Homina, Homina, Homina: Hugh Laurie

Seems to me the guy isn't as up-to-date on information as he would like people to believe he is. i do not like tom o'neil. i did not like tom o'neil long before he knew hugh laurie or hugh laurie's fans even existed. i *will* give him this much: he's a fine historian when it comes to television and film awards. but, you know, history is *easy*. he is not, otoh, all that clued in on the present or future. he gets lucky sometimes. he's wrong most of the time. that's that. his track record is probably about the same as mine and i'm too lazy to memorize the stats, write a book or run a website. i'm just sayin'. i believe that hugh was a candidate. it's fox. they would throw out their own product while debating a host. hugh would make a good host. i also think that the reasons they didn't go with him could be considered legit though i'd flip them a bit and say that the reason they'd choose seacrest over hugh isn't because hugh would be inaccessible, but because seacrest is totally accessible. he does appeal to a wider audience than hugh does. they might be underestimating hugh's appeal, but it seems that that's pretty common. imo, o'neil was just using that column to take a dig at seacrest while propping hugh up a bit. Also, he spells "execs" as "exex" and thinks Band from TV is still called 16:9 i'd guess that "exex" is slang a la "variety speak", but yeah...they've had, like, fifty names between 16:9 and BFTV. a two second web search would tell him that. ot from that: walmart (evil, evil, evil walmart) is a jackpot when it comes to cheap hugh-related dvds. if anyone needs "man in the iron mask" it's in the 5$ bin right now. "flight of the phoenix" has been packaged with "big trouble in little china" (the latter of which kicks far more ass than the former) for 10$. they have the first two "stuart little" movies packaged together for 15$. and, weirdly, they finally have season three on display in a more prominent place than they had it the day it came out. it's not on sale or anything (or at least, it's not on sale at a competitive price), but it's mighty pretty sitting there on the shelf at eye level.

from bbc.com: Hugh Laurie was almost named the host of this year's Primetime Emmy telecast, reports Gold Derby's Tom O'Neil. The job ultimately went to Ryan Seacrest. "In the end, Fox decided to go with its Idol star over its House star because exex felt Seacrest would draw a larger TV audience and because viewers might be confused seeing Laurie in an unfamiliar role." Such a bad call. The guy's the quickest wit in television. and from Entertainment Weekly: Sadder still is the report from awards guru Tom O'Neil claiming that Fox almost chose Hugh Laurie to host the Emmys. Now, Laurie fans know that the House star is eminently qualified as a comic — as anyone who's seen his British TV shows with Stephen Fry (pictured at right, with Laurie) can attest — to emcee an awards broadcast. Even those who know him only as Dr. Crankypants know that he can be surprisingly funny amid the carnage on House (where he gets all the best lines) or have seen him deliver sparklingly witty awards acceptance speeches in recent years. Still, according to O'Neil, Fox decided that too few American viewers know of Laurie's extensive comedy résumé from his roles back home in England, and rather than confuse us, they hired the decidedly not funny but comfortably familiar Ryan Seacrest instead. In other words, it's as if Fox were telling us: "Hey, America, we get to host this party only once every four years, and we could have served you prime rib, and while everyone who's tried it thinks prime rib is delicious, the unfamiliar dish might have perplexed you, so we're going to serve you the same McDonald's cheeseburger you can get every day.... Oh, by the way, be careful, 'cause we're not sure what Justin and Andy packed in that Happy Meal box."

Even though I'll admit to finding li'l Ryan Seacrest kind of dishy -- yes, I know, I'm a heretic -- the world has been denied a great joy by Fox's decision (assuming such a decision was actually made). Now, instead of watching the entire Emmy broadcast in comedic rapture, I'll instead be thanking the gods that the wonderful Marykir had her finger poised over the fast-forward button all evening. (Well, I actually would've missed the Emmys anyway because I won't be home, but the sentiment still applies!) Truly unfortunate...

All that Tom O'Neill really has is that Hugh's name came up when they were considering a host. I'm sure it did, along with every other Fox star's name. Jeff Foxworthy would be another person I'm sure they mentioned. For all we know, they approached Hugh and he turned them down because he wouldn't have time to prepare and do it properly in the middle of filming House.

My guess would be that Hugh didn't want to do it.

I have to agree with Jouse. I can't imagine where Hugh would have had the time to prepare for it, given the mad rush to film before the possible writers' strike.

Actually I meant he wouldn't want to do it either way. He hates being on stage, unless it's behind a guitar or a piano.

I don't know which is infinitely stronger: my undying love for Hugh or my complete loathing of Wal-Mart. I fear the polarizing extremes would result in me just being ripped in two should I set foot on the premises. it sucks, but it's killed everything else in the city, so there is no alternative to it when you don't have time to go twenty minutes north or south. All that Tom O'Neill really has is that Hugh's name came up when they were considering a host. I'm sure it did, along with every other Fox star's name. Jeff Foxworthy would be another person I'm sure they mentioned. exactly. i actually don't know why they didn't try the multi-host system that nbc did a few years ago. it wasn't the best, but it was fairly entertaining. it was mostly comics (ellen, seinfeld, shandling, etc.), but fox could easily fill out each quarter of the show with someone from their network. and if you're looking to bring in different demos and more viewers overall then foxworthy, seacrest and hugh would be perfect as a team. For all we know, they approached Hugh and he turned them down because he wouldn't have time to prepare and do it properly in the middle of filming House. that was my theory. it really doesn't seem like there would be time to prep for it. seacrest already has twelve jobs, another one won't even phase him. hugh's one job is all consuming and they're running even tighter this year, so even if it was his dream job it would seem that there would be some serious talks regarding the logistics of it all.

i don't know why this damn thing won't let me edit, so it's the dreaded...double post!!!! Actually I meant he wouldn't want to do it either way. He hates being on stage, unless it's behind a guitar or a piano. he's mostly talked about hating being on stage as in doing theater. he's hosted things before. i don't think, based on anything he's said, that he would turn it down because of it being a hosting gig, i think he'd be more likely to turn it down because he didn't specifically want to do *that* hosting gig.

Interesting. Anyone who saw the programme Stephen Fry did 'The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive' will have seen SF absolutely terrified just before getting up & hosting a programme and convinced he was going to be terrible - I think it was an awards show - and of course on the surface SF is incredibly good at this kind of role and apparently MADE for hosting jobs; it was an astonishing insight into how he actually felt about it. One wonders if HL has any similar such feelings. HL is not of course manic depressive but has suffered from depression in the past IIRC.

Not to be the wet blanket, but maybe the decision was made to preserve Fox's big name. Think about it, if Hugh had a bad show like Letterman or Stewert had then there would be the fallout from that. Maybe after House is off the air then Hugh would be able to do the show without any potential fallout.

I remember David Hyde Pierce and Jenna Alfman did the best job I have ever seen one year. I also like it when they use different people instead of relying on the comedy stylings on one person. Get a good team of writers, a bunch of clever actors and guest presenters and it takes the strain off the host. We've all just cringed at some of the Oscars some years. Stephen used to do that for AIDS benefits and Comic Relief. He'd host and get all his friends to help with sketches. Some of those old Stephen/Hugh skits are still floating around You Tube even now. If we can't have Hugh I want that Scotty Guy from the Late late late show - I have no idea who Ryan Seacrest is. Is he funny? Let's just hope Hugh gets to do a fun presenting spot: 'poof - cinq' always cracks me up. And hopefully he might be teamed up with Stephen.

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