If next month’s Academy Awards go the way of the Golden Globes, then the organizers behind this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards — held in Los Angeles Sunday night and broadcast on two cable networks — will be commended for doing a marvelous job of injecting some pomp and passion into the award season mix.

If this is the only red carpet we’re going to get, then Sunday’s event gave us a few golden memories on which to go out.

Unlike the Globes, which went to air amid the current Writers Guild of America strike earlier this month with a truncated press conference in lieu of an awards ceremony, all indications are that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is committed to filling a full three-hour programming hole on February 24. But as the odds build that the strike will not be resolved by then, all eyes turned instead to the SAG Awards Sunday, mostly because the ceremony was granted waivers by the WGA and was attended by the biggest names in the business.

Purely in terms of glitz, the SAG Awards did a perfectly adequate job. Fashion buffs tuned in early for all the red-carpet coverage, and as the awards got under way, the evening opened with a cavalcade of stars talking into the camera and recalling their very first acting jobs. By the time the evening reached its end, even Tom Cruise was there, strutting across the stage and bestowing the evening’s final award for “Outstanding Performance by a Cast” to the Coen brothers’ “No Country for Old Men.”

While it was the stars who attracted the television audience, there were still a few surprises to be found in the awards department. Sunday’s telecast marked one last public outburst of love for the HBO series “The Sopranos,” which was honored with awards for lead actor James Gandolfini, lead actress Edie Falco, as well as Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

NBC’s “30 Rock” was the hit comedy series of the year, taking honors for lead actor Alec Baldwin and lead actress Tina Fey. But two stars do not the best show make, and the award for Outstanding Comedy Ensemble went to NBC’s “The Office,” which has been reduced to strike-created reruns since mid-November.

The evening’s sole surprise came during the movie portion of the ceremony, when Ruby Dee was honored for her supporting role in “American Gangster.” Seen as a long-shot nominee when the Oscar nominations were announced last week, Ms. Dee’s win at the SAG Awards must surely elevate her to something of a front-runner for the Academy Award. With Oscar ballots set to be mailed to voters this Wednesday, Ms. Dee’s stunned reaction and graceful acceptance speech may have a similar impact of a Golden Globes win in most years, raising her profile in the eyes of voters just as they are poised to make their final decisions.

As expected, Julie Christie won the top award for a female actor for her work in “Away From Her,” and the same went for Javier Bardem, who won for his supporting performance in “No Country for Old Men.” Daniel Day-Lewis was honored as the top male actor for his vicious performance in “There Will Be Blood.”

It’s tempting to say that “No Country for Old Men,” winner of the evening’s highest honor, gained momentum in its bid for Best Picture at the Oscars. But in truth, the evening’s four other nominees for the top prize — “3:10 to Yuma,” “American Gangster,” “Hairspray,” and “Into the Wild” — have not even been nominated for Best Picture, serving as yet another indication of just how wide open this contest was before Oscar nominations were finally announced on January 22.

What could help out “No Country for Old Men” is the fact that it was the only Best Picture nominee even discussed during the SAG ceremony. The best indicator, though, may be that Joel and Ethan Coen were singled out by the Directors Guild of America at its award show a day earlier. For 53 of the DGA’s 59 years, the body’s winner has gone on to win at the Oscars, indicating that “No Country” remains the running favorite among the Academy’s voters.

ssnyder@nysun.com