Click through for the full live-blog of the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards…
8:02 p.m. ET. Jack McBrayer is the first person in the crowd to announce that he’s An Actor.
8:03 p.m. Julianna Margulies is the first person in the crowd to blow her line pronouncing that she’s An Actor.
8:03 p.m. Rico Rodriguez is young and he’s also… An Actor.
8:03 p.m. Melissa Leo and Julia Stiles are An Actors.
8:03 p.m. Wow. Our first Betty White sighting only three minutes into the telecast. But no standing ovation. “Put your arms around me baby,” Alec Baldwin purrs to her. “Aren’t we lucky to be in this business and still be working at our age,” Betty purrs right back.
8:04 p.m. The night’s first award is Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series. The winner is… Steve Buscemi, adding to a haul that included a Golden Globe earlier in the month. Michael C. Hall seems displeased. “Wow. I was giving an award by Alec and Betty White,” gushes Buscemi. Added to the Golden Globe Drama Series win and Martin Scorsese’s DGA Awards win last night, “Boardwalk Empire” seems to have a wee bit of awards momentum, eh? Buscemi recalls his disastrous first audition for Brian DePalma on “The Untouchables.” He begs Scorsese to return to direct again on “Boardwalk Empire.” He ends with, “I love all of you. I love actors.”
8:09 p.m. Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo want us to watch clips from “The Kids Are All Right.” I want to use this chance to get this live-blog posted and tweeted…
8:10 p.m. Eva Longoria and Cory Monteith are presenting together. Or, as I like to call this, “The Single Best Moment of Cory Monteith’s Life.” The SAG Awards director, though, is trying desperately to keep us from seeing more of Eva Longoria’s top-half than she wants us to see. But if she wants us to see everything?
8:11 p.m. They’re presenting Outstanding Female Actor in a Drama Series. The winner is… Julianna Margulies. She has lots and lots of SAG Awards already. “I’m incredibly moved,” she says, calling this “the role of a lifetime.” Suck it, “Ghost Ship.” She thanks the Teamsters for digging the show out of the snow in New York City. Awwww. Teamsters. She gets a laugh by thanking her in-laws and she cracks a little thanking her hubby. Awwww.
8:19 p.m. TNT’s “Chat with Angie Harmon about the SAG Awards on Twitter” campaign is really an abuse of the social media.
8:20 p.m. Sofia Vergara is pretty. They’ve paired her with Taye Diggs, who is one of the few actors with sufficient prettiness not to be swallowed up by Sofia Vergara’s prettiness. They’re presenting Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series. It feels way too early for an award that this theoretically important. The winner is… Sofia Vergara. Oh. Wait. Distracted. The winner is… “Boardwalk Empire.” Boy. I guess we need to write up those “Sorry, AMC… HBO is back” stories. Steve Buscemi begins the cast’s speech. But everybody is actually busy wondering how tall Paz de la Huerta is and how she fit into that brown, sparkling dress…
8:24 p.m. The freaking White Shadow is the President of the Screen Actors Guild.
8:26 p.m. Ken Howard also thanks The Teamsters. UNION NOW.
8:26 p.m. Our next presenter is President Palmer. But Dennis Haysbert is also on-hand through his long-standing connection with All State. He’s introducing a long montage of commercials.
8:28 p.m. This is very weird. Which products got to have their names featured in this montage and which commercials go unidentified? And several of these commercials are animated or feature animals. What does that have to do with SAG? That was as bad as “Undercover Boss.”
8:29 p.m. Jason Bateman is an odd choice to present Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Is that reflective of his recent work in “Couple’s Resort” or that Jennifer Aniston/sperm pseudo-comedy? Anyway, the winner is… Melissa Leo. Following her Golden Globe win, she’s cementing her position as an Oscar favorite at this point. Me, I’d have been rooting for Amy Adams or Hailee Steinfeld or to see Mila Kunis up on stage… But let’s see if Melissa Leo makes another crazy speech.
