SAG AWARDS In Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES,,,, Finally, an awards show with some surprise and naturalness.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards featured some unexpected winners, including ?The Help? for best overall cast performance and Jean Dujardin for best actor in ?The Artist? next to some of the longtime favorites in movies and television.

But there was a looseness and a playfulness that permeated the Shrine Exposition Center Sunday night ? maybe because it was a room full of people who love to perform, without the rigidity of one single host to lead them.

And so we had three of the stars of best-cast nominee ?Bridesmaids? ? Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy ? introducing their funny side with a joke about turning the name ?Scorsese? into a drinking game, which became a running gag throughout the night. When HBO?s ?Boardwalk Empire? won the award for best drama series cast, among the first words star Steve Buscemi uttered in accepting the prize were ?Martin Scorsese? ? he just happens to be one of the show?s executive producers.

One of the more thrilling moments of the night was the announcement of Dujardin?s name in the best-actor category for his performance in the silent, black-and-white homage ?The Artist.? In winning the award for his portrayal of a silent-film star who finds his career in decline with the entrance of talkies, Dujardin absolutely boosts his chances at the Oscars on Feb. 26. Little-known in the United States before this, the French comic bested bigger names like George Clooney (?The Descendants?), Brad Pitt (?Moneyball?) and Leonardo DiCaprio (?J. Edgar?)..

Backstage, Davis said of her own victory: ?A few more people checked my name in the box for whatever reason. This time I kind of fooled them.?

 Meanwhile, Christopher Plummer picked up yet another supporting-actor prize for his lovely turn as an elderly widower who finally comes out as gay in ?Beginners.?

The win for overall cast for ?The Help,? when ?The Artist? and ?The Descendants? have been the favorites all along, makes the conversation more interesting but it isn?t necessarily an indicator of how the film will do come Oscar time.

 Who will win the top award at the Oscars.? While ?The King?s Speech? won both honors a year ago, the SAG ensemble recipient has gone on to claim the top Oscar only eight times in the 16 years since the guild added the category.

 The winners at the SAG ceremony often do go on to earn Oscars, Speech,? Natalie Portman for ?Black Swan? and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for ?The Fighter.?

 On the television side, comedy chain awards went to ?Modern Family? for best band; Alec Baldwin as best actor for ?30 Rock?; and Betty White as best actress for ?Hot in Cleveland 

?I was Mary Tyler Moore. I spoke it out loud. Mary Tyler Moore. It sounded right so I wrote it down on the form, and it looked right,? she said. ?It was right. SAG was happy, my father was happy, and tonight, after having the freedom of working in this business among the most artistic and talented people imaginable, I too am happy, after all.