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Late night funny guy Jimmy Kimmel has a new gig, one that will allow viewers to see him much earlier in the evening, for one night at least.

The "Jimmy Kimmel Live" star make his debut as host of the 64 th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in September, organizers of the television industry's top honors announced today.

The 2012 Emmys will air live on Kimmel's home network, ABC, on September 23.  Kimmel himself took home a "Best Game Show Host" Emmy in 1999 as co-host of Comedy Central's long-running game show "Win Ben Stein's Money."

The "Live" host follows in the footsteps of fellow late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon who hosted the awards in 2010.  Last year's ceremony was hosted by "Glee" star Jane Lynch.

Kimmel gave a hint of his awards show hosting abilities earlier this year in a special post-Oscars show episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" that was considered a hit.  The show featured Oprah Winfrey as the special guest and a taped skit where Kimmel went to Winfrey's office to pitch show ideas, which led to sketches like Winfrey and Kimmel naked in a bathroom together and another called "Book Club Fight Club," a riff on Winfrey's famous book clubs.

Another highlight of Kimmel's post-show was an eight-minute-long fake movie trailer with celebrity appearances that included George Clooney, Charlize Theron, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Meryl Streep, among others, that had the look and feel of an awards show opening piece.

Kimmel, whose show is currently in its tenth season, will have an opportunity to test-run his hosting abilities, albeit to a different audience, when he hosts the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C., next month.