January 29, 2012 6:46:34 PM by Joal Ryan

Jesse Grant/WireImage

Alec Baldwin was not tweeting mad. Oscar front-runners were trying hard to not sound like Oscar front-runners. And George Clooney was pumped.

A look at the doings and sayings backstage at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild:

SAG STUFF: News, Pics, and, Like, Everything!

Best Line of the Night (So Far): Alec Baldwin, not in a Twitter-rant mode at all tonight, reported that, yes, he does still play Words With Friends. "But now on Virgin Atlantic," the noted American Airlines critic said.

Seriously, He Was in a Really Good Mood: A playful Baldwin walked on and off and back on the press-conference stage just to milk applause from willing reporters.   

It's Good to Be Mr. Showbiz: An enthusiastic, hand-clapping George Clooney bounded into the Shrine to present one of the early awards—and we didn't see anybody stop him for his ticket.

As It Should Be: As they were on stage, the Modern Family kids were in the forefront backstage, too. (The show has won so many times, at so many awards shows, the cast has had a lot of practice at being gracious.)  What have they learned from their older castmates, they were asked? Reported Dunphy youngster Nolan Gould: "I learned a lot of curse words."  

That Thing's Gotta Be the Heaviest Actor in Hollywood: So, the first thing the 82-year-old Christopher Plummer did back here was put his award down—and not because he's 82 years old, but because nearly everybody does that, right before they complain about heavy it is. (It, the award, even has its own podium, right next to the press-conference mic.)

Just Like She's Got a Good Hold on the Oscar Race: The Help's Octavia Spencer did not put her Actor down. At least not for a while. She had a good hold on that thing.

Um, Actually, It Kinda Is a Foregone Conclusion: Spencer on her Best Supporting Actress Oscar chances: "It's not a foregone conclusion because I won this, I'm going to win that."  

Oh, That: In his acceptance speech, Plummer name-checked his wife, thanking her for saving his life. Backstage, he was asked if he could explain what she saved him from exactly. "Yes," the Beginners star replied. "I was a terrible drunk."

We Sincerely Hope Not: "I can't talk about that," Plummer said when pushed to, well, talk about his Oscar chances. "It's miles down the road. It's at least three months, isn't it?"

Reality Check: No matter what he says, or graciously wouldn't say, the now-SAG-ratified Plummer is the Best Supporting Actor front-runner by a ton.    

His Quote's Too High: So, a bomb-sniffing dog was on the job at the Shrine today—that's not unusual. What was unusual, per the media types who'd done this drill before, was that the red carpet and the interior of the Shrine were cleared simultaneously, and only an hour before the arrivals were scheduled to begin. Before you ask, one, there were no signs of any ominous goings-on; and, two, the bomb-sniffing dog was not Uggie.

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