MT&R Names Gala Hosts

The husband-and-wife team of Bradley Whitford (West Wing)  and Jane Kaczmarek (the Malcolm in the Middle mom) will host the Museum of Television & Radio's annual gala in Los Angeles Nov. 7.

The gala, which will be held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, will honor News Corp. President and COO Peter Chernin and producer John Wells.

Chernin is being recognized for his “outstanding contributions to the television industry” and Wells “for his prolific achievements and remarkable storytelling as ER enters its twelfth season and The West Wing its seventh season.”

Proceeds from the event will benefit the museum’s charter of collecting and protecting television and radio programs and ads and make them available to the public. Much of early television was lost, recorded over or thrown away, including the first Super Bowl, for example.

Past Museum of Television & Radio gala honorees include Alan Alda, Julie Andrews, Steven Bochco, David Brinkley, Carol Burnett, James Burrows, Sid Caesar, Mary Tyler Moore, Jack Paar and -- a familiar face to Wells -- West Wing's Martin Sheen.