Andy Samberg will be making his network TV awards show hosting debut
with the Emmys on September 20, and although the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star is cuter than a cupcake on a lazy Sunday, isn't
it about time that we retired this thankless position?
It’s not just the Emmys that don't need a host to steer the
ship, either. The SAG Awards practically fly by without one! By the time the
Oscars and Grammys are over, all of the snacks are gone, everyone is
squabbling over who won the betting pool, and things have just gotten downright
ugly.
Not to mention how dicey it can be for the hosts themselves. Even a seasoned professional like Neil Patrick Harris couldn't get away unscathed.
Although his opening number was great, the ongoing joke about that damn
briefcase (leave Octavia Spencer alone!) and other misfires took their toll on
Doogie and the audience alike.
Harris told the Huffington Post that he wasn't sure
he'd be up for a second go at the gig, even if he were invited back. "I
don't know that my family nor my soul could take it," he quipped.
"It's a beast. It was fun to check off the list, but for the amount of
time spent and the understandable opinionated response, I don't know that it's
a delightful balance to do every year or even again."
Additionally, this year's Oscar show ratings were the lowest
in six years, and that's not the only huge awards show that's hurting. Although
the Golden Globes' Nielsen ratings were strong, they were still
down from last year's, which means the dynamic duo of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler weren't enough of a draw for people on the fence about watching.
And, even Tina and Amy weren't immune to missteps. Although the Margaret Cho stunt was funny to some, Cho was still forced to
defend her appearance as a North Korean journalist. (A little inside baseball:
The Golden Globes are voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of international journalists who basically just go on fancy press trips and are courted by
studios. Just sayin'.)
Although we're
sure Samberg is up to the job, the Emmys would definitely go a lot faster without
more filler. Perhaps he could just do a killer opening number and then hang in the audience until it's over? Or, if he wanted to ditch the whole night and take us on a boat ride with T-Pain, that'd be something we'd love to discuss. (The Hollywood Reporter)