George Stroumboulopoulos and The Hour came out on top at the Gemini Awards Tuesday night, making off with wins for best talk series, host and production design, as the second of the four galas unfolded in Toronto.

The prizes for lifestyle, children’s and youth programs also handed repeat wins to Skyland, which scored best animated series and original score; and first-ever juried wins to CityLine on Citytv. The long-running morning talk show won for best lifestyle/practical information show, and received best host honors for Marilyn Denis.

‘It only took 19 years,’ exclaimed producer Chrissie Rejman upon accepting the win, adding an excited ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe this!’

Denis surprised the crowd by announcing that this will be her final year on CityLine. ‘I have grown so much with this group of women and two men,’ she said upon accepting her best host prize, nodding to her people in the crowd from the former CHUM. ‘Thank you so much for watching, and if you didn’t, you’d better hurry because there’s not much time!’

Another Citytv program, Canada’s Next Top Model, adapted from the U.S. format by Temple Street Productions, was crowned best reality series.

Stroumboulopoulos doubled as a host earlier in the show, but was soon back on stage to claim best host for a general/human interest or talk program, besting his CBC colleagues Peter Mansbridge, Evan Solomon and Wendy Mesley. ‘It’s CBC. Who’d of thought they’d put a jerk like me on the air?’ he joked. Strombo also shares credit for the best talk series win — a category in which The Hour‘s only competition was Live@Much — with producers Jennifer Dettman and Susan Taylor.

Another TV veteran earned a first Gemini when John Kastner (The Terry Fox Story, Rage Against the Darkness) was presented with the Academy Achievement Award, recognizing his 30 years of acclaimed documentaries and news segments for the likes of the fifth estate and Frontline.

Kastner has three Emmy wins under his belt, but the Geminis had eluded him until last night. ‘This is the hard way to do it,’ he said brandishing the trophy, before urging his colleagues to ‘find something faster’ if they want their own.

Degrassi: The Next Generation — back in the youth categories after a brief stint submitted among the grownup dramas — sent Shenae Grimes to a win for best performance, but missed best-series bragging rights, which went to Wapos Bay.

The awards show — which saw the likes of Sean Cullen, Stroumboulopoulos and the cast of Punched Up share hosting duties — was otherwise a brisk and by-the-numbers affair, handing out 20 awards in about 90 minutes, for which most winners delivered only a few very brief thank-yous before exiting stage right.

Among directors, Joseph Sherman took home the trophy for his work on Johnny Test, while Eric Geringas scored in the lifestyle/information category for Opening Soon.

‘It’s nice to have Johnny Test recognized by someone other than 12-year-old boys,’ Sherman quipped.

Best youth non-fiction series went to Make Some Noise from Omni Film Productions, while Kaleidoscope Entertainment won best general/human interest for Bathroom Divas: So You Want to Be an Opera Star? Odd Job Jack and Smiley Guy Studios went home with best cross-platform project, while best website went to Life with Derek. Living Vancouver on CBC in B.C. scored best lifestyle/info segment, while best preschool series went to Nelvana’s Backyardigans.

Full winners’ lists from the Geminis’ first two nights can be found at www.geminiawards.ca.