Because there is a God -- and also because there was presumably a wonderful oversight by a network executive -- Jimmy Kimmel will be hosting the Emmys this Sunday.
I don't think they know what this guy has in him.
Jimmy Kimmel has secretly been hosting the best late night show on TV -- and the only actually funny monologue -- for the last year. Now he's finally getting rewarded for it.
See, no one quite gets (and subsequently capitalizes upon) how weird and antiquated events like talk shows and award banquets are nowadays quite like Jimmy Kimmel does. Did you ever think about how weird it is that America has six people doing a variety show with the same exact format almost every weekday of the year at the same time? Well, it's clear Jimmy Kimmel has.
We've had late night shows in America for more than a half-century and no one thought to do something like print out a 10'-by-10' photograph of Jennifer Love Hewitt's cleavage and present it to her mid-interview until last year.
I'd tell you to get ready for that sort of thing on Sunday night, but expect something even gutsier.
We got a chance to talk to Jimmy Kimmel while he was taking a break from writing the show. He gave us a brief hint about Sunday night, then he made fun of Honey Boo-Boo for a few minutes.
Hulu: We saw your spread in TV Guide Magazine. You looked very pretty.
Jimmy Kimmel: Well, that's very nice of you to say. But the feedback I mostly got was that I was the ugliest woman anyone has ever saw. People who didn't know it was me were walking around saying things like, "Who is that ugly woman?"
That's what I got from everyone except for the "Breaking Bad" one. I sent it off to Bryan Cranston and he thought I was sending him a picture of himself.
So we're really excited about Sunday. We love your show, obviously, but it'll also be a de facto reunion of the Handsome Men's Club, which was hilarious.
Thanks for that. Yeah, a lot of those guys will be in attendance. I don't want to give away too much, but you're on the right track when you bring that up, definitely.
You're still doing shows this week, right?
Yeah. In hindsight, I'm not sure that was such a great idea.
You must be exhausted, then.
Well, I used to do morning radio. I used to have to be up at 4:30 a.m. anyway, then I'd do the show, then I'd do a game show ("Win Ben Stein's Money") all the way through the afternoon and at night. But it's one of those things where we didn't anticipate it, but we were up until 3 a.m. last night still writing and figuring out parts of the show.
So are you too tired to get nervous?
I don't get nervous doing my own show. I'm sure I will before this, though. There's no getting around it. In a way that helps. You should be a little bit nervous. It makes you sharper.
So we were watching your show a couple of nights ago and we found out that you were one of the riskiest search terms on Google (for accidentally seeing something generally disgusting). How the hell did that happen? Do you have naked photos online?
I don't, but maybe people are looking for them. I was weirdly flattered to be one of the riskiest search terms, even if that means my name is probably giving people a computer virus.
So is this whole Emmys thing some sort of ruse to get your name lower on that list? Or higher on that list?
This is me working with the people at Norton AntiVirus and McAfee to bring down the whole internet.
I knew there was something fishy about this whole ceremony.
That is our strategy to bring people back to television: To destroy the Internet.
Speaking of destroying the Internet, we should probably bring up your Youtube challenges. So if you could get any one celebrity to participate in one -- to have their parents pre-chew their food, for example -- who would it be?
Oh, it would have to be Justin Bieber. You put him on anything and the entire world drops everything to watch it.
What are you watching on TV, by the way? And -- with all of those nominees that kind of lend themselves to this sort of thing -- do you binge watch shows?
I do. Here's my new philosophy: If more than 10 people make an impassioned plea to me that they have to watch a show, I will watch that show. There are certain shows, like "Homeland," where people were telling me I had to watch it. I just hadn't seen it. And once I finally did get a hold of it, I watched all of the episodes in about four minutes. I do do that with shows. There are so many shows that I need to get to but I haven't yet.
What are your favorite shows right now and what's on the list (for the future)?
On my permanent list: "Game of Thrones" is a favorite. "Breaking Bad." I'm excited "Homeland" is coming back. "Modern Family." I'm just going through my TiVo list now. We watch "The Office." "Girls." "Veep." There's so many shows it's embarrassing.
So what're your thoughts on "Girls?"
I love "Girls." It showed me a world I didn't really know existed, and I'm fascinated by it. I really am.
Is there a show not a lot of people have heard of that you'd like to give some attention to.
That's a tough question. For some reason, there are a couple of terrible reality shows that come to mind, but I bet people have heard of them. I'll put it in the back of my head and get back to you.
Then name one of those reality shows instead.
I have to say: This "Honey Boo-Boo" show, it almost makes me want to cry. It's so terrible in every way, and yet, it is hard to take your eyes off of. With that said, Obama needs to send a chopper in there and Child Protective Services needs to go in.
Ben Collins is an Associate Editor at Hulu. He has volunteered his services to the United States government for the raid of Honey Boo-Boo's home. You can email him here or follow him on Twitter @globsoundtrack.