GOLDEN GLOBES

The weather smiled on the Golden Globes festivities -- the unseasonably warm afternoon sun streamed down as A-listers from the worlds of film and television descended on the Beverly Hilton for the 66th annual ceremony.

On her way into the ballroom, “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere stopped to tell Kate Winslet how much she admired her work, and Blair Underwood and his wife, Desiree, took in the fans’ love for the actor, who earned his first nomination for his work on “In Treatment.” Newlyweds (and “Dexter” costars) Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter accepted best wishes for their recent nuptials.

Not quite fashionably late, Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr. and Dustin Hoffman arrived just before show time, followed soon after by Tom Hanks. Hanks might have been the last celebrity to walk the red carpet, but he looked as cool as the other side of the pillow.

The Times’ Geoff Boucher, Maria Elena Fernandez and Richard Rushfield took in the scene.

In a room full of Hollywood legends, the troubadour of the New Jersey shore had the most eager line of well wishers. Bruce Springsteen, sitting in a prime corner table, chatted with old friends and young admirers. Susan Sarandon stopped by to say hello to the Boss and his wife, Patti Scialfa, even as the stars of the HBO series “True Blood” and “Entourage” tried to act as if they weren’t scoping out the man who took home a Globe for his original song for the Mickey Rourke drama “The Wrestler.”

“It’s my second time here,” Springsteen said during a commercial break, “and it’s not my usual kind of scene. It’s not the same for us music guys. But there’s some familiar faces, and we’re having a good time.”

At the table for “In Bruges,” one of the stars of the darkly comic crime film, Brendan Gleeson, was all smiles watching Springsteen and Steven Spielberg, who were seated nearby. “This is so Hollywood and so many things I do aren’t, so it’s quite a thrill, a lot of fun.” He said the script for “In Bruges” was “a great one” that had resonance with people. “ ‘Reservoir Dogs’ in Belgium” is how he described the nuanced hit-man saga. “You find yourself laughing, but it’s not really funny.”

The Oscars are a formal, assigned-seat affair, but Globes’ attendees often move around to mingle. Brian Grazer missed “30 Rock’s” comedy series win because he was picking up two cocktails at the bar. If he had been in his seat, the producer would have heard Tracy Morgan thank craft services but forget to mention NBC Universal honcho Jeff Zucker -- until his costar Alec Baldwin prompted him to do so.

Superstar couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie also left the main room and went to the bar, security in tow. They seemed happy and relaxed, but all around them, people stiffened just slightly, reacting with the calculated casualness of the famous confronted by celebrity of an entirely other order.

Showtime, with its eight nominations, is finally getting good placement. Four of the best-positioned TV tables -- in years past assigned to Fox -- were populated by actors and producers from “Weeds,” “Californication” and “Dexter.” “We’ve got our own little neighborhood in the building,” said Robert Greenblatt, Showtime’s president of entertainment. “We have three shows nominated and four actors -- that’s half our network. I’m really excited.”

Although victory is sweet, so may be defeat. When Gabriel Byrne won for actor in a drama series, the “Dexter” table toasted Michael C. Hall and the “Mad Men” table raised glasses to Jon Hamm, both of whom were nominated in the category. But then the “Mad Men” table got to one-up “Dexter” in the drinking department, as is perhaps fitting for the actors who play the show’s frequently soused characters. “Mad Men’s” January Jones, nominated for her role as a dissatisfied wife on the early 1960s-set drama, was felled by Anna Paquin of “True Blood,” prompting another round of toasts.

Paquin’s “True Blood” co-star Rutina Wesley admitted that she was a little star-struck by the Globes guest list: “I would watch this show in drama school, and now to be here is pretty surreal. To see Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise walk by, it’s just something that doesn’t feel real. I saw [Sean “Diddy” Combs] walking around and then he’s walking toward me and he tells me he loves the show. All I could keep thinking is, ‘He is touching me on the arm.’ It’s amazing, but I feel like I belong.”

Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw was less enthusiastic when asked his thoughts on award shows: “Oh, my God, they’re long. Longer than conventions.”

--

calendar@latimes.com