New York City - The best of award ceremonies celebrate the possible in all of us, as we honor the individuals around us that make a difference. Such was the case at this year's Second Annual Character Approved Awards sponsored by USA Network at the IAC Building in Lower Manhattan.

Academy Award nominated actresses Maggie Gyllenhaal and Gabourey Sidibe.

More than a show business mutual admiration event, according to USA Networks, whose brand slogan is "Characters Welcome," the awards are a multimedia campaign "honoring the real characters who are changing the face of American culture." The event was co-sponsored by Vanity Fair magazine.

The snow fall that blanketed Manhattan did not deter attendees, the media and most of the honorees. The 2010 award winners included: The Grammy Award winning rock band Green Day(Music), Academy Award-nominated film director for "The Hurt Locker" Kathryn Bigelow (Film/TV), best-selling novelist, screenwriter and playwright Nora Ephron (Writing), American fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez (Fashion), groundbreaking sustainable architect Angela Brooks (Architecture), revolutionary urban arts painter Kehinde Wiley (Art), industrial designer of the Jawbone Bluetooth headset and the $100 XO laptop Yves Behar (Design), renowned restaurateur Dan Barber of Blue Hill and Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture (Food), social entrepreneur, micro-financier and co-founder of Kiva.org Jessica Jackley (Giving), and Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy , game creators of Guitar Hero and Rock Band (New Media/Technology).

Mark Feuerstein of "Royal Pains" served as Master of Ceremonies.

Many of the USA Network stars walked the red carpet along with the honorees and the evening's Master of Ceremonies was Mark Feuerstein of the Hamptons themed series "Royal Pains." Feuerstein commented on the awards by relaying, "I think it is so important that USA chooses to honor all these people from different disciplines that are contributing so much to the world. We have the SAG Awards, the Golden Globes and the Oscars, but these are special because of what these individuals have contributed to the culture."

Coming off the carpet, actor Corbin Bernsen seconded Feuerstein remarks, "It is a wonderful thing to do. Any celebration of character in this day and time is important. To celebrate those that rise to the top like cream, I think it is important to acknowledge those people. Some people lead, these are those people."

Honoree Ephron agreed that the diversity of awards was more important as a whole than any single category, "Absolutely, we could do anything among us all." The entertainment centerpiece of the awards ceremony was a performance by the Broadway cast of Green Day's "American Idiot" to which playwright Ephron noted, "I am very excited to be hearing some of the songs tonight." The highly anticipated musical will be opening in previews on March 24.

Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham of "Covert Affairs."

Prolific film actor Jeff Goldblum was in attendance. When asked how the transition from film to full time television grind on USA's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" was going, he revealed "I love it, it doesn't feel like a grind to me at all. I have got - like my dad did - a good work ethic and I aspire to work all the time. I remember Paul Schrader saying, 'Actors are like farm animals, they are happiest when they are in continual labor.'"

Actor Dule Hill of "The West Wing" and USA's "Psych" with his beautiful wife, actress Nicole Lyn.

"Sex and The City" veteran Willie Garson, now playing Mozzie on USA's "White Collar," was glowing in the joy of fatherhood with the recent adoption of his eight-year-old son Nathan. Considering SATS's reoccurring past episodes set in the Hamptons Garson indicated "I do not have a house on the East End, I am a Jersey Shore guy, but I stay with Sarah Jessica Parker at her house when I am in the Hamptons and I am out there at some point every summer." Garson also gave kudos to his network for throwing the fete, "It is amazing! Thank God USA is successful enough to be able to do this. It is a great thing and they don't have to do it, but thank goodness they do."

Before moving out of the red carpet area and into the reception I spoke with Maggie Gyllenhaal of "The Dark Knight" who is nominated this year for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in "Crazy Heart." The actress noted, "It seems like a lovely New York event. Vanity Fair asked me to come and I have been out of the city for a while in Los Angeles and I thought it would be nice to come out to a real New York thing."

Once into the reception Feuerstein introduced the attending honorees with the backdrop of huge digital screens with each of the honorees commenting in shorts about their work and the awards. This was followed by a performance of selections from "American Idiot."

SRO crowds at USA Network's Character Approved Awards.

After the performance, honoree artist Kehinde Wiley commented "It feels extraordinary! Character Approved is one of those touchstones in which you can see that America goes beyond the 'you just add water' notion of what it means to be a character filled nation. A nation that has integrity and a nation that gives rise to great artists, great architects, great designs and great musicians. It is a great honor to be here and I am overwhelmed."

One of the stars of "The West Wing," was on hand in the person of Dulé Hill who presently stars on the USA hit series "Psych." I noted to Hill, who was attending with his beautiful wife actress Nicole Lyn, that the honorees being celebrated were very much like his character Charlie on "The West Wing," people of integrity and service, "It is always good to get people together to honor unique individuals. It not your normal awards ceremony honoring just actors. These people have passion for what they do and they accelerate a great situation that tells us all to go after our dreams and after our visions."

Bravo to USA networks for creating an award ceremony like Character Approved, a ceremony that heralds the best and brightest among us. The awards that honor those individuals that make a difference in so many different genres and in so many different ways, resulting in a better world for all the characters that inhabit it.