Hollywood Celebrates Animal Protection Group’s Oscar Night for Animals

It was a winning night for all animals as the news and entertainment media were honored for their reporting and portrayals of animal protection issues in 17 major award categories at The Humane Society of the United States' 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards on Saturday, March 19, 2011, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles, Calif.

Comedy Central's The Colbert Report won the Sid Caesar Comedy Award for satirizing bullfighters. HBO's True Blood picked up Outstanding Dramatic Series for a unique storyline about a shape-shifter abused through dogfighting. The Oprah Winfrey Show took the Outstanding Talk Show award for two animal-themed shows spotlighting Japan's dolphin slaughter, elephant poaching for ivory, and pet overpopulation. Dreamworks Animation's box office champion How To Train Your Dragon received Outstanding Feature Film for its inspiring message about tolerance and respect for all living creatures. And the honors for Outstanding Feature Documentary went to The Elephant in the Living Room for its fascinating and disturbing look at exotic pet ownership. The documentary opens in Los Angeles and New York on April 1.

In the world of TV news and print journalism, the winners included ABC's Nightline for an undercover investigation into dairy cow abuse at a factory farm; CBS' The Early Show for highlighting an anti-shark finning campaign by shark attack survivors; KTLA News at 10 (Los Angeles) for a series of investigative reports into dogfighting, puppy mills and abuse at a chicken hatchery; National Geographic Magazine for a profile of a major trafficker in endangered species; and the Los Angeles Times for a column questioning the ethics and educational value of keeping marine mammals in captivity.

The Wyler Award, one of the evening's most prestigious awards, named after late Genesis Awards founder and HSUS vice president Gretchen Wyler, was presented to Sex and the City's Kristin Davis in recognition of the media attention she has brought to the plight of orphaned African elephants impacted by the increase in elephant poaching for their ivory tusks.

Despite the seriousness of the issues at hand, the evening's proceedings were not without humor. Political satirist Bill Maher jump-started the show by using his trademark New Rules to call for the better treatment of animals. And the cast of TV Land's hit comedy Hot in Cleveland, including Betty White, brought their combined comedic flair to the presentation of The Sid Caesar Comedy Award, setting the stage for recipient Stephen Colbert to address the audience in his inimitable fashion, via a video acceptance speech. There was also a nostalgic TV moment when Betty White was joined on stage by Ed Asner, her co-star in the seminal '70s comedy series The Mary Tyler Moore Show, to present the TV Documentary Award to National Geographic Channel's My Child is A Monkey.

"From the first Genesis Awards, in 1986, when Magnum, P.I. was recognized for the line, 'It's wrong to kill dolphins,' it's truly amazing, 25 years later, to look at the variety and caliber of today's Genesis Award honorees, all of whom explore animal protection issues in greater depth and with tremendous creativity," says Beverly Kaskey, executive producer of the annual Genesis Awards and senior director of the Hollywood office of The Humane Society of the United States. "Tonight is a milestone for The Genesis Awards but, more importantly, it's a milestone for all animals and their place in the social and cultural fabric of our daily lives."

Celebrity presenters and attendees at The 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards included Kristin Davis, Betty White, Leona Lewis, Emily Deschanel (Bones), Valerie Bertinelli
(Hot in Cleveland), Jane Leeves (Hot in Cleveland), Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland), Olivia Munn (The Daily Show), James Cromwell, Ed Asner (Working Class), Simon
Helberg (Big Bang Theory), Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck), Carrie Preston (True Blood), Amanda Righetti (The Mentalist), LINDSAY PULSIPHER (True Blood), Rico Rodriguez
(Modern Family),Owain Yeoman (The Mentalist), Charlotte Ross (Glee), Sally Pressman (Army Wives), Ryan O'Neal (Bones), Michael Vartan (Hawthorne), Sam Witwer
(Being Human), Tippi Hedren, Tricia Helfer, and Rene Russo.

The 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards will premiere on Animal Planet on Saturday, April 30, at 7.00 p.m., with an encore presentation on Sunday, May 1, at 9.00 a.m. <http: //www.humanesociety.org/genesis>

THE 25th ANNIVERSARY GENESIS AWARDS WINNERS

Outstanding Feature Film
How To Train Your Dragon - Dreamworks Animation

Outstanding Feature Documentary
The Elephant In The Living Room - NightFly Entertainment

Sid Caesar Comedy Award
The Colbert Report bullfighting - Comedy Central
Outstanding Dramatic Series
True Blood Hitting the Ground, Beautifully Broken - HBO
Outstanding TV Newsmagazine
Nightline Got Milk? - ABC
Outstanding News Feature
KTLA News At 10 (Los Angeles) Puppy Mills Exclusive Investigation, Dogfighting Investigation, Hatchery Hell - Investigative Report
Outstanding News Series
WOIO TV 19 Action News (Cleveland) Ohio Dairy Farm Animal Abuse
Outstanding Morning News Show
The Early Show Shark Victims - CBS
Outstanding Talk Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show Oprah's Earth Day Mom Swap - An Eye-Opening Intervention; Ultimate Amazing Animals
Outstanding TV Documentary
My Child Is A Monkey - National Geographic Channel
Outstanding Reality Series
Last Chance Highway The Great Escape - Animal Planet
Brigitte Bardot International
60 Minutes Australia Natural Born Killers - Nine Network Australia
Outstanding Written Word

Magazine

National Geographic Magazine The Kingpin

by Bryan Christy

Series Of Newspaper Articles

Isthmus (Wisconsin) multiple articles by Bill Lueders

Columnist

Los Angeles Times Where Captives Put on a Show

by Steve Lopez

Brigitte Bardot International Print

Daily Mail (UK) multiple articles by Dr. Danny Penman

William Wilberforce Award

Christianity Today A Feast Fit for the King: Returning the Growing Fields and Kitchen Table to God.

by Leslie Leyland Fields

The Wyler Award

Kristin Davis

The 25th Anniversary Genesis Awards is sponsored in part by Market Development Group, Inc.,Prai Beauty Group, Tenet, One Car One Difference, Euro RSCG Edge, Honda, Imax, Warner Bros and Modern Dog.