• Rick Porter chatted with some of the "Modern Family" scribes about the Emmy hopes of the freshman hit as well as the snub of a TV vet: "'Sadly, the unsung hero is Ed O'Neill,' writer/co-exec producer Dan O'Shannon says. 'He's just so great. I think some of the stuff that's really great about him is sometimes maybe overlooked in the bigger comedy of the other characters. But he just really holds the show down.' Adds fellow co-EP Bill Wrubel, 'He never feels the need to be the center of a scene. He's happy to kind of just do his line and react. His generosity on stage was really eye-opening. And he's super-fun to write for, because his delivery is just perfect every time.'" Co-creator Steve Levitan endorsed the idea of an ensemble Emmy: "I think that would be incredible. I think it's a great idea, and I love that award [at the SAG Awards]. ... It is an ensemble, and it's very hard to pick out who the standouts are." ZAP 2 IT

• As Steve Pond observes, "Not many Emmy voters will be roaming the aisles or cramming into the halls and meeting rooms at Comic-Con this week. But Emmy nominees will certainly be there, lobbying not for votes but for the viewers who can turn their shows into pop-culture phenomena and by doing so, just maybe attract the attention of awards voters." Says Steve, "you will find a full contingent of Emmy-nominated shows making the trip, starting with 'True Blood' and encompassing everything from 'Dexter,' 'Lost' and 'Glee' to 'Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil' (Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program) and 'Human Target' (Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music)." THE ODDS

• Ricky Gervais reveals he has been asked to present at the upcoming Emmy Awards. Writing on his blog, the wry comedian says, "Got asked to hand out an Emmy. Nice. I'm there anyway as I'm nominated for the animation and 'The Office,' so that would be perfect. Even if I don't win I'll still get to go back stage and have a sneaky beer. No beer in the theatre! Unbelievable! It's not in Utah for ****'s sake. Still mustn't grumble." DIGITAL SPY

• Rick Porter reports that "Mad Men" -- which begins its fourth season Sunday -- could be on cablecaster AMC for another two years. However, "the catch, and it's a pretty big one, is that Lionsgate only has creator Matthew Weiner under contract through this season. Variety notes that the studio wants to get a sense of how much AMC will be willing to pay for the show before starting up negotiations with Weiner." ZAP 2 IT

• Nellie Andreeva explores the relationship between when a program airs and how well it does with the Emmy Awards. She notes, "'Mad Men' won multiple awards including the top drama series statuette at the Emmys in the past 2 years. Both times, a new season of the show launched just before the final voting phase, with fresh episodes airing throughout. In the year before 'Mad Men''s first Emmy appearance, 'The Sopranos' won best drama series. The series was also fresh in voters’ minds, having concluded its run with the much-talked about finale in June." DEADLINE

• Lisa de Moraes puts the latest contretemps about Conan O'Brien in context. Deon Cole, one of the Emmy-nominated team of writers on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," tweeted "NOT NBC but the powers that be has sent us an email saying that the category we are nominated for will not be televised this year! really?" However, as Lisa notes, "It's a pity Cole is so far behind in reading his guild's memos. Because, in the days leading up to last year's Emmy broadcast, the writers and directors guilds pounded out a deal with the TV academy in which they agreed that the writing and the directing competitions for best variety, musical or comedy series (aka 'VMC's') and VMC specials (think 'Kennedy Center Honors') would take turns being part of the televised portion of the two-night Emmy ceremony. The academy did this as part of its effort to trim the Emmy TV show's mind-numbing number of awards. Last year's Emmycast included the races for best writing and for best directing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Series so this year the writers and directors who worked on VMC Specials are getting their turn, when NBC broadcast's this year's Emmy show on Aug. 29." THE WASHINGTON POST

• Thomas Peter details the Tony-winning talent associated with the HBO pilot "The Miraculous Year." John Logan -- who just picked up the best play prize for "Red" -- penned the script about a self-destructive Broadway composer while the music will be penned by Adam Guettel, who won a Tony Award for his score to "The Light in the Piazza." Joining Tony champ Norbert Leo Butz as the troubled tunesmith will be Tony winners Frank Langella, Patti LuPone and Eddie Redmayne. And, oh yes, Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow will direct the pilot. PLAYBILL

• Ten theater veterans will begin three-year terms on the Tony Awards nominating committee this season, including three-time directing nominee Michael Grief, two-time acting nominee Andre de Shields and Moises Kaufman -- a directing nominee for "I Am My Own Wife" and a nominee for his play "33 Variations." Approximately one-third of the roster of 30 nominators rotates off each year. TONY AWARDS

