2008 People's Choice Awards

Well, it certainly was a different sort of People's Choice Awards this year, as CBS stripped down the ceremony to merely a series of pre-recorded acceptance speeches and Queen Latifah holding court on her own as the show's host. Frankly, it was awkward and a little sad, but the winners were announced nonetheless and while some wins were to be expected (Favorite Male Action Star: Matt Damon) there were a few surprises (Favorite New TV Drama: Moonlight — not Gossip Girl. . . or any of the others for that matter).

Most of all I'm baffled that Robin Williams won over Will Ferrell for Favorite Funny Male Star. I guess more people liked License to Wed and August Rush than I realized!

To check out the full list of this year's People's Choice Awards winners (and to see the other nominees these winners were up against, click here), read more

The People's Choice Awards don't have the glamour (or the legitimacy) of the Golden Globes, but it's still the first of this season's award ceremonies to be dramatically scaled back. CBS canceled the ceremony, which was originally scheduled for tonight, and has spent the past few weeks tossing together a different kind of broadcast.

Instead of a star-studded party in the Shrine Auditorium with a red carpet and all the trimmings, tonight's broadcast will instead feature 25 pre-taped acceptance speeches from winners in several of the awards' many categories. (There are more than 25 categories, so I suppose some of the winners must not have taped speeches.) What hasn't changed: Queen Latifah is still the host, and the show is still live on the East Coast starting at 9 p.m.

Since winners can't accept their trophies on stage, crews fanned out around the world to bring the People's Choice statuettes to them instead. According to CBS, "Celebrities were met on their sets, at home, on tour, outside, with our troops and in a variety of other settings." To fill out the two-hour broadcast, CBS will show a series of "Choice Moments" from the previous 33 years of the People's Choice Awards.

So far, more than 10 million votes have been cast for the awards, and though most categories are closed by now, voting for the favorite new TV comedy and drama and the favorite user-generated video of the year will remain open until 10 p.m. EST. Do you think you'll tune in for the People's Choice Awards in this new format?

Photo courtesy of CBS

• The nominees for the 2008 Screen Actors Guild awards were announced this morning in LA with Into the Wild and Cate Blanchett leading the pack. Head over to Buzz to check out the full list.
• Kate Moss is trying to get a legal injunction to stop Pete Doherty from using their "raunchy" home videos in a TV special that a British channel is paying him $1 million to put together. The program is called "Kate and Pete: A Love Story" and it sounds like we're not the only ones happy that love story is over. — Page Six
• The 2008 People's Choice Awards has been canceled due to the writers' strike, and winners will be asked to send in taped acceptance speeches so the network has something to air instead. Hopefully this doesn't mean the Oscars are in danger, too. — BuzzSugar
• Ashlee Simpson is apparently upset that the announcement of Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy took attention away from the release of her third album and her new video. That probably isn't a spotlight Ashlee should be jealous of. — The Scoop

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The Hollywood writers' strike has claimed its first casualty of the awards season: The People's Choice ceremony has been canceled.

The awards, which nominated the likes of Justin Timberlake and Jason Bourne just a few weeks ago, were scheduled for a Jan.8 broadcast on CBS, hosted by Queen Latifah. The voting page is still working, but the winners won't get their trophies at a formal ceremony or get to walk the red carpet.

It sounds like CBS is still hoping to air some kind of show, and one report says winners will be asked to tape their thank-yous so they can be broadcast that night. Would anyone watch that? And how bad of a sign is this for the Golden Globes and Oscars?

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Question: Where can you find Jamie Foxx, The Rock, and Joaquin Phoenix in the same place? Answer: The People's Choice Awards. The three are nominated for Favorite Leading Man for this year's awards, which include a pretty motley collection of stars overall.

The Bourne Identity snagged nominations in several of the movie categories, including Favorite Movie, Favorite Action Movie, and Favorite Threequel. (Yes, Favorite Threequel is a real category.) Matt Damon also nabbed a nomination for Favorite Action Star.

Jessica Alba and Johnny Depp got themselves two nominations each, she for Leading Lady and Female Action Star, he for Male Movie Star and Male Action Star. The TV categories were a total grab-bag, with nominations going to everything from House to the now-canceled King of Queens. And in the music categories, Justin Timberlake racked up two nominations — three if you count a nomination for the Timbaland song "Give It To Me," on which he's featured.

Voting is now open and will stay open for about a month; the show airs Jan. 8 on CBS with Queen Latifah hosting. To see the full list of nominees, just read more