Actor Neil Patrick Harris, best known as the star of TV comedy “How I Met Your Mother,” will host the prime-time Emmy Awards in September, organizers said on Monday. The selection of Harris, 36, marks a return to a more traditional hosting format for the annual ceremony, which hands out television's top honors and is broadcast live in the United States. Last year, in a nod to the impact of reality TV, the job of hosting the prime-time Emmys was given to five reality show emcees whose ad-libbed presentation and lack of rehearsal was widely panned by critics. Harris hosted Broadway's Tony Awards in New York in June and with his teenage start has a long career on TV, in movies and on the stage. “We already knew Neil as a fantastic actor and performer, but after blowing everyone away as host of this year's Tony Awards, we couldn't think of anyone better to emcee the television industry's biggest award show,” said Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment which will air the show Sept. 20. Nominations for the 61st prime-time Emmys are due to be announced in Los Angeles on Thursday.