• Anne Thompson previews the lineup for the 67th edition of the Venice Film Festival, reporting that "not completed in time for Cannes, Darren Aronofsky’s 'Black Swan' will make its world debut as the opening night film at the Venice Film Festival, which runs on the Lido from Sept. 1 through Sept. 11." And, as Anne writes, "other American films expected to debut in Venice include Sofia Coppola’s 'Somewhere,' Julian Schnabel’s 'Miral,' Ben Affleck’s 'The Town' and Al Pacino’s 'Wilde Salome.' Weinstein Co’s U.K. entry 'The King’s Speech,' starring Colin Firth as King George VI, may also make the Venice line-up." THOMPSON ON HOLLYWOOD

• Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences received an e-mail today asking them to "Save the Date" of Nov. 13 for the Governors' Awards to be bestowed. In late August, the academy will announce who'll be honored at the event.

• Lou Lumenick reveals, "Alex Gibney's 'Untitled Eliot Spitzer Project'' finally has a title, 'Client 9' after the disgraced former governor's nom de john. The new moniker, and little else popped up in a tiny ad in yesterday's Village Voice listing two daily showings to meet the Oscar-qualification requirements for documentaries." And, as Lou notes, "this is nothing unusual; there have been a flurry of such low-profile public showings before the Aug. 31 deadline, mostly at out-of-the-way venues like the Coliseum on W. 178th St. ('Teenage Paparazzo,' 'Monica and David'') and the Village East on Second Avenue ('Garbo, The Spy')." Says Lou, "What's slightly unusual is that 'Client 9'' is showing not in a tiny auditorium but the 585-seat AMC Loews 72nd Street East, a former showplace venue that used to be known as the Tower East." NEW YORK POST

Top photo: "Modern Family" poster. Credit: ABC.

Middle photo: "Mad Men" poster. Credit: AMC.

Bottom photo: Natalie Portman in "Black Swan." Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures.

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• Hometown favorite Justin Bieber was a big winner at Sunday's Much Music Awards in Toronto. These kudos are the Canadian equivalent of the MTV VMAs. Bieber won for best video by a Canadian ("One More Time"), favorite video ("Baby"), and favorite new artist. "It's my first award, and to have it in Canada is just amazing," Bieber told the crowd. "I want to say thank you to all my fans who got me in this position." Teen queen Miley Cyrus, who also performed and presented, won best international video for "Party in the U.S.A" which she dedicated it to her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus. NY DAILY NEWS

•  Alan Sepinwall has been busy as of late compiling his wish list for the upcoming Emmy Awards nominations. While he was able to winnow the supporting races to a half dozen would-be contenders, he admits, "lead drama actor, on the other hand, was a real bear, so much so that I'm actually going to write a few words about some of the people I just couldn't find room for on the list, and why. You may not agree with those rationalizations, and there may be times when I don't, either, but I had to find some way to cut this puppy down to six names, and these were the reasons that made sense to me as I did it." Among those actors he dropped: "Lost" leading man Matthew Fox and Kyle Chandler of "Friday Night Lights." HIT FIX

• Popeater began a Facebook campaign to boost the profile of "Friday Night Lights" star quarterback Zach Gifford and land him a supporting actor nomination at the Emmy Awards. Mike Hess, who writes for this offshoot of AOL, was impressed by Gifford's performance in a recent episode where his character comes to terms with the death of his father. For Hess, "Gifford ran the gamut of emotions in a way that few actors as young as he is (or older, even) ever could. Brutal sadness, confusion, tension-cutting laughter: They were all there, and all executed in perfect real-life harmony." Monday marks the end of the nomination phase with the results announced July 8. POPEATER

• One week before its limited run on Broadway ends, the producers of the Tony-winning best play "Red" announced it had recouped its $2.25 million investment. This two-hander about abstract artist Mark Rothko and his assistant is by John Logan, who was Oscar-nominated for scripting best picture champ "Gladiator" and best pic nominee "The Aviator." The West End transfer of "Red" won five of its other six Tony bids -- featured actor (Eddie Redmayne), director (Michael Grandage), lighting design (Neil Austin), scenic design (Christopher Oram) and sound design (Adam Cork). PLAYBILL

• Greg Ellwood recaps the 30 bold-faced names who impressed the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce enough to receive stars on the Walk of Fame. "This year's group will feature the first 'family' induction with Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd and Laura Dern all laying down their stars at the same time. Other intriguing nominees include Oprah Winfrey, 'American Idol' creator Simon Fuller, Tina Fey, Penelope Cruz and The Muppets. In general, all the nominees have five years to set an induction date or the honor will, um, 'expire.' All honorees are selected in one of five categories: Motion Pictures, Television, Recording, Radio and Live Performance/Theatre. No radio inductees made the cut this year." HIT FIX

