The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards are just around the corner, but the Television Academy has yet to finalize who will actually be hosting the ceremony. Father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy—who co-created and co-starred in the Emmy-winning sitcom Schitt’s Creek—are reportedly in talks to co-host; however, no formal deal has been struck yet.
Meanwhile, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is still struggling to secure a host for next year’s 97th Academy Awards ceremony. The search has proved largely fruitless so far; both Jimmy Kimmel (who hosted the last two ceremonies) and John Mulaney (who became a frontrunner after going off on a Field of Dreams tangent while presenting earlier this year) have already turned down the Oscars gig.
Kimmel has long been an awards show staple, having hosted the Oscars four times (in 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024) and the Emmy Awards three times in total (in 2012, 2016, and 2020). The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host was also reportedly offered this year’s Emmys hosting gig, but declined. While it’s not a huge surprise that he wanted a breather, his decision to bow out could subtly mark the end of an era.
In the past, late-night stars were virtually always the go-to hosts for major award shows. On the Oscars front, Johnny Carson hosted the ceremony a whopping five times, Jon Stewart hosted in 2006 and 2008, and David Letterman hosted in 1995; SNL‘s Chevy Chase hosted the Oscars in 1987 and 1988 while Billy Crystal hosted an impressive nine times between 1990 and 2012.
As for the Emmys, there have been too many late-night stars hosting to count, including Carson, Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and Stephen Colbert, as well as Michael Che and Colin Jost (who shared the gig in 2018).
The Schitt’s Creek duo potentially stepping up to the plate for this year’s Emmys suggests that Hollywood could be veering away from the tried and true late-night route when it comes to hosting. While Eugene Levy was part of Second City Television (SCTV), a Canadian sketch show similar to SNL, he and Dan manning the Emmys would certainly shake things up.
Regardless, awards shows may be in need of a major shake-up in general. January’s Emmys ceremony, which was hosted by Anthony Anderson and delayed from 2023 due to the dual Hollywood strikes, saw record-low ratings. On the other hand, this year’s Oscars—with Kimmel at the helm—saw a slight bump in viewership with an estimated 19.5 million viewers (Barbenheimer may have had something to do with that). However, that’s still a far cry from the 43.7 million who tuned into the Oscars in 2014.
There are a number of possible reasons why late-night stars like Kimmel are no longer gunning to host awards shows. From an outside perspective, it might seem puzzling that two of the most iconic Hollywood ceremonies would have such a hard time finding someone who wants to host. However, the harsh reality of the intense preparation, time commitment, and high pressure involved makes the gig seem a little less glamorous.
“I did not think I would ever do it again,” Kimmel candidly told the Los Angeles Times of hosting the Oscars in February. “I know how much work goes into them, so I thought, ‘Yeah, I don’t necessarily want to do this ever again.’”
Additionally, there’s always the possibility of the host completely bombing onstage. Just ask Letterman, whose infamous 1995 performance was so widely panned that The Atlantic even dubbed it “the gold standard of Oscar bombing.”
Obviously, many things in the industry have changed since that fateful night Johnny Carson took the stage at the 1979 Oscars and famously quipped, “Welcome to two hours of sparkling entertainment spread out over a four-hour show.”
While the days of relying on late-night stars to host Hollywood’s most high-profile awards show could be coming to a bittersweet close, figures like Eugene and Dan Levy potentially taking over also opens the door for exciting new possibilities.
The 76th Emmy Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, September 15 at 8 p.m. ET.
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