Tom Hanks was beaming backstage after having picked up the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries for his work producing the HBO 10-parter The Pacific, the $200 million-plus project that was the most expensive in TV history. Hanks, who with Playtone partner Gary Goetzman exec produced the mini with Steven Spielberg, began by expressing mock outrage that The Amazing Race didn’t win for top reality competition series. “What?” he screamed. “You’re kidding!” He then expressed his wish that more miniseries had been nominated, beyond The Pacific and the Masterpiece Theatre project Return to Cranford. “There are a lot of themes and stories for which miniseries is the perfect medium for them to be told,” Hanks said. “We are all storytellers, and this was a terrific story to be able to tell over the eight years it took to get it done. That’s the great thing about HBO. It isn’t standard television at all. They let us say and do what we wanted. There are no act breaks for commercials and no specific time frame. They give you absolute and total freedom to tell your story and explore your theme in the best way possible. If you have millions to spend, you’d sure as hell better come through or you’re in big trouble.” – Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline Hollywood’s Emmy coverage.