There were no big surprises among the award winners unveiled by the Television Critics Association, but there were lots of ironies. Especially where the Emmys are concerned.

Once again TCA slighted Lauren Graham, who has still not won a TCA Award even though most members fume and rage at the TV academy for never giving the Gilmore Girl an Emmy. This is just like when TCA members used to bash the Emmys for failing to hail Sarah Michelle Gellar while they never gave her a prize for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" either. That series was finally given an honorary Heritage Award at the end of its run after Gellar and the show lost competitive races every year to male rivals.

But that’s all part of the historic, long-suffering, anti-female bias at TCA where only two women have ever won awards for individual achievement (the group’s equivalent to best actor or actress) and where women have never received a majority of nominations in a single category. Heck, sometimes they didn’t receive any nominations from the group of voters comprised of 60 percent men.

Well, at least TCA finally addressed its notorious misogyny in another category. Out of the 20 TCA Awards given away for career achievement in years past, only 2 went to women: Lucille Ball and Angela Lansbury.

Until now. Carol Burnett was hailed this year. Hooray! It’s just a token honorary award, granted, but still it represents some progress by the bully TV boy group. However, one snide awardwatcher told me privately that he believes she reaped the recognition by default. Among other stars considered: Aaron Spelling couldn’t attend (because he’s riding a giant Love Boat through God-kissed waters off a distant shore) and Oprah Winfrey and Mary Tyler Moore probably wouldn’t attend (because Mary lives in New York and Oprah is too busy being Oprah).

Apparently, anti-female sentiment isn’t just directed at TCA Awards. When GoldDerby noted the gender bias in a column item last month, I received several emails and two phone calls from female members thanking me for exposing male bulliness within the organization. I encouraged them all to write about their experiences openly in response postings at my blog. One female TCA member did, but, unfortunately, she used a pseudonym - "Isabelle." She wrote, "Many of the male members are bullies and rude to the female members and nonmembers. They form cliques and even the officers and board members don’t speak to many of the female members or acknowledge them or welcome them in any way. I’ve actually sat down at a table with some of the male members at various parties and they literally get up and leave."