12 People Who Should Have Hosted the Emmys Instead of Seth Meyers

Seth Meyers did a perfectly inoffensive jobof hosting the Primetime Emmy Awards last night. Instead of big song and dance numbers or pre-produced set pieces, he mostly used the night to showcase the talents of his friends Amy Poehler, Andy Samberg, Billy Eichner, and others. Most of them, however, ended up being a lot funnier than Seth himself. Along with several hilarious presenters and award-winners, it was clear that there were a dozen people in the room last night better suited for the job.

Here they are in no particular order:

1. Weird Al

One of the reasons to dedicate three hours or more to these awards shows is to see parodies ofthe year’s best shows. “Weird Al” Yankovic (who’s havingan unbelievable year) delivered the goods.

2.Andy Samberg

While introducing Weird Al, Andy made a joke about co-hosting, but Seth quickly put him in his place. Sad because, as Andy demonstrated while doing his best King Joffrey impression, only one of them was willing to get down in the comedydirt.

3. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Bryan Cranston

Julia and Bryan cracked us up last weekand kept the laughs coming last night. When presenting an award,they reminded everyone that Bryan played Elaine’s dentist boyfriendonSeinfeld. Then, when Julia won the Emmy for Veep, they rekindled the romance in front of their spouses and a few million of their closest friends.

4.Sarah Silverman

When Sarah won her Variety Special Writing Emmy last night, she charmed (and maybe confused) a lot of people with her reminder that “we’re all just made of molecules and we’re hurling through space right now.” In her red carpet interview, she talked about her boobs, skewered E!, and showed off her marijuana vape pen on live television.

5.Ricky Gervais

We know Ricky Gervais is capable of the snarkneeded to keep a big TV audience entertained for several hours. He’s can even pull of a whiny rant about never winning any Emmys. Get Ricky and Jon Hamm a room.

6.Amy Poehler

Amy took the stage a couple oftimes last night. First she presented the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.“I am honored to announce the first award of the evening: best onscreen orgasm in a Civil War reenactment.” She returned to help Seth introduce Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Bothappearances served as remindersthat she would have been a better choice for host, with or without Tina.

7.Jimmy Kimmel

Award shows are a great opportunity to takebeautiful, successful people down a peg or two, and no one did a better job of it last night than Kimmel. He also gaveSeth a clinic in hosting (and roasting) with a two-minute joke blitz.

8. Billy Eichner

Seth Meyers’ smartest move was to throw his friend Billy Eichner a very big bone. Billy on the Streetis one of the best recurring series on Funny or Die, and now a few million more people know to look out for him when walking around midtown Manhattan.

9.Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert managed to make us chortle without even saying a word; all he did was whisper in stage-crasher Jimmy Fallon’s ear. As Fallon’s future competition, he probably won’t be asked to host the Emmys broadcast on NBC any time soon, but just imagine what he would do with it.

10. Sofia Vergara

The lowest point of the evening came when Sofia Vergara was blatantly used as a sex object to entertain viewers while Television Academy CEO Bruce Rosenblum spoke. Before the rotating pedestal, she was charming and plenty compelling. Let her shine next time, Emmys.

11. These Two Texans

Several folks took a swing at Matthew McConaughey’s signature “Alright, alright, alright.” Woody Harrelson hit it out of the park. I’d wager that most of the planet would be happy if these two hosted . . . everything.

Thanks a milly, Marshall!