Creative Arts Emmys Producer Explains Why Having No Host Is Key to Keeping the Ceremonies Short

variety.com:

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large [Above: Emmanuel Acho celebrated at the 2021 Creative Arts Emmys after winning for “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man.”] There’s a reason why event producer Bob Bain didn’t employ a host for this year’s two Creative Arts Emmy ceremonies.

He has 45 awards to give out on Saturday, Sept. 3, and 48 categories to honor on Sunday, Sept. 4 — which means there’s little time for anything else. “If you think about it, the biggest challenge for a host is that once you have him or her, you have to justify them being up there,” Bain says. “For us to create, over the course of two hours, six or eight throws or standups for a host, just takes up more time than we feel we need to spend.” Instead, the two Creative Arts ceremonies will open with short monologues, while other comedic breaks will be sprinkled throughout the shows.

But Bain’s goal is to bring these shows in at between two and two-and-a-half hours, before sending the audiences on to the post-show Governors Galas (formerly known as the “Ball”) on each night. “It’s pacing,” Bain says. “If I had to put my job into one word, that’s it.

We’re still learning, but we’ve got it down to a science because we’ve been doing this now for six or seven years. It really is about moving through this material as quickly as you can and peppering the proceedings with very short variety pitstops, so that people don’t get too bored with the inherent monotony of the process.” Bain doesn’t want to give away what those breaks might include, but he hints at comedic jabs at the way we watch TV today — such as a bit that will take on the ubiquitous “skip credits” button now found at the start of most streaming series.