Emmys 2019: Homer Simpson, Anthony Anderson and Bryan Cranston tag team opening monologue

The 2019 Emmy Awards famously announced it would be going without a host this year, but the ceremony opened with an unlikely trio of television legends: Homer Simpson, Anthony Anderson and Bryan Cranston.

The Simpsons animated patriarch kicked off the show on Sunday evening, dressed in a tuxedo and digitally rendered on stage as the broadcast went live.

"This has been my impossible dream," Homer Simpson said earnestly as the audience laughed along.

His appearance was short-lived, however, as he was crushed by an animated piano falling on to the stage.

Thankfully, Black-ish star Anthony Anderson was there to pick up the slack, as the camera panned to the audience and the 49-year-old sprung to his feet.

"We will get this back on track," he said, bounding on to the stage and calling for Empire actress Taraji P. Henson for support.

The camera followed Anderson behind-the-scenes as he rushed "to save the Emmys", pausing to fix his make-up for dramatic effect.

Searching for an answer to the host-less awards show, while encouraging his mother to shove as many of the iconic trophies into her purse as she could, he ran through the wings, passing frantic crew members.

"What we need is an Emmy winner," he mused.

"Someone who can talk about the power of television."

The answer was the "perfect" Bryan Cranston, who was relaxing backstage having a coffee.

Dragged on to the stage by Anderson and seemingly startled by the sudden shift to host, the Breaking Bad star took it in his stride.

"Fifty years ago Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and through the power of television 600 million people and 53 million households walked with him," Cranston said, the crowd chuckling as he continued to feign surprise at his sudden hosting role.

"Fifty years later, television still transports us to far away places like Winterfell, the Upside Down, even paradise, and it welcomes us into a family home... "

Cranston eventually transitioned into announcing the first category, Best Supporting Actor, which was won by Tony Shalhoub in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.