Sean Evans has been hosting his chicken-wing eating interview series โHot Onesโ for 11 years, and he can still remember exactly what the show felt like when he wasnโt entirely sure anyone was watching.ย
โFrom the first couple of episodes, weโd have guests stand up on the tables and do laps around the studio,โ Evans tellsย Variety. โThere was such gonzo chaos. I knew that the way it would translate to video would be unlike anything anyoneโs ever seen before.โย
Four billion views later, the YouTube series enters this Emmy cycle in a newly merged category. Earlier this year, the TV Academy folded talk and scripted variety into a single outstanding variety series race, putting Evans in direct competition with late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert, along with the long-running sketch comedy โSaturday Night Live.โ For a show that has spent more than a decade getting clicks and views, being filed under โlate nightโ is validating, and the merger feels like a coronation waiting to pop for aspiring creators.ย
โโHot Onesโ is a show thatโs very much influenced by the traditional talk shows that have come before us,โ Evans says. โWe have this unique, novel, internet-y hook with the wings. But overall, weโve always thought of it as a traditional late-night
talk show.โย
Evansโ Emmy submission, a Kate McKinnon episode he calls โa good reflection of the show,โ will be judged against the work of Colbert, whose CBS run ended in May. The slow-rolling collapse of traditional late-night shows has been the theme of the past year, with the FCC pressuring broadcasters, network economics imploding and streaming gobbling up all of the leftovers. Evans, who built his platform entirely on YouTube, is not dancing on the grave. On the contrary, heโs still celebrating it.ย
โYou can take away someoneโs show,โ Evans says, echoing what Letterman told Colbert on his final episode. โBut you canโt take away their voice. The reason I fell in love with show business, in an early, core memory way, was the lights, camera and action of it all. The Ed Sullivan Theater, the crowd is full, the curtain pulls, people are cheering, and David Letterman walks out. As much as Iโve benefited from this, it is a bitter pill for me to swallow โ the idea that the aspirational, swing for the fences show business is being replaced by being the No. 1 podcast on Spotify.โย
The format has produced enough genuine moments to make the โgimmickโ label hard to sustain. Conan OโBrien called his โHot Onesโ appearance the best interview heโs ever done. Gordon Ramsay, the guest Evans calls the most nerve-wracking booking of his career, has become a friend. Evans points to a specific signal for when an interview is working: โI look for a shoulder drop. The guest realizes that itโs not a normal interview show, and that goes beyond the scorching hot
chicken wings.โย
The broader case Evans is making this season has nothing to do with chicken. It is that YouTube is television, and pretending otherwise has become indefensible. The platform recently acquired the rights to air the Academy Awards, beginning with the 101st ceremony in 2029, a move Evans sees as the natural next step.
โYouTube is good at these big swings,โ he says. โIf you want monoculture moments, this is where these things need to live.โย
Asked whether he would ever host the Oscars himself, Evans demurred before saying, โYes.โ ย
But can he sing? It is a helpful hosting trait to have while emceeing Hollywoodโs biggest night.
He chuckles, saying, โI guess Iโll have to lean into it and see how it goes.โ
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