Scenes from the Golden Globes, 2016 Edition

Above, best TV drama actor winner Jon Hamm mugs for my camera at the Golden Globes.

"Mr. Robot is golden," I wrote on January 10 while covering the annual Golden Globes Awards from inside the Beverly Hilton ballroom. "The USA Network drama, coming off critical acclaim for its freshman season, was one of the big winners Sunday night at the 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards. The show won for best drama, beating out a stellar list that included Game of Thrones (HBO), Narcos (Netflix), Outlander (Starz) and Empire (Fox)."

Read my full story here.

And below, a few more pics from the event.


Rachel Bloom wins for best TV comedy actress (The CW's "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend")


Supporting film actor winner Sylvester Stallone gets a standing ovation


Will Smith enters the ballroom


Selfie with winner Hamm


The Beverly Hilton ballroom


At the HBO after party, Harrison Ford and Rob Lowe have a chat

Behind the Scenes at the 67th Emmy Awards

Another year, another Emmys! Once again I was backstage for TV Guide Magazine covering the 67th annual event; here are a few of my most recent Emmy pieces:

Emmys Producer on His Tracy Morgan Surprise, HBO's Dominance, Spoilers and Why The Ratings Were Down

Emmy Ushers in a New Age with Game of Thrones, Veep Series Wins

Mad Men's Jon Hamm on Finally Winning the Emmy, and Letting Go of Don Draper

Andy Samberg Is Ready to Host the Primetime Emmys

And some pics from Emmy weekend 2015 (mostly from the press room backstage):


Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Jeffrey Tambor (Amazon's "Transparent")


Outstanding Sketch Variety Series winner Amy Schumer (Comedy Central's "Inside Amy Schumer")


Outstanding Actress in a Drama Viola Davis (ABC's "How to Get Away with Murder")



Outstanding Actor in a Drama Jon Hamm (AMC's "Mad Men")


The return of Tracy Morgan, who presented the final award


Outstanding Actress in a Comedy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus (HBO's "Veep") with Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy winner Allison Janney (CBS' "Mom")


Outstanding Talk/Variety series "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (Comedy Central)


Fierce rivals "Entertainment Tonight," "Access Hollywood" and "Extra" sit side-by-side in winner's row

The "Veep" table at HBO's Emmys afterparty


Jakob Dylan performs at Showtime's Saturday night party

The Night I Stared Down Jon Hamm

I stared down Jon Hamm.

It's one of those kinda weird career highlights, I suppose. On Friday night, while moderating the PaleyFest's "Mad Men" panel, an audience member asked the cast about the show's use of silence as a dramatic tool. I turned to Hamm, who decided to take the question literally and jokingly sit there -- staring back at me, in silence. I stared back. He stayed quiet. It quickly turned into a staring contest. "Oh, we're doing this!" I exclaimed.

A little bit of backstory: I never lose staring contests. For some reason, I don't blink. People tease me for my TV appearances, in which I never seem to blink. It's kind of weird. But handy when you're suddenly locked in a staring contest with Jon Hamm (who, I learned later, is also a bit of a master of the game). Seconds tick away. The audience starts to laugh, then cheer, as they realize that we're both in it to win it.

Finally, I ask the crowd, "Should we stop?" About a minute had passed, and they agreed the game was up. Still, I wasn't ready. But Hamm blinked -- and I moved on. Now, Jon Hamm being a superstar and me being a nobody, many of the write-ups about the panel declared him the winner. But I know the truth.

Of course, I should say it was more like a draw. Hamm knew it was time to move on. Later, "Mad Men" creator Matt Weiner told me that Hamm is the most competitive person he knows, and that he would have "punched you in the stomach to win." Who would have really won? I guess that will remain unanswered.

Still, it was quite a highlight among all of the panels I've done over the years. Everyone on stage was great, by the way: Elisabeth Moss is warm, funny and truly nice; Christina Hendricks was great; Vincent Kartheiser stole the show several times; so did veteran Robert Morse; Kiernan Shirpka, who grew up on "Mad Men," is wise beyond her years; and Jessica Pare is a pro.

Here are more pics (courtesy the Paley Center) from my evening with MAD MEN:



















A few recaps of the night:

Zap2It

Hitfix

Yahoo TV

Rotten Tomatoes

TV.com

Variety

Next up, I'm moderating "Community" at the PaleyFest this Wednesday.

We Found It, The Actual L.A. Location of Don Draper's Childhood Whorehouse

Pity young Dick Whitman/Don Draper. The childhood orphan wound up growing up in a Pennsylvania brothel with a stepmother who didn't love him. (At least he had the occasional Hershey's bar.) Season six of "Mad Men" featured several flashbacks to Don's teenage years in the whorehouse, leading to the final scene of the season finale -- in which Don (Jon Hamm) takes his kids to the home (now, years later, in complete disrepair, see above).

In real life, Don's childhood whorehouse is actually in the historic Los Angeles neighborhood of Angelino Heights, a popular spot for film shoots (particuarly period pieces like "Mad Men"). The neighborhood, located just south of Dodger Stadium/Chavez Ravine, is known for its collection of still-standing Victorian homes.



Don Draper's childhood whorehouse, located at the corner of Douglas and Carroll (that's the Google Maps photo above), was built in 1887; is six bedrooms/one bath; 3,160 square feet -- and valued at just under $600,000, according to Zillow. (That sounds remarkably low, given the size and the historic value.)

Here's the Zillow entry:



Note a few important differences: "Mad Men" added *a lot* of CGI to make the house look more rundown than it really is. Plus it's surrounded by apartment buildings in that digitally altered scene from the show, but in real life it's just more homes. (At least the power lines on the left appear to be authentic.) Interestingly, this publicity shot for the show, found on Richard Rushfield's Tumblr, appears to also be without those digital alterations:



How popular is this house as a film location? The Google Maps photo of the house happens to catch a shooting trailer and "No Parking" signs all around the house:



Meanwhile, Nicole Verhamme, who lives across the street from Don Draper's childhood whorehouse and goes by the handle @slowdowncoletrane, has chronicled the "Mad Men" shoots. Check out this pic she snapped from her window:



"Once again, woke up on the set of a Mad Men shooting, & yes, that IS Jon Hamm right in front of me...!!!!" she writes. (Pic by @slowdowncoletrane)

Obviously they did add some junk to the front yard, it's not nearly as nice as the yard in the Google Maps pic. But the house sure doesn't look this shabby:



And by the way, it goes without saying, but there are no smokestacks on the other side of the street, despite this shot:



We've marveled for years about how "Mad Men" has expertly managed to turn Los Angeles locations into mid-century New York (as well as Rome and other locales). Check out some of our past posts here.

How amazing was that Season 6 finale, by the way? It really sets the stage for perhaps a new, introspective Don Draper. And it also gives us plenty to think about as we wait for the show's final season next year. I spoke to creator Matt Weiner about the season ender; read that TV Guide Q&A here.