• Nominees Wayne Brady (“Let’s Make a Deal”) and Alex Trebek (“Jeopardy”) along with 2003 supporting actress champ Vanessa Marcil (“General Hospital”) have been added to the list of presenters at Sunday's Daytime Emmy Awards. The 37th annual edition of this kudocast airs live on CBS from Las Vegas and will be hosted by Regis Philbin. TV BY THE NUMBERS

• Kraig Becker reports that the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove" is "stirring up controversy in Japan, where several theaters, including one on an U.S. Army base, have removed it from their screens, while others decide if they should risk showing it all. Last week, three theaters pulled the film, which depicts the annual dolphin slaughter in a Japanese village, after they received a number of protests and angry phone calls from nationalist political groups. That caused 23 other theaters to reconsider showing the movie as well." GADLING

• "Mad Men" returns to AMC on July 25 for a fourth season. The two-time Emmy winner for best drama series is likely to contend again this year for its third season. Andrea Reiher analyzes the first promotional poster for the upcoming episodes. "Rather than last year's image of Don Draper calmly smoking a cigarette amidst rising water, this one shows a solo Don Draper staring contemplatively out the window of his empty office. At the end of Season 3, Don left Sterling Cooper, the ad agency he has worked for since the show's inception, to strike out on his own. He also agreed to give his unhappy housewife Betty a divorce." ZAP2IT

• "True Blood" has barely begun its third season on HBO, but the paycaster has already renewed it for a fourth year. This news is not so surprising when you consider that Sunday's premiere drew 5.1 million viewers. That was up 38% from last season, which is the one in the running for this year's Emmy Awards. The first season of the show was snubbed last year despite Anna Paquin winning a Golden Globe and the show contending there as well.

Top photo: Justin Bieber at the 2009 Much Music Awards. Credit: Much Music.

Middle photo: "Red" playbill. Credit: Golden Theater.

Bottom photo: "Mad Men" poster. Credit: AMC.

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"Life has been good for the Tony Award winners at the box office," reported Crain's New York Business on Friday. "The two most important award-winners, 'Memphis' — which won best musical — and 'La Cage aux Folles' — best musical revival — had big boosts in ticket sales.

"A spokeswoman for 'Memphis' said ticket sales for the show have increased a whopping 300% since [Tonys] night, though she wouldn't release a dollar amount. 'La Cage' sold more than $250,000 worth of tickets the day after winning the Tony, more than twice the usual daily figure." The previous week, "La Cage" sold $642,139. That's about 70% of capacity. 

Photos: "Memphis." Credit: Shubert Theatre. "La Cage aux Folles"  Credit: Longacre Theatre

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"Memphis" won best musical at Sunday's Tony Awards and three of its seven other bids -- score (Joe DiPietro, David Bryan), book (DiPietro) and orchestrations (Daryl Waters, Bryan). This tuner about the segregated south of the 1950s was the only traditional book musical in the top race this year. The other three contenders -- "American Idiot," "Fela" and "Million Dollar Quartet" -- all used existing songs to tell their stories. Each of those shows won at least one award as did several of the musical revivals in a season that failed to produce a juggernaut like last year's "Billy Elliot," which danced off with 10 Tonys.

"Fela" won choreography (Bill T. Jones), costume design (Marina Draghici) and sound design (Robert Kaplowitz), while "American Idiot" took lighting design (Kevin Adams) and scenic design (Christine Jones). Levi Kreis won the featured actor Tony Award for his portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in "Million Dollar Quartet."

The second rialto remounting of the 1984 Tony-winning tuner "La Cage aux Folles" won the revival race just as the first had in 2005. "La Cage" was tied with "Fela" at a leading 11 nominations apiece but managed just two other wins besides this -- lead actor (Douglas Hodge) and director (Terry Johnson).

Hodge was widely expected to win a Tony to go along with the Olivier he has for this same performance, as rival nominee Sean Hayes ("Promises, Promises") acknowledged during his stellar turn as host of the Tonycast. However, Catherine Zeta-Jones was less of a sure thing to win lead actress, as evidenced by her shocked reaction. The Oscar champ ("Chicago") won for her work in the first rialto revival of the 1973 top tuner "A Little Night Music." On Friday, the Welsh actress was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (one step down from a Dame) by Queen Elizabeth II in her birthday honors list.

