children)
• Stephen Schnetzer (Cass Winthrop, Another World)
• A Martinez (Cruz Castillo, Santa Barbara)
• Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott, The Young and the Restless)
• Eric Braeden (Victor Newman, The Young and the Restless)

• Susan Lucci (Erica Kane, All My Children)
• Elizabeth Hubbard (Lucinda Walsh, As the World Turns)
• Finola Hughes (Anna Devane, General Hospital)
• Kim Zimmer (Reva Shayne, Guiding Light)
• Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor, The Young and the Restless)

• Robert Gentry (Ross Chandler, All My Children)
• Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin, General Hospital)
• Kristoff St. John (Adam Marshall, Generations)
• Jerry verDorn (Ross Marler, Guiding Light)
• Roscoe Born (Robert Barr, Santa Barbara)
• Henry Darrow (Rafael Castillo, Santa Barbara)
• Quinn Redeker (Rex Sterling, The Young and the Restless)

• Julia Barr (Brooke English, All My Children)
• Mary Jo Catlett (Mary Finnegan, General Hospital)
• Lynn Herring (Lucy Coe, General Hospital)
• Michelle Forbes (Sonni Carrera, Guiding Light)
• Jess Walton (Jill Abbott, The Young and the Restless)

• Andrew Kavovit (Paul Ryan, As the World Turns)
• Bryan Buffington (Bill Lewis, Guiding Light)

• Cady McClain (Dixie Cooney, All My Children)
• Liz Vassey (Emily Ann Sago, All My Children)
• Charlotte Ross (Eve Donovan, Days of Our Lives)
• Kimberly McCullough (Robin Scorpio, General Hospital)

• All My Children
• Guiding Light
• One Life to Live
• Santa Barbara
• The Young and the Restless

• All My Children
• As the World Turns
• Santa Barbara
• The Young and the Restless

• Jeopardy! - A Production of Merv Griffin Enterprises (Syn. by KingWorld)
• The Price Is Right - A Mark Goodson Production for CBS
• Wheel of Fortune - A Merv Griffin Production for CBS (Syn. by KingWorld)
• Win, Lose or Draw - A Kilne & Friends Production for NBC (Syn. by Buena Vista)

TIE

• Alex Trebek (Jeopardy!/Classic Concentration)
• Bob Barker (The Price Is Right)
• Pat Sajak (Wheel of Fortune)

• Patsy Cameron, Clive A. Smith, Tedd Anasti, Patrick Loubert, Michael Hirsh, David Geffen, Tim Burton, Stephen Hodgins, Robin Budd and Lenora Hume (Beetlejuice)
• Terence Harrison, Bruce Talkington, Carter Crocker, Ed Ghertner, Ken Kessel, Stephen Sustarsic, Karl Geurs and Mark Zaslove (The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh)
• Lane Raichert, Paul Sommer, Joseph Barbera, Don Lusk, Ray Patterson, Laren Bright, William Hanna and Bill Matheny (A Pup Named Scooby-Doo)
• Tad Stones, Alan Zaslove, Ken Koonce, John Kimball, Bob Zamboni, Rick Leon and Bryce Malek (Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers)

• Rich Harrison, Charlie King and Rick Hinson (DuckTales)
• Dean G. Manly, Jackson Schwartz, Ron Fedele, Al Breitenbach, Kenneth R. Burton and Steven D. Williams (Muppet Babies)
• Glenn A. Jordan, Greg Teall, John Walker, Steve Kirklys, Peter Cole and Ken Dahlinger (Pee-wee's Playhouse)
• Rob Kirkpatrick, Stephen Hudecki and Mac Holyoke (Beetlejuice)

• Reading Rainbow

• Mark Goodson

• CBS Dominates Daytime Emmy Field With 74 Nominations
• 17th Daytime Emmys Due
• Lucy tries for an Emmy
• Daytime Emmys were better than usual