Canadian comedy legend Eugene Levy, 77, and son Dan Levy, 41, are pegged to host the 76th Emmy Awards on Sept. 15. But for the Schitt’s Creek stars, who will become the first ever father-son duo to host television’s biggest award show, making Emmy history is nothing new.
During the great Schitt’s Creek Emmy sweep of 2020, the show became the first TV series ever to sweep all seven major award categories: Lead Actor/Actress, Supporting Actor/Actress, Writing, Directing and Outstanding Comedy Series. And with Eugene picking up the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series award and son Dan nabbing the Supporting trophy – as well as sharing the Outstanding Comedy Series award for the show they co-created and executive produced – the pair became the first father-son duo to win major Emmys in the same year.
In a statement about the hosting gig this year, the Levys said that, “For two Canadians who won our Emmys in a literal quarantine tent, the idea of being asked to host this year in an actual theatre was incentive enough.”
Of course, Eugene and Dan Levy are no strangers to sharing a stage. Schitt’s Creek aside, the pair kicked off the pre-COVID lockdown SAG Awards in January 2020 with a memorable bit in which they joked that they were not, in fact, the hosts, as they wouldn’t reappear throughout and the show and, more importantly, they were not being paid.
Almost a year later, in February 2021, Dan Levy hosted Saturday Night Live – a gig that his father had been booked to perform, along with fellow Canuck John Candy, in March 1985, before a writer’s strike shut production down. Neither Eugene Levy nor Candy ever got to host the show but, 36 years later, with Dan at the helm, Eugene made a cameo during the monologue. Confined to a glass box, he joked that he’d flown in to support his son but was forced to isolate as a COVID precaution following his flight.
In addition to hosting the Emmys this year, the elder Levy – who was inducted into the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame in February – could also go home with a statuette himself. His travel series The Reluctant Traveler With Eugene Levy, is nominated for two Emmys: Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series Or Special and Outstanding Writing For A Nonfiction Program.
Levy spoke with Zoomer about The Reluctant Traveler – in which he travels around the world to explore incredible and unique hotels – for the magazine’s April/May 2023 cover story and noted that he actually wasn’t a good fit for the series.
“I’m not an explorer,” he quipped. “I’m not a curious person by nature. I have a very low sense of adventure. I have a natural phobia of heights. I don’t like the creepy crawly things you find in jungle-type situations. Am I scared for my life? No. Do I enjoy it? No.”
By the end, however, he explained the ethos that guides him now, after more than five decades in entertainment, which allows him to be a great travel show host and, no doubt, Emmys host alongside his son in September.
“I’m not wound quite so tight anymore,” he said. “Not too much rattles me now. I’ve learned to relax, let the lines drain out of my face, take everything in, and just be who I am.”
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