PRO: With a tested mettle for acerbic satire (she's a fixture in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries), the Emmy-winning "Glee" actress is Fox's official comedy icon. CON: If you don't watch "Glee," do you care?
Jane Lynch, who plays gnarly, snarly Sue Sylvester on Glee, will host the Emmy telecast on Fox on Sept. 18. This is insanely great, for these reasons:
1. Because failure is not an option for Sue Sylvester. Lynch was the big Emmy winner (for supporting comedy actress) in the year’s most-talked-about new comedy cast last year. Sure, Jimmy Fallon kicked butt in 2010 as Emmy host, killing with his Glee-ful version of Springsteen’s “Born to Run” and increasing the audience a teensy bit. But in the 18-49 demographic, ratings for the show were down from 8.8 in 2000 (with Garry Shandling hosting) to 4.1 in 2010. More success is necessary, and Lynch is just the dame to demand it. (Only two other dames have ever hosted solo: Angela Lansbury and Ellen DeGeneres.) She backed Fallon up on the Springsteen musical dance number. Fallon may be born to run, but coach Lynch can outrun him, in a nattier tracksuit, and spike his ankles as she sprints past him.
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2. Because she’s the scariest Emmy host since Robert Blake co-hosted with Angie Dickinson in 1977. Attendees at the Glee tour were handed out Sue Sylvester-issued barf bags (because the show was gonna suck, in Sue’s opinion, like everything connected with glee club). What will Emmy attendees get?
3. Because she’s already got her opening monologue memorized. She can just tell the jittery roomful of Emmy nominees what she once said to Will on Glee: “Let’s break it down. You want to be creative. You want to be in the spotlight. Face it: you want to be me.”
4. Because if Charlie Sheen crashes the Emmy stage, she’ll know just what to say. “Let me stop you right there!”
5. Because it would be cool to see her give herself an Emmy. So what if much-buzzed Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara of Modern Family beat her for supporting comedy actress this time? She’s the one with the walnuts to simply grab the doll with her own two hands instead of waiting around like a wimp for somebody else to make it happen. Sue’s a one-woman Sue Cheerio squad. If Sue’s not in Sue’s corner, who will be? One answer: the Emmy Awards audience. Of all the comedy top dogs making noise these days, Jane Lynch is the best in show.
