This Sept. 18, 2016 file photo shows the main stage during the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. There will be no host at the ceremony honoring TV’s best next month. Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier said Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019, that going host-less allows more time to salute departing shows, including “Game of Thrones.” (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) --
The Oscars did it, and now the Emmys will too. There will be no host at the ceremony honoring TV's best next month.
Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier said Wednesday that going hostless allows more time to salute departing shows, including "Game of Thrones."
The HBO fantasy saga, which ended its run this past season, is the top nominee with a record-setting 32 nominations.
Collier said producers would have considered possible hosts and checked on their availability for the Sept. 22 ceremony. The Fox executive didn't directly address whether anyone had declined.
The Emmy show rotates among the top broadcast networks.
The Oscars ran into trouble when last year's planned host, Kevin Hart, stepped down following a backlash over his past homophobic tweets. The search for a replacement proved fruitless.
Television producer Mark Burnett, left, looks on as President Donald Trump arrives for the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 2, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Mark Burnett, the power producer who helped reintroduce Donald Trump to a national television audience with "The Apprentice," is being tapped by the president-elect as special envoy to the United Kingdom in his upcoming administration.
"With a distinguished career in television production and business, Mark brings a unique blend of diplomatic acumen and international recognition to this important role," Trump announced Saturday.
Burnett, who was born in London, helped produce hits like "Survivor" and "The Voice," but is perhaps best known for teaming up with Trump for "The Apprentice," which first aired on NBC in 2004.
Trump had been well-known in real estate and pop culture circles for decades. But the show helped again make him a household name — though Trump severed ties with NBC in 2015, the same year he launched his first White House run.
The selection of Burnett continues Trump's trend of filling out his incoming administration with people who have high-profile backgrounds in television or politics, or both — including his choice to be defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, a former co-host of "Fox & Friends Weekend," and ex-television doctor and unsuccessful Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz.
Trump's first campaign in 2016 was rocked by allegations about his conduct on "The Apprentice" and other appearances during his association with NBC, notably in footage in which he said he could sexually assault women and get away with it because he was a "star."
Almost a decade after he left his reality TV role, Trump's television career remains central to his biography and political rise. The show presented Trump Tower to tens of millions of people as a symbol of power and success before Trump launched his first... Read More