Now the shouting and the tumult has finally died, the time is ripe to try and put the final results of the Gold Logie chase into some sort of context.
The surprise of the night, and a hopeful sign the dumbing down of the national television audience has gone far enough, was the presentation of the coveted Gold Logie to Rove McManus for his work on Rove (Live.
It is interesting to note that, just as we saw with reality TV a few years back, the success of Rove has spawned a host of imitators.
Greeks on the Roof, Micallef Tonight and Enough Rope all mark a return to the guest-driven, variety-style program that ruled the airwaves until the programming gurus found reinventing the suburban backyard was a very cheap way to make rating television.
Not all of the current crop of variety shows are straight clones of the Rove formula.
Effie's Greeks on the Roof is, for example, a direct borrow from The Kumars at Number 42. It will be interesting to see how the local, cross-cultural, bastard love child fares in the same timeslot on Thursday nights. While early episodes have had their moments, it remains to be seen if Effie can last the distance.
When Ms Libby Gore, aka Elle McFeast, went down this path a few years back she was unable to survive the advent of a tired and emotional Chopper Read.
None of the newcomers has been quite game enough to go head-to-head against Rove on Tuesday nights.
Up against such relatively tepid competition in the 9.30pm timeslot as World News (SBS), Foreign Correspondent and Dossa and Joe(ABC), Cold Feet (Prime) and Stingers, the diminutive presenter seems set to bring ratings glory to Ten Victoria for some time to come.
Monday nights have, on the other hand, evolved into a real bloodbath.
With the double whammy of Four Corners and Media Watch to build upon, the ABC is well-positioned to seduce the ersatz intelligentsia into the waiting arms of Andrew Denton.
Denton, fresh back from too many years in the wilderness of commercial television (including a stint as arguably the best Logies' host in history), is very much at home on the ABC.
Experienced television watchers whose memories date back to classic 1980s shows such as The Money or The Gun are entitled to high expectations.
The good news is that so far Denton has delivered.
The interview with René Rivkin screened a few weeks back must rate as one of the best things seen on television this year.
There are few interviewers in this country - and certainly none holding down a top paying position on a commercial current affairs show - who could have handled such a precious subject with a tenth of the skill.
Rivkin, to give him his due, was also at the top of his game for the occasion.
Micallef, who has adopted the opposite course in leaving the ABC for the fiscally greener pastures of the ratings-driven Nine Network, will find it hard to steal his former audience back.
He, like Denton, may also find that the subtleties that make intelligent presenters a pleasure to watch don't go down too well on the commercial channels. It must be something to do with advertising breaks and attention spans.
While Denton found the culture at Kerry Stokes' Channel Seven hard to bend, Micallef is facing a much tougher challenge.
The commercial networks, most notably Nine and Seven, have a long history of poaching from the national broadcaster every time they feel they want "something different".
The trouble is that once the deal has been signed the management insists the new recruits reshape themselves to fit the prevailing corporate image. The short life of Mick Molloy on Channel Nine and the transformation of Ray Martin from a top shelf
ABC reporter to his current role are classic examples.
On the subject of Ray, who would have thought that a former North American correspondent for the ABC who covered the 1972 and 1976 US Presidential campaigns, the Watergate saga and America at war in
Vietnam would end up doing the voice-overs for toddler-taming specials on the increasingly misnamed A Current Affair?