The event's organisers took Gleeson's divisive campaign in their stride,asking the 45-year-old Gunnedah-born comedian to open the show with a monologue,replacing comedian Dave Hughes who had the good weather sense to spend his summer in Europe.
In his acceptance speech,Gleeson tried to mitigate the ill-will his campaign had generated in some quarters by saying the award"has meant many things to many people".
"To me it represents a joke,but I am a comedian,I like jokes,"Gleeson said."I think we should lighten the f--- up."
The 61st annual TV Week Logie Awards delivered a night of eclectic twists,with the ABC and the Ten Network emerging as the big winners.
It is also almost certainly the first time in the six-decade history of the Logies that no program from Nine or Seven,the two most-watched television networks in Australia,won an award.
Delivering one of the night's most memorable speeches,the veteran journalist Kerry O'Brien was inducted into the TV Week Logie Hall of Fame.
The award,which comes with its own Gold Logie statuette,places O'Brien in the iconic company of past inductees,such as television pioneers Hector Crawford and Reg Grundy,actors Jack Thompson and Bud Tingwell,and television personalities Bert Newton and Graham Kennedy.
"Can I say how pleased I am not to be receiving this award posthumously,"O'Brien joked.
In his speech,the former host ofThe 7.30 Report andFour Corners fired a volley of shots,acknowledging the various forces hammering the ABC,and the challenge facing journalism in the face of a growing avalanche of"fake news".
O'Brien said during his tenure at the ABC he and his colleagues had"allowed our work to speak for us."
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"[The 7.30 Report] could have died in that era,but it's still there,still going strong,still driven by good people,still accused of bias but still walking a straight line,"O'Brien said.
"The ABC is still forging its way through strong headwinds,probably never threatened more than it is today by a combination of forces,cash strapped ... and still confronting the same,sad ideological prejudice,"he said.
"Now even the Federal Police,some of whom have themselves leaked to us in the past,have seen fit to raid the place,"O'Brien added.
The 73-year-old Brisbane born journalist also acknowledged the support of his family,children Lara,Chris,Anthony,Jack,Ben and Meg,his grandchildren and his wife,journalist Sue Javes.
The 61st annual Logie Awards were peculiar by anyone's measure,notably in delivering a powerful sense that the audience's viewing habits have shifted significantly,eschewing historically consistent winners in favour of new and emerging personalities and programs.
Notably,many ABC programs rumbled their commercial rivals in the audience-voted"most popular"categories.
The ABC's critically acclaimed drama seriesMystery Road,which would historically have dominated the peer-voted outstanding categories,took home most popular drama.
Aunty's green thumb Costa Georgiadis and its three-decade-old seriesGardening Australia also won most popular presenter and most popular lifestyle series,pushing into a space which has historically been dominated by commercial presenters and programs.
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And the award for most popular panel or current affairs program went to Ten'sThe Project,over more traditional current affairs programs such as60 Minutes,Australian Story,Four Corners and7.30.
Legendary actress Jacki Weaver took home outstanding supporting actress for her work on the Stan seriesBloom,which also won outstanding miniseries.
In a speech recorded in the US,where Weaver is filming,the 72-year-old actress noted that it had been a long time between Logies,having won previously back in 1978 for her work on the Nine Network telemovieDo I Have to Kill My Child?
The ABC children's seriesBluey,which recently became the first Australian series sold to the soon-to-launch Disney-powered US streaming platform Disney+,won outstanding children's program. And the SBS coverage of the2018 FIFA World Cup won the award for outstanding sports coverage.
The"in memoriam"segment acknowledged the passing of journalist Michael Willessee,game show host Jimmy Hannan,actors Penny Cook,Judy McBurney,Carmen Duncan and Darius Perkins,talent manager Harry M. Miller,television executives Ian Johnson and Sam Chisholm,television film critic Bill Collins and stylist Valerie Nelson.
The segment was set to filmed piano performance ofThe Way We Wereby former Nine Network musical director Geoff Harvey,who died in March this year.
This year also saw the return to the awards of a most popular television commercial category,which was first given out at the sixth annual Logies back in 1962 and retired at the 20th Logies in 1978.
In the television history books the most awarded ads over the years were for Coca Cola,which won five Logies between 1964 and 1977,as well as a win for the Coca Cola-owned Fanta in 1972;other winners included Alka Seltzer,Minties,Winfield Cigarettes,Uncle Sam deodorant and,in 1978,Export Cola.
This year's winner,which was announced ahead of the telecast,wasDundee:Australia’s Tourism Ad In Disguise.
Full list of winners
TV Week Gold Logie for most popular personality on TV:Tom Gleeson
TV Week Hall of Fame Gold Logie:Kerry O'Brien
Most popular actor:Luke McGregor,Rosehaven (ABC)
Most popular actress:Deborah Mailman,Bite Club (Nine) andMystery Road (ABC)
Most popular presenter:Costa Georgiadis,Gardening Australia (ABC)
Most popular drama program:Mystery Road (ABC)
Most popular comedy program:Have You Being Paying Attention? (Ten)
Most popular reality program:MasterChef Australia (Ten)
Most popular entertainment program:Gogglebox Australia (Foxtel/Ten)
Most popular lifestyle program:Gardening Australia (ABC)
Most popular panel or current affairs program:The Project (Ten)
Most popular television commercial:Dundee:Australia’s Tourism Ad In Disguise
Outstanding actor:Scott Ryan,Mr Inbetween (Foxtel)
Outstanding actress:Jenna Coleman,The Cry (ABC)
Outstanding drama series:Wentworth (Foxtel)
Outstanding miniseries or telemovie:Bloom (Stan)
Outstanding supporting actor:Frankie J. Holden,A Place To Call Home (Foxtel)
Outstanding supporting actress:Jacki Weaver,Bloom (Stan)
Outstanding entertainment program:Have You Been Paying Attention? (Ten)
Outstanding reality program:Australian Survivor,Champions vs Contenders (Ten)
Outstanding news coverage or public affairs report:"Out of the Dark",Four Corners (ABC)
Outstanding children's program:Bluey (ABC)
Outstanding sports coverage:2018 FIFA World Cup (SBS)
Graham Kennedy Award for most popular new talent:Dylan Alcott (The Set,Invictus Games Tonight,ABC)