DENIS LEARY - LEARY 'OFFENDED' BY UN-FUNNY EMMY HOSTS

LEARY 'OFFENDED' BY UN-FUNNY EMMY HOSTS

Actor/comedian DENIS LEARY has blasted the reality TV hosts of Sunday night's (21Sep08) 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - because their lack of comic timing "offended" him.
Network executives capitalised on the growing reality TV craze by bestowing the M.C. honour upon the hosts of five popular U.S. shows - American Idol's Ryan Seacrest, Project Runway's Heidi Klum, Dancing with the Stars' Tom Bergeron, Deal or No Deal's Howie Mandel and Survivor's Jeff Probst.
And Leary is furious producers didn't consider him or one of his more talented colleagues for the gig - because he insists he saw them all cringing in the audience as the ceremony unfolded.
He says, "I don't mind losing, I'm just happy to be there. Which sounds cliche, except last night I went from being happy to be there to being incredibly bored.
"And I had no empathy for how bad these five hosts were. And after opening I was like, you know what? I want to see them crash and burn on live TV - I want to see them melt - except for Heidi Klum, I love her.
"I was offended as a comedian... I'm so sick and tired of people saying, 'You just write funny lines and put anybody up there' - No, to be funny is actually a job and it takes required training.
"I have material left over from Fashion Rocks, if they said to me, 'Hey, the whole show is crashing and burning. Can you get up there?' I could've been funnier than what was going on.
"And it just offended me as a comedian that this is what Hollywood thinks: That you put these four (sic) reality show announcers up there and they're going to run the show? No, it doesn't work that way. It takes years of drinking and self-abuse."