When David Chase took the stage to accept the Television Critics’ Association Heritage Award for the cumulative run of “The Sopranos,” he said that he’d considered making a comment about the meaning of the finale of the series, then decided against it, but he did offer a very telling anecdote about the first time he ever saw “Planet of the Apes.”

“When the movie was over, I said to my wife, ‘Wow, so they had a Statue of Liberty, too!’ So, uh, that’s what you’re up against.”

Other Chase one-liners from the evening:

* “Here’s another clue for you all: the walrus was Paulie.”
* To critic Alan Sepinall, from The Star-Ledger, in Newark: “Would you explain to these people that it’s very possible to be sitting in a restaurant in New Jersey and everything just stops?”

Chase, by the way, wasn’t the only winner tonight:

Individual Achievement in Drama: Michael C. Hall (”Dexter”)
Individual Achievement in Comedy: Alec Baldwin (”30 Rock”)
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: “Planet Earth” (Discovery Channel)
Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming: “Kyle XY” (ABC Family)
Outstanding New Program: “Friday Night Lights” (NBC)
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: “Plant Earth” (Discovery Channel)
Outstanding Achievement in Drama: “The Sopranos” (HBO)
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: “The Office” (NBC)
Career Achievement Award: Mary Tyler Moore
Program of the Year: “Heroes” (NBC)

To bookend this posting with “Sopranos”-related anecdotes, Alec Baldwin accepted his award for his performance on “30 Rock” by telling a story about how he actually changed management because his new managers told him that they could get him on “The Sopranos.” A year later, there’d still been no meeting with David Chase…but an encounter finally came about rather accidentally. Baldwin was in NYC, on his way to a meeting about some charity work he was going to do, and due to an error, he ended up at the Four Seasons Hotel rather than the Four Seasons Restaurant. He made a mad run from one place to the other, ending up at the restaurant drenched in sweat. Upon meeting his party, he apologized and made a dash to the men’s room, where he promptly removed his shirt and stood topless as he held the shirt in front of the hot-air dryer…and who should walk in?

Suffice it to say that Baldwin never made it onto “The Sopranos.”

(Chase’s version of the story: “All I thought was, ‘Omigod, that’s Alec Baldwin, the famous actor!’ I didn’t even notice he wasn’t wearing a shirt!”)