TVSquad

The first ingredient in a successful TCA party is to have it near the hotel where the tour is taking place. After sitting in panels and conducting interviews all day long, a shuttle bus ride to a faraway restaurant isn't really enticing.

So kudos to NBC for making a smart move by having its all-star gala on the roof of the Beverly Hilton's parking lot. It's an elevator ride away and the area is wide open. The party music isn't so loud that it's going to drown out any interviews. Nice.

Swag alert: guests received mini handheld fans upon arriving, but they weren't really needed because there was a nice evening breeze in the air.

I arrive right on time at 6 pm so I can scope out the scene. There's more press than talent here right now, but that will change.

The rooftop space is pretty big. There's a stage set up for a performance of The Singing Bee -- I sure hope they don't ask me to participate. I know the lyrics to "Happy Birthday" and that's about it.

Mini-living room areas are set up throughout: big, white, comfy sofas with colored pillows on 'em. A nice big open bar and a few food and dessert stations.

There's pizza, turkey, prime rib, salad, and all kinds of finger foods for dessert including mini-cheesecakes. After three weeks of food like this, I can probably try out for The Biggest Loser. Must ask show host Alison Sweeney for tips on how not to indulge at parties like these.

It's about 6:05 and The Office's Kate Flannery and Oscar Nunez have just completed being photographed and interviewed by approximately 50 members of the press that are working the red carpet.

Is showing up on time the key to having an effective and quick red carpet experience? Flannery says she was once knocked down on a red carpet at the Emmys when Heidi Klum showed up late, causing a flurry of activity among the press. Yikes! Shades of Carrie Bradshaw collapsing on the runaway in a Sex and the City classic episode that also featured Klum.

"Fashion roadkill," Flannery recalls! "I remember that episode!"

Is there anyone Flannery's looking to meet tonight? (After all, it's not like all the NBC actors live together in the big Peacock house when they're not working.) "I love the cast of Heroes," Flannery says.

Around 6:15 I chat up Beth Toussaint, who used to be on the prime time soap Savannah and is wed in real life to Heroes star Jack Coleman. Along with Days of our Lives' Kristian Alfonso and Leann Hunley, Toussaint's one of the most beautiful women here. NBC should scoop Coleman's wife up for one of its series.

It's 6:42 and the red carpet is jam-packed. I see stars from new series like Chuck and Bionic Woman and existing NBC programs including Days of our Lives, 30 Rock, and Las Vegas in line.

At 6:48, a publicist asks me if I'll talk to one of the performers on the show he/she publicizes or else -- whoa -- the actor will leave the party. The pen really is mightier than the sword.

It's clear that some performers don't have this problem. There are swarms of press members hovering around David Hasselhoff (America's Got Talent), Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) and Carson Daly (Last Call with Carson Daly). At 7:30, I cozy up to the crowd hanging around Daly. He says he loves playing golf with his dad.

The Singing Bee should have no problem attracting an audience since everyone at the party stopped what they were doing and put their focus on the live presentation at shortly before 8:00, hosted by Joey Fatone. Two reporters joined FNL's Scott Porter and Chuck's Zachary Levi on stage to play the game.

Porter and a TCA member were sacked in the first round. Next, the other TCA member was out.

Levi emerged the winner because he knew the lyrics to the theme song of The Flintstones -- "courtesy of Fred's two feet" -- trust me, google it. You'll see he's right.

"I didn't know those words until about three years ago," Levi later told me. "A friend told me what they were and I went online to check it out because I'm such a geek."

A slew of reporters and some stars took the party end time of 8:30 seriously and started filing out around that time. But the gala went on for at least another hour before the bar started to pack up. At about 9:30 one TCA member declared within my earshot, "This party is done!"

Later today: CBS, a preview.