TCA Press Tour Notes: TCA Awards

The Television Critics Association's biannual gathering of TV reporters and critics has begun once again as the cable and broadcast networks along with PBS present their upcoming programming for the fall and beyond. And once again Matthew and Joanna have been kind enough to let me carve out some "Viewer Discretion" space for my dispatches from the west coast.

Saturday night the TCA Awards were handed out in the ballroom of the Langham Huntington Hotel (above) in Pasadena, where the tour is being held this year.

The mercifully superbrief ceremony -hosted this year by Chelsea Handler- is untelevised and pleasantly unstuffy. It's always fun to watch the stars and creative types mingle with one another at the pre- and post-show cocktail parties.

Highlights of the awards show included:

- "Breaking Bad's Individual Achievement Award in Drama winner Bryan Cranston hilariously and graciously riffing for five minutes on everything from his fellow nominees to ribbing the "Mad Men." "I want to be sincere," he said. "I just can't." Of his cast mates he said "I wish they could be up here with me, but they didn't award it to them."

-Individual Achievement Award in Comedy winner Jim Parsons saying he felt like he owed everyone dinner.

-Career Achievement winner Betty White demurely, of course, saying that if she didn't appreciate the award so much she might suggest what a particular critic of her early work could do with it.

Party Tidbits: The members of the "True Blood" cast that were in attendance - including Sam Trammell, Michelle Forbes, Nelsan Ellis, and Rutina Wesley- were very popular among the press and other stars. The close-knit "Big Bang Theory" gang clustered together and yukked it up. The AMC crews from "Breaking Bad" and "Mad Men" seemed chummy. And a phalanx of Cylons including Grace Park (Boomer), Tricia Helfer (Number 6), and Michael Hogan (Col. Tigh) drew a lot of attention. Most of that attention was directed at the perfectly sculpted and attired Park and Helfer.

"Mad Men"'s Jon Hamm was as charming and, yes, good-looking as ever.

I talked to a few folks at the party including Trammell, Forbes, and Wesley who were all taken aback by the reception to the show.

Forbes, who is statuesque in person, talked up "Durham County," a Canadian police drama that is being imported to the U.S. via the Ion network on September 7. She said she signed on to play the villainous, ravenous, devious Maryanne Forrester on "True Blood" because she couldn't turn down a scene in which she was naked in the road with a pig.

"Mad Men"'s John Slattery, a Newton native, joked about sending a private investigator after Zeljko Ivanek, last year's winner for the Best Supporting Actor, Drama Emmy. Slattery is again up for the award and in his Roger Sterling-like way unruffled about it. He got the news while walking his dog. We're pretty sure his money is on William Hurt from "Damages."

Lastly, here's the first installment of this year's...

Tall, Not Tall: It's always slightly shocking to see actors in person since they are often more diminutive then they appear on screen. Jon Hamm, unshockingly tall; the aforementioned Forbes, willowy and tall; Jim Parsons, a charming beanpole; Noah Wyle, on hand to accept the Heritage Award for "ER," tall; Sam Trammell, not short, but not tall; Johnny Galecki, not tall, but adorable; his co-star Kaley Cuoco, also petite in every way; Grace Park and Tricia Helfer- perhaps it's Cylon technology or maybe just high heels- but these ladies are definitely tall. (For reference purposes your spotter is 5'6".)

Here's the list of winners:

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: “Battlestar Galactica” (Syfy)

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: “True Blood” (HBO)

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

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: “The Alzheimer’s Project” (HBO)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING: “Yo Gabba Gabba” (Nickelodeon)

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

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad” (AMC)

HERITAGE AWARD: “ER” (NBC)

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Betty White

(A quick apology for the delay in posting. A miraculous yet tedious technical problem is at the root. Apparently, mac addresses are not like snowflakes after all.)