Gail: Hi, guys. It's 11 a.m. her in Los Angeles, and my alarm went off at 5:20 because it was Emmy nomination day. I watched the nominations read on TV, then got the full list and all the supplementary material from the Emmy website (www.emmy.tv) and wrote my story for the Friday paper.Luckily, I saw our guy Jon Hamm (yay, Jon!) on the "Mad Men" set tour Tuesday and got a quote from him, so I was all set. And then I went back to bed, so I'm all fresh to chat with you.

Joe D.: Hey, Gail, know you're really busy out there in teevee land. What're you missing to be with us this afternoon?
JD

Gail: When I told my editor I'd do the chat at the regular time, I couldn't remember what was scheduled for 11 a.m. today. Turns out, it's a panel on the 40th anniversary of "One Life To Live." (Sorry, SoapGoddess.) When I finish here, I have an India-themed lunch with the Cheetah Girls for a TV movie they have coming up. Then the afternoon is really busy with ABC, including a cameo appearance by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for "Lost"; a "Dirty Sexy Money" panel; and a Q&A with Marc Cherry and the "Desperate Housewives."

Rams747: Hi Gail-
I've really been enjoying your reports from the Critics convention. A kiss from Derek?!!Oh, business trips can be so rough!

Out of the Dancing with the Stars pros- was there anyone that surprised you or changed your mind about them from what you see on TV-since you saw them in person?

You would think they could have given some kind of scoop on the next season since they put on such a big promotion for the show.

Gail: I forgot to mention that he also twirled me a little. I think it was a mercy twirl. The whole cha cha cha lesson had been so humbling.
Marc Ballas was really a doll. I hadn't noticed him that much on the show, but he's very down-to-earth. Alec Mazo was kind of the drill master of the whole thing. Derek (sorry, Derek) either had a bad spray tan or too much makeup; he was a little orange. The women -- Edyta, Kym and Karina -- all scared me and I didn't get near them.
As for scoop, cast members rarely give any. They're afraid of getting in trouble with their producers!

Kevin: You mentioned in one blog post that you were going to see the new Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon, but then I didn't see anything else about it. What did you think of it?

Gail: Here's what I can tell you about "Clone Wars" -- it looked great, and I do not understand it. We saw, apparently, all or part of an episode of the TV series, which debuts this fall on Cartoon Network. There's also a theatrical movie coming out, which I'm sure you know. I didn't post any more on "Clone Wars" because nobody (that means you, Kevin) left any comments and I didn't think anyone was interested. But I'll put up some excerpts from the Q&A session when I get a chance, probably closer to the time the TV show debuts.

Rams747: Thursday, July 17: St. Louis
Weather: Hot Hot Hot, Actual Temp 95, Heat Index 105, 150% Humidity

Out of all the celebrities that you have met while you are there, who have been your favorites? Any celebrity encounters in the the hall or elevators of the hotel?

Gail: Ah, I miss humidity. My hair gets awfully flat when it's dry.
I had a close encounter in the elevator with Stephen Moyer, the sexy vampire star of HBO's "True Blood." He was so flirty, I thought he might bite me! But my favorites are always the writer-producers -- Matt Weiner of "Mad Men," J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk of "Fringe," and I'm looking forward to seeing Brian Fuller of "Pushing Daisies."