Mariska Hargitay is set to host the 78th Emmy Awards, which will air on NBC on September 14.NBCUniversal announced Hargitay as host on Tuesday, one day before the nominations were announced. The show will also air on Peacock and will be held at the Peacock Theater, the longtime home of the Emmys and soon to also be home to the Academy Awards.Hargitay, 62, has long been a fixture at NBC as the star since 1999 of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” one of the longest-running dramas in television history. She has been nominated eight times for her role as Detective Olivia Benson, winning lead actress in a drama series in 2006. “SVU,” as it is known, is set to surpass 600 episodes with its 28th season airing this fall. Hargitay has used the platform to become an advocate for victims of sexual assault.She may be nominated again this year as director and producer of the documentary My Mom Jayne about her mother, Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay was also a fixture on television earlier this year as she sat in the front row for her beloved New York Knicks’ championship game at Madison Square Garden.The Emmys telecast rotates between the four broadcast networks even as nominations have become rarer in the streaming era.
Hargitay is the rare non-comedian to land the hosting job, held last year by Nate Bargatze on CBS.NBC is unlikely to see too many nominations in the major categories on Wednesday, although “Saturday Night Live,” the all-time Emmy winner, always gets its share.Apple TV+’s “Pluribus” and HBO Max’s “The Pitt,” starring former NBC star Noah Wyle, are expected to be among the frontrunners when they are announced by recent winners Lisa Colon-Zayas and Jeff Heller at the Television Academy in Los Angeles.
