WATCH: Neil Patrick Harris & Chorus Boys at Emmys

Although Tina Fey and Amy Poehler worked well as audience plants, taunting Neil Patrick Harris to twerk, it seems NPH (who also invited other previous hosts to mock him, including Jane Lynch, Jimmys Kimmel & Fallon, and Conan O'Brien) decided he'd stick to his beloved song and games. After the ho-hum opening bits, the tireless host finally gave the kids what they wanted halfway through last night's Emmys: a big singing, dancing spectacle called "The Number in the Middle of the Show," featuring Nathan Fillion, Sarah Silverman, and a chorus of Broadway babes. At one point, a rather smitten NPH requests "more of the guy who held me up before" -- and gets it!

Hey, it doesn't top his 2013 Tonys opening number, but what could? Our biggest concern, however, is whether NPH is transforming into his generation's Billy Cristal (who was an awards show host fave forever), or will he transcend his genius song-and-dance openers? We'll have to wait until we catch him in the role of a lifetime as Hedwig on Broadway in 2014.

[H/T to Buzzfeed for the GIF]

Watch the Emmys clip below: