TCA: The good, the bad, and thanks for coming

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Having attended most of the panels over a two-week period at the Beverly Hilton, here's one man's view of the best and worst of TCA 2008:

Number of times an actor said "we're all a family. It's a pleasure to come to work every day": 4,567 (a slight exaggeration)

Number of questions asked about the dead "Deadwood" movies: 259 (not-so-slight exaggeration)

Amount of time it takes for critics to get from their seats to the afternoon cookie spread: 3.5 seconds

Best comeback: During the ABC showrunner sesh, the first question was addressed to "Grey's Anatomy" showrunner Shonda Rhimes (pictured left) about Katherine Heigl's comments on not having good material to submit for Emmy consideration. Immediately, "Lost" exec producer Damon Lindelof shot back: "Gee, I didn't this one coming."

Don't tease us like that: "Scrubs" showrunner Bill Lawrence on Sarah Chalke's role on "How I Met Your Mother," "They don't want me to say it, but she's the mom."

Maybe "30 Rock" isn't so fictional after all: "Saturday Night Live" guru Lorne Michaels suggested lighting fireworks above the GE building in Manhattan to celebrate NBC's 75th anniversary.

I like him even more now: Bob Schieffer, "I'd like to go right on record. Jon Stewart is my inspiration."

Number of times CBS topper Nina Tassler said she was "proud" in describing the shows in the Eye lineup: 8

Welcome to L.A. Now please weigh in: Diane Ruggiero, showrunner of "The Ex List" (pictured far right): "I used to be heavier by like 50 pounds and they actually weren't going to let me stay here. I would like go into a store and say, "Do you have a size 14?" And they're like "Bitch, you're in California. We don't carry a size 14. What are you talking about?"

Shouldn't Steve McPherson being involved in this conversation?: "Desperate Housewives" showrunner Marc Cherry, "I'm shutting down after seven (seasons)."

Dr. Ruth, it's not: Bonnie Hunt, who begins her daytime talkshow this fall: "I'm not going to talk about my sex life. I mean, we'd only maybe get half a show out of it."

But English accents are so much more fun: "Life" star Damian Lewis, a Brit, spoke to the critics as if he was U.S. born. When asked why, "I thought it was cooler to be an American."

No pressure now: CCH Pounder, on how "The Shield" ends: "I think it's the greatest finale ever that you'll ever see anywhere. Hands down. Blew my socks off."

They don't have cabs in New York?: Ricky Gervais, on why he's playing Madison Square Garden in his upcoming standup special for HBO: "I've just bought an apartment right near it so I can walk."

So I just sign checks?: Gervais, pictured left, on his role in the U.S. version of "The Office": "I just think I'm really good luck to them. It's just not my baby. I'm very proud of it. I think I've done an amazing job, and I'm, you know, an executive producer, whatever that means."

High praise, indeed: Lawrence Guyot, a civil rights activist on the TV One special "Murder in Black and White": "This is the greatest documentary you have ever dealt with."

We will meet again: "Talk Soup" host Joel McHale on working with, and showing clips of, Danny Bonaduce: "When I was watching "The Partridge Family" in '77, I said, 'Somehow that Danny guy and I are going to be intermingled. Somehow we will cross paths.'"

Haven't we done this before?: Jay Leno impersonated a reporter at the NBC panel, a few days after Jimmy Kimmel had done the same thing for ABC.

Forget McCain-Obama, this is the debate I want to see: Fox News' Chris Wallace on Keith Olbermann: "The fact is that there was something of a firewall on Fox, where you had the straight news reporters anchoring the election coverage week after week. Then you've got someone like Keith Olbermann who was delivering 10-minute screeds against President Bush, telling him to shut the hell up, telling Hillary Clinton to get out of the campaign."

Geez, I wonder which is worse?: When asked how his family reacted to him playing a serial killer, "Dexter" star Michael C. Hall said his family responded this way, "As long as you're not kissing a black man."