THR's TCA Awards: The 6 Biggest Moments of the Winter Press Tour

This story first appeared in the Jan. 25 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

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BEST ANSWER TO THE VIOLENCE QUESTION

Even PBS' Paula Kerger was hit with a television violence question in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings. But FX president John Landgraf, whose network arguably features the most mayhem on TV, delivered the most thoughtful answer. He called on Hollywood to study the issue while advocating gun control and admitting that "life-or-death stakes" are what tend to rivet audiences. "That will always be very compelling for people to watch because we fear death."

BEST NONSPIN SPIN

Thanks to a preponderance of ratings data, everyone can be No. 1 in something (see ABC, tops in C3 entertainment, excluding sports fare!). Fox's Kevin Reilly chose a different tack: honesty. "We all [screw up] -- look at my fall," he said, acknowledging his network's slide of nearly 25 percent in the 18-to-49 demo. That earned him general good will.

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'OOPS! … I DID IT AGAIN' AWARD

Not 36 hours after Reilly told a roomful of reporters he'd like to see Britney Spears back as a judge on The X Factor, THR reported the pop star would be exiting.

BIGGEST ZING (tie)

NBC's Bob Greenblatt took the tour's first shot, reacting to Reilly's recent comment that the industry has its head up its ass. "I can guarantee you we don't have our heads up our asses," he said. A few days later, Landgraf upped the snark factor when asked to address AMC's revolving door of showrunners on The Walking Dead. "We've never fired a showrunner," he touted.

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MOST OVERSHADOWED CAST

Sandwiched between panels featuring Ricky Gervais and the cast of Arrested Development was the cast of Netflix's upcoming Eli Roth horror series Hemlock Grove. Not that many noticed. Much of the room was either whipping up a Gervais story or tweeting (incessantly) about the looming presence of Arrested.

BIGGEST 'HUH?' MOMENT

During Fox's Tuesday night comedy panel, a reporter asked New Girl star Zooey Deschanel to "explain" her name.