Brad Pitt, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson at No. 8 (PMc)

Last night the Cinema Society and Men's Health presented Brad Pitt's latest feature (besides those Chanel ads), a dark shoot-em-up called Killing Them Softly. The after party, held at No. 8, was jammed back full of celebs, though Mr. Pitt, Harvey Weinstein, Jack McBrayer, and Amy Adams remained secluded from the whole ordeal by two large security guards who literally linked arms to stop the crush of people from trying to wiggle their way into the VIP area.

Besides being an odd hodge-podge of fame, can we just examine, for a moment, Jack McBrayer's IRL persona, which is not very distinguishable from that of his 30 Rock character, Kenneth Parcell? I.e., when telling the actor how much we liked his animated performance in Wreck-It-Ralph, he replied, "Awww, gosh, thanks!" Which is definitely something we can all imagine Kenneth saying, yes?

Nearby, Chris Noth was giving advice to a young woman with dark hair. "If you aren't doing what you love, I'd just say quit. Is your agent getting you work these days?"

Two feet away, Ray Liotta had stopped to talk to Fisher Stevens. "Fuck that motherfucker," he said, in response to a mutual acquaintance. "Just fuck that guy."

Upstairs, Patrick Wilson conferred with Rose Byrne and a bevy of beautiful models while Boardwalk Empire stars Bobby Carnivale and Billy Magnussen mingled with friends on the stairs.

With bodies crushed at the bar to get to the liquor sponsor of the evening, DeLeón tequila, we kept being nudged in the back by a very tall young man with a newsboy hat and a wispy beard. ("What kind of drinks are they making? What does your tattoo say? Etc.)

Finally we handed Matthew Lillard the drink menu so he could check out for himself, and remarked how much we had loved Scream as a teenager.

"Did you know that it came out on Thanksgiving weekend?" he asked. "It was this brilliant piece of counter-culture programming, ever. That was all Harvey."

And what was Mr. Lillard doing in New York these days?

"Oh, just hanging out with this guy! We're making a movie together," he said, waving down the person on the other side of us.

"Hello, I'm Patrick," said Sir Patrick Stewart. We all ordered some sort of whiskey/bourbon and soda/water combination and raised our glasses.

With all the blood and guts and gore that make for (apparent) box-office gold during the holidays seasons, we asked Mr. Lillard if he had any favorite non-violent Christmas classics.

"Well, there's really only two, and they are cliche," he admitted. "There's the Jimmy Stewart one, and A Christmas Story."

Had he heard about the terrible straight-to-DVD sequel of the A Christmas Story that recently came out?
http://youtu.be/YHJNBZ2rrMM

"Don't tell me that...I wish you hadn't told me that," Mr. Lillard groaned. "In fact, you didn't tell me that. I am glad that I have never been told such a terrible thing."

He told us the next time we were in Ohio, we should go visit the Christmas Story house, which had artifacts from the film. We promised we would. Sir Patrick Stewart was with his partner, Sunny Ozwell.

As we left, we passed the crowd surrounding Mr. Pitt even within the relatively contained VIP section. He had long hair. Angelina Jolie was not with him. Harry Belafonte was, though. We quickly finished up our bourbon and left onto the wintery streets, where paparazzi still mingled, huddled together for warmth and determined to get a picture of Mr. Pitt leaving the Chelsea club before the night was over.

One person who's unconcerned about time-shifting-viewing programs online or on DVR, deflating those programs' rating--is Ted Harbert, the (also new) chair of NBC Broadcasting. The Transom caught him as he ran from the afterparty into the meeting of NBC affiliates. "It's basic--put something good on-like the ten o'clock dramas. There can't be three good dramas a night, but there is one now. The audience is there. No one says, I'm only watching time-shifted. They do it because nothing else is on. So if something better is on, they'll watch it." NBC's strategy--at least in terms of its self-presentation--is to focus on better programming, while others, like Fox, touted their tech-savvy and ability to monetize online broadcasting.

One of NBC's soi-disant better programs may be The Playboy Club, a drama for which Mr. Greenblatt seemed almost apologetic, noting that "the word 'Playboy' might evoke something off-limits," but telling advertisers to expect "a lot of cross-promotional opportunities with one of the most recognizable brands in the world." The bunny-actresses exited the afterparty in a long and dazzling line, exchanging cheek kisses with Mr. Greenblatt before slipping into bunion-appeasing ballet flats. Other actors in attendance included the stars of returning series Community and Chuck, who gamely posed for pictures with fans in designated areas. "TV's where it's at right now!," said Anjelica Huston, star of the January 2012 series Smash, on why she's moving to TV. She couldn't name her favorite television show.

