You’re not sick of Ricky Gervais hosting awards shows, not by a long shot.
The British entertainer topped our recent poll asking who should host ABC’s 2020 Emmys telecast on September 20, 2020. (That is, unless the ceremony ends up being postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, but that’s a discussion for another day.) Gervais, who has hosted the Golden Globes five times now, topped our poll results with a whopping 74% of the vote. The next people in line weren’t even close — Jimmy Kimmel nabbed 7%, John Mulaney received 6%, and everybody else earned less that 5%.
Of course, Emmy producers could also decide not to have a host at all — that’s what they did last year for the first time since 2003. The Television Academy was following the lead of the Oscars, which went host-less in 2019 and 2020 to mixed results. There’s no word yet on whether ABC will hire a ringleader for the upcoming ceremony, but 73% of our readers said they “missed” having a host last year.
Gervais is no stranger to the Emmy Awards, taking home one for producing the American version of “The Office” in 2006 and a second for starring in “Extras” in 2007. In one of the most hilarious Emmy moments ever, Gervais was not on-hand to accept the trophy for “Extras” so presenters Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert gave it to their friend Steve Carell (“The Office”). A year later, the joke was paid off when Gervais tried to take his statuette back from Carell, a perennial Emmy loser, but he hilariously refused (watch below).
The last two times the alphabet network produced the ceremony in 2012 and 2016, they hired the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” star as their emcee. Kimmel was such a success that ABC tasked him with hosting the biggest awards show of all — the Oscars — in 2017 and 2018. Now that Kimmel’s had a taste of the big leagues, would he really want to take a step backward by returning to the Emmy stage?
As for Mulaney, his star is definitely on the rise, going from relative obscurity to a world-renowned comedian in just a handful of years. He started out as a writer on “Saturday Night Live” and has since hosted the program three times (2018, 2019 and 2020). Mulaney has two Emmys on his mantle for Best Variety Special Writing (“John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City”) in 2018 and Best Original Music and Lyrics (“SNL’s” Justin Timberlake monologue) in 2011.
Be sure to make your Emmy nominations predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before the nominees are announced on July 14. And join in the thrilling debate over the 2020 Emmy Awards taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our TV forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
