Ryan Murphy at Peabody luncheon: "It's about Madonna"

On one of the TV industry's busiest days of the year, the 69th annual George Foster Peabody Awards were held at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, where journos headed to and coming from the NBC and Fox upfront presentations ducked in and out of the press area.

"Glee" co-creator/exec producer Ryan Murphy (pictured left) received a warm welcome. "I believe it's about a lot of things," he said of his award-winning skein. "Mostly it's about Madonna. Seriously, it's about diversity and supporting diversity, and we thank you very much." His actors were on stage across town just a few hours later for Fox's upfront at the Beacon Theater.

Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes" began his thank you speech for the show's award by saying "I'm sorry" - "I feel like I should start by apologizing to you all for giving you one more thing to worry about," the producer laughed.

The winning segment, "Sabotaging the System," discusses the possibility of computer viruses destroying power plants.

Perhaps the biggest laughs went to Sesame Street's Elmo, who upstaged his producer simply by nodding along with his remarks.

"Thank you to the University of Georgia and to Mr. Peabody," the Muppet said. "Elmo loves you. Bye!"

Elmo also got friendly with some of the other honorees, like "Glee's" Jane Lynch (pictured below).

-- Sam Thielman