I guess Hollywood just can’t help itself, since Sunday night’s host-less 2019 Emmy Awards opened with a cheesy bit involving Homer Simpson (who can do no wrong) and a game Anthony Anderson.

But, in this case, it was harmless — and it set the stage for a telecast that was breezy, entertaining and thankfully devoid of that boring opening monologue (or political grandstanding, always an unnecessary buzzkill — but Patricia Arquette and Michelle Williams came close in accepting their respective statuettes).

With ratings having tumbled to record lows last year, the TV Academy opted to go without a host for the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, hoping the novelty (in terms of entertainment factor) would pay off.

It did, and lesson learned: Show the clips, present the awards and keep the awkward banter between presenters to a minimum. (On that note, is there a show that Ken Jeong will not appear on?) I was shocked how quickly the first 30 minutes of the telecast whizzed by. Do not change this format. Ever. And, next year, lose the largely unseen voiceover guy (tuxedo-clad Thomas Lennon, sounding really embarrassed throughout the telecast. #Superfluous).

Did anyone except me actually listen to what he was saying? (I HAD to listen.)

But please bring Bob Newhart back. Newhart, who turned 90 a few weeks ago, hasn’t lost a (comedy) beat, and saved a creepy sketch (wax figures of George Burns and Lucille Ball) from descending into infamously tasteless territory.

Do not change this format. Ever.

Newhart to Ben Stiller: “This legend is gonna kick your ass!”

The energy level at the Microsoft Theater in downtown LA — and on this year’s network home, Fox — was consistent, allowing a telecast that flowed smoothly and steadily. It even finished by the anointed hour of 11 p.m., no small feat when it comes to notoriously bloated awards shows.

I’m normally checking my watch, waiting (hoping!) for an awards show to end. Sunday night’s telecast was an exception. Those are three hours of my life I didn’t regret losing to an awards show.

Yes, there was the occasional early stumble. The Maya Rudolph/Ike Barinholtz “We just had Lasik surgery” exchange, in which they purposely mangled the Best Comedy Actors’ names (Bill Hader won for “Barry”) went on way too long. And it wasn’t funny.

But hey, it happens. For the most part, those exchanges were kept in check.

I could’ve done without the lame Best Variety Show musical intro, which dragged the show down just a bit during its midpoint. It’s almost as if the show’s producers thought they had to compensate for the lack of a host. (They didn’t.) This isn’t the Oscars. No one wants to see a musical number on the Emmys. Trust me.

None of this, of course, means that viewers will return in droves to next year’s Emmys, since they had no previous indication that Sunday night’s telecast would be any different from years past. But if the TV Academy and host networks hew closely to this type of format in the future — sans the pointless voiceover guy — it could go a long way to restoring viewer interest in what, on Sunday night, was a fun, enjoyable evening.