Eugene and Dan Levy Say They’re Taking a “Gentler Approach” to Emmys Hosting Gig

Father-son duo Eugene and Dan Levy will take a “gentler approach” to their Emmys hosting gig this Sunday. The TV stars said this week they hope to pay tribute to television with their spotlight.

“Just paying tribute to television, certainly the nominees, but to the medium that gave us both our starts,” Eugene said in a Los Angeles Times profile he shares with his son. “It’s always hit me in a funny way when jokes are done at the expense of people who are nominated — they’ve put in the work, and it’s their night, really, and you have to have enough respect for the awards show itself. Otherwise, why are we here?”

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Dan added they both want the show “to feel celebratory” while still maintaining “a bit of an edge.” Come Sunday, he and Eugene will be the first father-son duo to host television’s big night.

“People, from what I’ve been told, are kind of excited that we’re not hard-edged comics, that there will be a kind of warmth to the room,” Dan continued. “It’s trying to marry all of those things without being boring, ultimately. But we’re getting there.”

Eugene said the marriage of warmth and edge that Dan referenced hopefully results in “a kinder, gentler approach.”

“It’s true, we’re not comedians, but we’re kind of funny working together,” Eugene added. “It’s a relationship that was forged on Schitt’s Creek, and it seems to continue. It really works for both of us, and I guess for whoever said, ‘Come on and do it.'”

Elsewhere in the profile, Dan revealed that this year wasn’t the first time he and his father have been asked to host the ceremony.

“We were asked before and it didn’t feel like the right time for whatever reason,” he said. “Then we were asked again this year, and I think ran out of reasons not to do it. It seemed like a fun little challenge — not little, quite huge actually.”

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