Like Oscars, Emmys to be held without a host this year

CALIFORNIA: Producers of the Emmy Awards telecast next month have decided to do without a host so the show can devote more time to celebrating popular series that have recently ended, an executive with Fox, the network that will broadcast the show, said on Wednesday.

Several popular and award-winning TV series concluded this year, including Game of Thrones, The Big Bang Theory and Veep. The Emmy Awards honoring the best of television will air on Sep 22.

Riz Ahmed became the first Muslim actor, as well as the first South-Asian actor, to win an acting Emmy when he took home the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series Sunday night. (MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS)

Hollywood awards shows typically feature a celebrity host who opens the show with a monologue and then keeps the program moving. This year’s Emmy producers decided to forgo the host and use the time freed up to honor outgoing series, Charlie Collier, chief executive of Fox Corp’s Fox Entertainment, said.

“If you have a host and an opening number, that’s 15 to 20 minutes you can’t use to salute the shows,” Collier told reporters at a Television Critics Association event. “We will go hostless this year, and I think it will give us more time to honor those shows.”

PHOTO: FILE

“There will be entertainment,” Collier added. “There will be an opening number. There will be surprises.”

The February ceremony for the Oscars, the film industry’s highest honors, had no host for only the second time in its history. Comedian Kevin Hart withdrew from the hosting job after past homophobic tweets resurfaced.

The Oscars ceremony won praise and the US television audience jumped 12% from the previous year.

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.