8:32 p.m. “I’m much better when I have my words written for me,” Leo begins. She gives a shout out to The Seven Sisters from “The Fighter,” six of whom are in the crowd tonight. “Unions make this country great because it gives a voice to the working people,” Leo declares. UNION NOW!!!!
8:37 p.m. Oh look. It’s the same car insurance commercial we saw in the SAG Awards montage, a commercial for the same company that also employs the actor who presented the montage. SELL-OUT NOW!
8:39 p.m. Amy Poehler begins with a confusing description of a perfect sandwich, which somehow relates the the nominees for Outstanding Male Actor in a Comedy Series. Note that the Screen Actors Guild is a voting body that doesn’t think Jim Parsons is one of the five best comedic actors on TV. I find this odd… Anyway, the winner is… Alec Baldwin. Silly me. That’s what I get for predicting somebody other than five-time winner Alec Baldwin would get a sniff from SAG. They loooooove him.
8:41 p.m. “I don’t know what to say. This is ridiculous,” Baldwin says. He then thanks the Teamsters. It’s now becoming a theme: If you don’t want to get buried in the end zone at Giants Stadium, thank the flippin’ Teamsters.
8:42 p.m. Jon Hamm is presenting Outstanding Female Actor in a Comedy Series, jesting that he is one of the funniest actresses working in television today.
8:44 p.m. The winner is… BETTY WHITE. Well, if the Screen Actors Guild wanted to utterly abandon all semblance of credibility… Mission Accomplished!
8:45 p.m. It takes Betty three hours to make it to the stage. “I cannot believe this. And they had to get the old broad up the stairs and that’s not easy,” Betty White says, calling this the biggest surprise she’s ever had in this business. She mentions she’s 89 and gets a loud cheer. “You didn’t applaud when I turned 40,” White cracks.
8:47 p.m. What? I’m supposed to care about anything else that happens tonight? Sigh. Whatever. Clips from “The King’s Speech.” I’m gonna go get a beer.
8:49 p.m. Ladies Love Cool James is paired with the maniacally tweeting Angie Harmon. They’re presenting Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series. And I swear that if “Hot in Cleveland” wins this, I’m going to quit this live-blog.
8:51 p.m. The winner is… “Modern Family.” Whew. I’m not loving “Modern Family” this season, but I can get behind this win. “This is one that I think we all wanted,” said Ed O’Neill, chosen speaker for the “Modern Family” ensemble. He keeps it short.
8:58 p.m. Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman — or 50 percent of the Hot Jewish Actress Mt. Rushmore — are now on the stage. They’re presenting “Black Swan” clips. Or, in this case, the “Black Swan” trailer.
9:00 p.m. What’s a Tim Conway? Oh, about 200 pounds. I kid! Tim Conway is presenting Ernest Borgnine with SAG’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This is sure to be odd.
9:02 p.m. Early takeaway from Conway’s introduction: Ernest Borgnine is old.
9:05 p.m. It’s hard to imagine that in 2011, an Ernest Borgnine would win an Oscar for a movie like “Marty.”
9:08 p.m. This tribute is going on forever and I still can’t find an Ernest Borgnine/”Simpsons” clip. That was not a very good tribute film… But here comes “Red” co-star Morgan Freeman.
9:10 p.m. Nobody mentioned it, but you’ll always be “‘Single Guy’ star Ernest Borgnine” to me…
9:10 p.m. Standing ovation for Ernest Borgnine. Yes, 90 percent in the crowd are probably thinking, “Am I really giving Ernest Borgnine a standing ovation?” Indeed you are!
9:12 p.m. Borgnine keeps it short. Kudos, Ernest Borgnine!
9:18 p.m. Time for Al Pacino to get his “You Don’t Know Jack” SAG Award. Are we somewhat tired of Pacino winning awards for this thing? Maybe.
