Report: Neil Patrick Harris to host Tony Awards again

One year after he won an Emmy Award for hosting the 2009 Tonys, Neil Patrick Harris will return as emcee of the next Tonys, according to Deadline Hollywood. So far, Tony officials have not responded to our request for confirmation of the report.

Harris did such an impressive job hosting the Tonys in 2009 that he was tapped a few months later to preside over the Primetime Emmys telecast. Previously, he had hosted the Creative Arts Emmys and TV Land Awards, consistently receiving rave reviews. In March 2010, Harris made his next foray onto the stage of a top awards show by performing the opening musical act at the Oscars.

This year's Tonys will be held on June 12 at the Beacon Theatre in New York, telecast on CBS, which also broadcasts Harris' sitcom "How I Met Your Mother."

When the Tonys were nominated last year in the Emmys race for best special class program, Harris' name was inadvertently left off the ballot. The mistake was caught by The Envelope's forums moderator Chris "Boomer" Beachum and Harris' name was placed in competition along with the producers of the awardscast. When Harris won, he gave a shout-out of thanks to Boomer from the podium.

-- Tom O'Neil

Photo: Neil Patrick Harris hosting the 2009 Tony Awards. Credit: CBS

Comments

[anne]

No, Terrence, I'm not referring necessarily to Melisso Leo--I'm referring to the entire evening with Ricky Gervais amd his uncomfortable hosting of the Globes. That was the smut and insult part--and as to the profanity-- let's face it--after you've watched enough awards shows and seen many performers 'slip up' many times, it gets old and leads us to believe it's not spontaneous--it's just to shock unnecessarily. I'd like to think there are some shows that you could actually watch with your family and the awards shows used to be a favorite.

[Terrence]

Anne,

I presume you are referring to Melissa Leo. When you win an Oscar, we'll see how well composed you are. It was an obvious accident as evidenced by the her own reaction to the slip-up. The fact that people were/are so up in arms about it is ridiculous.

To your point, Neil Patrick Harris is a very enjoyable performer. You can't go wrong with him as a host.

[Bill]

I couldn't agree with "Anne" more. I am very glad that Neil Patrick Harris will host the Tony's. He did a terrific job last time, and has a very fine singing voice.

[anne]

I hope he is the host. He did a fine job--and kept it clean but entertaining. We don't need another show like the Golden Globes. I'm sure some people will disagree but I believe most viewers are sick of smut and 'accidental' profanity on awards shows.