Emmy Awards get Lynched on Fox

Last year, Jane Lynch got an Emmy.

This year, she gets the whole Emmy show.

Whichever network airs the television industry's big event, it usually enlists one of its top stars as host. Since it's Fox's turn, the actress who's now iconic as acerbic gym coach Sue Sylvester on "Glee" will preside over the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards from Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre on Sunday, Sept. 18.

"I think a little bit of Sue Sylvester goes a long way," reasons Lynch -- who was named outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for the 2009-10 season -- in considering whether she'll appear as her "Glee" alter ego during the Emmys. "There's some ideas out there for Sue, but I think we'll probably leave her tracksuit on the lot.

"This is kind of a necessary, energetic cocktail of excitement, participation and abject fear," Lynch adds of live television, which she also tackled by hosting NBC's "Saturday Night Live" last fall. "I started out in theater, and that's the high. There is no take two, so if you don't feel great about a moment, you just have to go to the next one. That's kind of a great life lesson, actually."

Lynch was one of the many participants in last year's Emmy opening number when Jimmy Fallon hosted the awards on NBC. "He was so relaxed," she recalls, "and the show was all about his energy, which is very open and funny and smart. I take great comfort in that."

The Sept. 18 date marks the Emmy telecast's return to its long-traditional slot, the night before the new television season officially begins. The most nominated program is the HBO miniseries "Mildred Pierce" with 21, while AMC's "Mad Men" leads regularly scheduled shows with 19.

"Survivor" mentor Mark Burnett is executive producer of the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards Awards, and he says Lynch "has been incredibly engaged. She's not a host who wants to be given lines. She's totally in the writers' room, having an equal number of ideas as the writers. That's a really good, fun experience."