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by Gina Serpe -- E! Online -- May 19, 2006 And the Emmy hosting gig goes to...the redhead with the Bob's Big Boy pompadour. Conan O'Brien has been tapped to host the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Aug. 27, the Academy of Television Sciences announced Friday. It'll be the Late Night host's second time as the ceremony's solo emcee, which he first manned in 2002. "Conan was a natural choice," NBC president Kevin Reilly said. "His comedic talent and hosting expertise coupled with his charm and spontaneity will make for a great show." "Conan did a tremendous job when he hosted the Emmys back in 2002 and we are thrilled that he's returning," said Dick Astin, chairman of the Television Academy. "His style of comedy and humor is sure to make this telecast a memorable one and we are thrilled to be working with him again." The peacock network will broadcast the Emmys for the first time since 2002, when O'Brien last hosted the black-tie affair, and will likely frontload the show with both established and up-and-coming in-house talent. While O'Brien has since up-and-came, when he first hosted four years ago, he was arguably far from being one of the network's star players, having yet to be named heir to The Tonight Show or influence even one foreign political election. Though the fiery-haired talk show host had been on the airwaves for nine years, he had yet to break through to the masses. His trademark schtick was revered by college students and sleep-deprived TV watchers alike, but he had not reached the more mainstream audience he has today. The gig proved a boon for both O'Brien and NBC, with that year's broadcast proving a ratings, critical and audience winner, averaging 19.8 million viewers and resulting in heaps of accolades for all his bits, from the then-relevant opening segment with the Osbournes, to his then-topical attempt to steal Jennifer Aniston away from Brad Pitt, eventually settling, in pre-Brokeback times, for Garry Shandling. The outing was so successful that O'Brien was asked back the following year as part of an experiment in group hosting, joining Ellen DeGeneres, Shandling, Brad Garrett, Jon Stewart, Darrell Hammond, George Lopez, Martin Short and Wanda Sykes in introducing various parts of the show. According to Variety, this year's ceremony is being held unusually early due to NBC's new Sunday fall football schedule as well as a desire not to hold the awards on the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, which also falls on a Sunday. Sept. 11, of course, is no stranger to thwarting Emmy plans, as the 2001 show was nixed, called off a second time, and eventually rescheduled as a more somber affair. While O'Brien be going solo this time around, he is counting on at least one ally. Longtime exec producer, and frequent subject of unexpected Late Night camera cuts, Jeff Ross will join the host in exec producing the kudoscast. This year's ceremony takes place Aug. 27 at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium. |