Four journalists tied for achieving the best score (21) when predicting the 26 competitive races at the Tony Awards. Congrats! And thanks to you all for sharing your predix with us.

Brian Lipton (TheaterMania) — 21

Paul Sheehan (The Envelope) — 21

David Sheward (Back Stage) — 21

Matt Windman (amNY) — 21

Wayman Wong (New York Daily News) — 20

Robert Diamond (Broadway World) — 19

Andy Humm (GayUSA, Gay City News) — 19

Tom O'Neil (Gold Derby, The Envelope) — 19

Martin Denton (NYTheatre.com) — 18

Lane Brown (New York Magazine Vulture) — 17

Susan Haskins (Theater Talk) — 17

Harry Haun (Playbill) — 17

Thom Geier (Entertainment Weekly) — 16

Leonard Jacobs (Clyde Fitch Report) — 16

Melissa Rose Bernardo (Entertainment Weekly) — 14

RELATED:

Pundits split over close Tonys races: See experts' predictions

Photo: American Theatre Wing

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"Red" -- the John Logan two-hander about abstract artist Mark Rothko and his assistant -- was the big winner at Sunday's Tony Awards, prevailing in six of its seven bids: best play, featured actor (Eddie Redmayne), director (Michael Grandage), lighting design (Neil Austin), scenic design (Christopher Oram) and sound design (Adam Cork). Logan picked up an Oscar nomination for his part in penning the original script for 2000 best picture champ "Gladiator" and was a nominee again in that same category four years later for "The Aviator."

The only race "Red" lost was best actor as Alfred Molina was edged out by two-time Oscar champ Denzel Washington ("Glory," "Training Day") who won his first Tony Award for the first rialto revival of "Fences." Washington prevailed in the part of Troy, a onetime baseball star turned sanitation worker who struggles to reconcile his past and present. When James Earl Jones originated this role in the 1987 production, he took home the second of his two Tonys.

The 1987 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner by August Wilson also won best revival of a play and a second Tony for Oscar nominee Viola Davis ("Doubt") as Troy's long-suffering wife, Rose. That part won Mary Alice the featured actress Tony for the original production but producers petitioned to boost Davis to the lead race. Davis won the featured actress Tony in 2001 for another Wilson work, "King Hedley II."

While Redmayne repeated his Olivier Award-winning performance when making his Broadway debut in "Red," Scarlett Johansson was new to the stage when she appeared in "A View From the Bridge." The four-time Golden Globe nominee won her first major awards hardware for her featured performance as a lovesick teenager in this third rialto remounting of the Arthur Miller classic. Among those she edged out was stage vet Jessica Hecht as her aunt.

Denzel Washington and Viola Davis spent some quality time with us journos in the press room at the Tony Awards, but, unfortunately, I could only grab a few minutes of their comments. A security goon ordered me to shut off my camera as soon as I started. That was absurd, because other media outlets were shooting video. I pressed a fight with the goon and a PR flack in the back of the room and, by the time I prevailed, Denzel and Viola were almost done talking. At least I caught a bit of what they said.

Last night at the Tonys, the security chaps were out of control. Several of them barked at me, ordered me to halt and not enter areas where I was cleared to enter, according to my press pass, which was in clear view, dangling from my neck. They were an army of bullies desperate to assert their authority despite not knowing the rules they were hired to enforce.

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Check out the madness backstage at the Tony Awards while Denzel Washington, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Viola Davis pose for the paparazzi.

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Here is a complete list of winners of the Tony Awards bestowed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday night.

BEST MUSICAL
"Memphis"

BEST PLAY
"Red"

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Douglas Hodge, "La Cage aux Folles"

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Catherine Zeta-Jones, "A Little Night Music"

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
"Fences"

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
"La Cage aux Folles" 

BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY
Denzel Washington, "Fences" 

BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Viola Davis, "Fences"

BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Eddie Redmayne, "Red"

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN PLAY
Scarlett Johansson, "A View From the Bridge" 

BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Levi Kreis, "Million Dollar Quartet"

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Katie Finneran, "Promises, Promises"

In previous years, the media covering the Tony Awards was stationed up in the glamorous Rainbow Room atop 30 Rock while the ceremony took place across the street at Radio City Music Hall. This year we were moved across Rockefeller Center to a sports club. That means Tony winners must walk past gym equipment (top photo) to get to the press room (middle photo — arrow marks The Envelope's great seats). Bottom photo: What the journos really care about — the free grub. (On the menu are pita-wrapped sandwiches, pasta salad, cheese squares and fruit.)

Photos: Tom O'Neil for the L.A. Times

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Stars still shine at rain-soaked Tony Awards

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