NBC has (predictably) chosen "Late Night" host Jimmy Fallon to host this year’s Emmy Awards.
Fallon became a leading contender to emcee the 62nd annual event once Conan O’Brien left the Peacock in January. O’Brien had hosted before and probably would’ve been enlisted again in order to help promote his stewardship of "The Tonight Show" — but then, you-know-what happened.
This year’s show will air live in all time zones on Sunday, August 29. Don Mischer is back as executive producer.
Some had thought NBC might try to enlist some of the stars of its Thursday comedy lineup to host the Emmys, though getting the most recognizable — Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Steve Carell, Alec Baldwin — would’ve come with a whole unique set of headaches, given all have busy movie careers and other commitments during summer hiatuses.
Fallon, by contrast, never gets more than a week or two off. And given all the recent latenight turmoil, he’d be hard-pressed to turn down the offer.
As Fallon himself put it, "Hosting the Emmys has been a dream of mine ever since they told me I was doing it."