Perhaps it's better to have a little time away. 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer, who gamely posed for photos at the "after-party" with fans and his costar Tina Fey as well as Jerry Seinfeld (they were more easily able to attract the photographers' attention than Bent star Jeffrey Tambor, who had to shout down a photographer), was looking forward to "some time in the sunshine! It will be a different thing for the shooting schedule--" he dropped into a stage whisper "--but I'm looking forward to an extended break!"

Fox's after-party was more heavily attended than NBC's-while NBC's had been populated with the network's megastars in order to dazzle the attendees (there is more of an onus to dazzle if one is NBC), Fox's was largely Fox-affiliate owners and advertisers eating burgers. (ABC, surprisingly or not given the network's travails, did not host a party at all.) The talk of the evening was the upcoming X Factor, the talent reality show Simon Cowell is to launch in the fall with Paula Abdul. Talent competitions are resurgent on TV right now-NBC's The Voice is the season's only breakout hit, and a sorely needed one (the network trotted out judges Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green to perform at their upfront). The network also announced that--in 2013--bro-cartoon auteur Seth MacFarlane is to remake The Flintstones for Fox. Fox's head of programming, Kevin Reilly, had boasted it had been kept a secret. "Nikki [Finke] got the scoop on that, like, an hour before the presentation, but no one noticed it, because everyone was here," said one TV journalist over a burger.

On a rainy Thursday, The Observer sought to continue our upfronts adventures and trotted to Carnegie Hall at the appointed time to pick up the CBS ticket that had been reserved for us, only to discover that the publicist's purported "press check-in table" did not exist or had disappeared before we were told to arrive. We waited, in the rain, as well-dressed Midwestern affiliates and young ad exec types huddled under umbrellas. A fellow young journalist, from Good Housekeeping, commiserated with us in a green room we found to get out of the rain. "We're not trying to break news, we just want to see what's out there," the writer said. Julie Chen, the TV host, walked through the green room quickly; she'd set off the first flurry of activity among the paparazzi photographers outside. At the upfronts, at least, TV still can draw a crowd.

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_

The Emmy nominations: Same as they ever were. Despite rule changes that, in theory, allowed for the more “popular” series’ to hopefully gain nominations, it was once again the underdogs and cable that ruled the roost. Tina Fey’s 30 Rock led the field with 22 nominations, including the Comedy Trifecta of Series, Actress (Ms. Fey) and Actor (Alec Baldwin). Not surprisingly, Mad Men paced the drama field with 16 nominations of its own, including a chance to defend its Best Drama Series win from last year. Of the 14 series nominated in the Comedy and Drama categories, only six are on regular television. Remember all the talk about making things more accessible for viewers? Maybe next year! You can view the full nominations here; in the meantime here are some snap judgments.

Betty Draper Gets No Love!

With all due respect to Elisabeth Moss, how does she get the Best Actress nomination from Mad Men and not January Jones? Forget for a moment that Ms. Moss had infinitely less screen time than Don Draper’s rebelling wife during season two, but was there a more committed and thrilling performance from an actress this year than what Ms. Jones was able to do with Betty? The way she turned her childlike naïveté into adolescence unhinged was the stuff that got Edie Falco a boatload of nominations on The Sopranos. Guess Mrs. Draper will have to wait until next year for the Emmys realize she’s actually outstanding.

Room for Flight of the Conchords, but not Chuck?

We would be lying if we called ourselves fans of Flight of the Conchords, but we’re pretty sure even the show’s most ardent supporters would call the second season a wild disappointment. So what is the reward? A Best Comedy Series nomination, of course! The only thing more bizarre than this development is that Jermaine Clement received a Best Actor nomination. Somewhere, Bret is crying in his cereal.

No Jeremy Piven!

For the first time in three years, Jeremy Piven won’t be winning the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series! In one of the biggest upsets of the day, Mr. Piven was left out in favor of Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Cryer, Rainn Wilson, Tracy Morgan and, most excitingly, Jack McBrayer. Huzzah! As an added bonus: This seems to clear the way for Mr. Harris to get that Emmy he so richly deserves.

Monk is still on the air!

If it’s the Emmy Awards, you know Tony Shalhoub must be nominated. And, look, he is!