But according to the Hollywood Reporter, the choice of Seacrest is surprising and "a somewhat unorthodox pick" since the ceremony "usually is fronted by a comedian."

Sure, comics tend to dominate, like past emcees Ellen DeGeneres, Garry Shandling, Dennis Miller and Paul Reiser. But not always. In fact, exceptions are frequent. Sometimes mere actors are cast in the star Emmy role: like Michael J. Fox, David Hyde Pierce, Patricia Richardson, Jason Alexander and John Larroquette. True, those are comedic actors. But some past hosts have not been, like one of its most successful past ringmasters, Angela Lansbury.

It may have helped that Lansbury was a performer. A few non-actor ringmaster choices like Jane Pauley and Bryant Gumbel turned out to be huge disappointments.

But Seacrest knows how to hold forth from center stage on TV, having proven his skills on the tube's most popular show, "American Idol." Frequently, he's compared to Dick Clark, who, by the way, teamed up with Steve Allen to pull off the most miraculous of all past Emmy gigs: the ceremony boycotted by actors during a strike in 1980. Stand-ins ended up accepting the celebs' awards while the night turned out to be a salute to the tech and crafts folks by default. Somehow, strangely, and defying all odds, the wacky evening actually worked thanks to its deft emcees.