Written by: methodshop
on August 24, 2006.
Late-night host Conan O’Brien has what may be one of the earliest assignments ever: an Emmy gig three weeks before the traditional start of the fall season.
The August date for the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (NBC, Sunday, 8 ET/PT from Los Angeles) results from NBC’s return to NFL coverage, with Sunday Night Football coming in September. The New York-based host of Late Night with Conan O’Brien knows the timing seems strange.
“I’ve had relatives say, ‘Well, what are you going out there for in August?’ I’ll say, ‘That’s when the Emmys are.’ And they’ll be like, ‘What???’” says O’Brien, who received good reviews when he first hosted the ceremony in 2002.
As for his hosting strategy, O’Brien says, “I have a moronically simple system that seems to work for me, which is: If I’m having a good time, people tend to enjoy it.”
The Emmy scheduling will be fodder for humor, as will the controversy over the nomination process, which left out shows such as Lost and actors such as House’s Hugh Laurie.
But “you can’t go too far” playing to the industry crowd in the Shrine Auditorium at the expense of viewers, he says. “If I went out there and every joke was about (talent agencies) ICM, CAA and whether David Geffen is going to keep his beachfront rights or cede them to the people of Malibu, I might be killing in the Shrine, but you’d have a whole nation saying, ‘What the hell is he talking about?’”
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