TCA Update - TCA Awards

Saturday night the TCA honored its tube faves with a typically brief and lively ceremony at the Hilton. The Smothers Brothers opened the show with some of their trademark humor, commenting on their groundbreaking, hilarious, fractious, and eventually cancelled '60s CBS show with a retooled version of "Those Were the Days."

It was surreal watching some of the winners mingle at the pre- and post-show parties. It was like, "You got your '30 Rock' in my 'Mad Men'!"

Everyone was simultaneously in awe of, and slightly afraid of Jamie Hector, Marlo Stanfield on the "Wire." The Brothers Smother, who once offstage worked very blue indeed, also received genuflections throughout the night.

The collective goodwill in the room was especially palpable for "The Wire" as creator David Simon and his cast received a standing ovation when they accepted their Heritage Award.

Jon Hamm of "Mad Men" gave a funny speech in which he thanked "Keeping up with the Kardashians," "Flavor of Love," and "Rock of Love" "one, two, and apparently three" for making "Mad Men" look that much better by comparison. Co-star John Slattery added with a grin "I'm glad our message of smoking, drinking and whoring has registered with the TCA."

All of the winners gave lively speeches but special mention goes to Tina Fey, Paul Giamatti, and Tom Hanks- who won as a producer of HBO's "John Adams."

When picking up her Individual Achievment in Comedy trophy Fey thanked the TCA for helping to make "30 Rock" "the most successful cable show on broadcast television. It's a great time to be in broadcast television isn't it? It's exciting. It's like being in vaudeville in the '60s."

Giamatti, who won for his portrayal of "John Adams," confessed he had just quit smoking so he was admittedly squirrelly. Giamatti had been quit for ten years but started again on the set of "Adams," which he desribed in very colorful terms meant to connote "difficult." "So I'm halfway through the second (expletive) Continental Congress and I turn to Benjamin Franklin and say 'dude do you have a smoke? I don't care if it's menthol, I don't care what it is! I need a (expletive) smoke because the revolution's going terribly man!'"

Before giving his sincere thanks to the HBO brain trust, Hanks joked that one of the things they set out to accomplish was to "show a president and his wife, the first lady, doing the deed in bed. It is HBO after all."

Here are the winners:
PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: “Mad Men” (AMC)

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: “Mad Men” (AMC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: “30 Rock” (NBC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: “Mad Men” (AMC)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: “The War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick” (PBS)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING: “WordGirl” (PBS)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES & SPECIALS: “John Adams” (HBO)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Tina Fey, “30 Rock” (NBC)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Paul Giamatti, “John Adams” (HBO)

HERITAGE AWARD: “The Wire” (HBO)

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Lorne Michaels