9:19 p.m. OK. Fine. Let’s give it some credibility: For Outstanding Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries, the winner is… Al Pacino. I’d have given it to Edgar Ramirez. But I don’t get a vote. Al Pacino is elsewhere tonight. That moves things along quickly.
9:20 p.m. The stars of “Social Network” present the trailer for “Social Network.” Armie Hammer is tall. Andrew Garfield is British. Justin Timberlake is charming. Jessie Eisenberg is uncomfortable. And this trailer is basically identical to the “Social Network” trailer that ran during the last commercial break.
9:22 p.m. As inevitable as Al Pacino’s win was, Claire Danes’ win for “Temple Grandin” is every bit as inevitable. We reach the end of this long awards cycle and this whole thing becomes anti-climactic.
9:22 p.m. Again, let’s treat it like there’s suspense. For Outstanding Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries, the winner is… Claire Danes. I think Susan Sarandon deserves an award for best, “Oh, I’m so shocked Claire Danes won an award” face. The actual Temple isn’t in the crowd tonight, which means Danes got to the stage far faster than normal. Ha! I love Danes making a “Little Women” reference regarding category-mates Sarandon and Winona Ryder. Awesome.
9:26 p.m. How did Hilary Swank get the honor of introducing this year’s SAG Necrology? They’ve somewhat muted the audience reactions, so we don’t know who’s winning the Necrology Applause-Meter. Patricia O’Neal is definitely in the running, though. Also, Lena Horne, Rue McLanhan, Tony Curtis and Dennis Hopper.
9:35 p.m. Only important awards to go. Forget that TV trash! MOVIES!
9:35 p.m. Susan Sarandon is presenting Outstanding Male Actor in a Supporting Role to… another “Little Women” co-star! Christian Bale. The real Dickie Eklund comes up on-stage to join Bale. “I love what we do. It’s so bloody silly at time,” Bale says. He’s pretty much got the Oscar in the bag now. After his excitable Golden Globes speech, Bale is very much under control tonight.
9:40 p.m. And what a coincidence… Here are Amy Adams and Mark Wahlberg to present a trailer for “The Fighter.” Wahlberg apologizes for talking too much and making the show run long, but he adds, “It’s not like the DGA Awards. It’s not five hours.”
9:42 p.m. Time to start rushing along, because Marky Mark wasn’t kidding. Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role is… Natalie Portman. The coronation continues!
9:45 p.m. “Wow, thank you so much, Jeff Bridges,” Portman says. “I’ve been working since I was 11 years old and SAG has taken care of me,” Portman adds. UNION NOW! This is a very restrained speech. You can almost sense Portman whispering to herself, “Don’t giggle. Don’t giggle. Don’t giggle.” [Portman is also the first performer of the night to get bleeped. There’s much less alcohol at this show than the Golden Globes.]
9:51 p.m. Hustle! Hustle! Here’s Nicole Kidman… Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role. Go! Go! Go!
9:53 p.m. The winner is… Colin Firth. So much for upsets on the Movie side. We’ve just set the Golden Globes winners in stone. Nice to see Jeff Bridges standing for Firth. The “King’s Speech” star says that he remembers the pride of first receiving his SAG Card. “Looking out at who’s here, I’d like to thank security for letting me into the building,” he cracks.
9:56 p.m. OK. Here’s the big one, presented by Santa Claus. The ensemble winner is… “The King’s Speech.” Wow. Does anybody remember a couple weeks ago when it seemed like “The Social Network” had the Oscar in the bag? Suddenly it has become a “King’s Speech” rout.
9:57 p.m. “It shouldn’t be called the SAG Award. It should be called The Uplifting Award,” says Geoffrey Rush. He does a good job of thanking nearly every available actor in the film, as if trying to prove that “The King’s Speech” is an ensemble, not the Firth/Rush Show.
That’s it for this SAG Awards live-blog. Thanks for following along!