Before and after the FOX execs so dramatically brought Simon Cowell on stage to sign the contract bringing his British show The X Factor to the US, effectively ending his time on American idol, there were other heady matters to discuss. Just small stuff, like the possibility of Conan O'Brien bailing on NBC and joining FOX, and the mini-scandal surrounding the game show Our Little Genius.

On Conan, there really wasn't much to say. "We're in sort of the wowee mode right now," said entertainment president Kevin Reilly. After reiterating what he's said in the past on always being in search of a good five-night-per-week late night program, he went on to say that "I love Conan personally & professionally. Until he makes his decision (on whether to leave NBC), there's no conversation to be had."

But since he knows Conan's people, it's not like he hasn't been talking, at least informally. He classified them as being more in the "commiserating phase;" knowing Reilly's history with NBC (Jeff Zucker fired him three years ago), I could understand the commiseration.

Michael Lombardo and Richard Plepler of HBO held an executive session at the beginning of HBO's star-studded presentation. Among the news:

• The entire Sunday summer lineup: Entourage, True Blood, and Hung will be coming back next summer.
• They've ordered an animated series from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant based on their podcasts with the ever-entertaining Karl Pilkington.
• On a third season of Flight of the Conchords: "We're ready when they're ready."
• The pilot of Boardwalk Empire, directed by Martin Scorsese, has been delivered to HBO. It will be picked up based on what they see. They like what they see so far.
• No more Little Britain USA, but they are working with the producers to create specials with all-new characters.

More coming. Stay tuned to our Twitter feed for the latest updates.