People's Choice Awards: And the Winners Are …

The People's Choice Awards were handed out Tuesday in Los Angeles, with ABC's Grey's Anatomy raking in the most.

The series’ Katherine Heigl (Izzie Stevens) was named favorite female star, while Patrick Dempsey (Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd) was the favorite male star. Chandra Wilson (Miranda Bailey) won favorite scene stealer for her role as mother hen/taskmaster of the Grey's bunch.

Best TV drama went to Fox's House, which combines scalpels with the razor-sharp cynical edge of its main character.

Moving out of the operating room (sorry, Scrubs), CBS' Two and a Half Men was named favorite sitcom, while ABC's Dancing with the Stars was named favorite reality show. NBC's Deal or No Deal got the nod for game show, while Sci Fi Channel’s Stargate Atlantis was the favorite science-fiction series.

Fox's The Simpsons won in the animated-series category, and Ellen DeGeneres was named favorite talk-show host.

With TV writers on strike, the People's Choice organizers changed the format, taping the show and sending camera crews to nominees to tape their acceptance speeches so that none would have to worry about crossing potential picket lines to participate in the broadcast.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.