People get into acting for all sorts of reasons. Because they relish exploring the complexities of the human spirit; because they majored in Art History and are otherwise unemployable; because they lubba-lubba-love gift bags. Mostly it's the gift bags.

News Corp. employees picked up their holiday gift bags today—what did they get? "A Simpsons page-a-day calendar, some Jeff Foxworthy book, and The Simpsons Movie DVD," one of the lucky recipients tells us. Anything else? "We also got an Emergency Procedure Guide." Oh! Well that will definitely come in handy should…

In these somber times, conventional wisdom states that the fashion for extravagant awards show gift bags has passed. Still, the impulse to pamper nominees lingers, living on in a circuit of illicit backroom gifting suites, where stars can indulge their most environmentally unfriendly swag urges to stack up on as…