On Sunday night, Cedric the Entertainer was given the nearly impossible task of hosting a major awards show during a global pandemic. And viewers of the 2021 Emmys say he more than succeeded, with 42% of our poll respondents giving him a perfect “A” grade. This group voted that the stand-up comedian and actor of “The Neighborhood,” “The Soul Man” and “Barbershop” was “brilliant from start to finish” during the three-hour-plus broadcast on CBS.
Here are the complete Emmy host poll results:
A — Brilliant from start to finish! — 42%
B — I rather liked him — 9%
C — He was just okay — 6%
D — Somewhat forgettable — 8%
F — Awful, awful, awful — 35%
Cedric opened the show with a group musical performance of Biz Markie‘s “Just a Friend” with help from the likes of LL Cool J, Lil Dicky and Rita Wilson (watch above). He returned later to deliver an opening monologue focusing on topics like Covid-19, Nicki Minaj‘s cousin’s friend’s vaccine reaction, the never-ending search for a “Jeopardy” host and how Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish”) was probably going to lose his 11th Emmy nomination because it’s “hard out here for a pimp.” (That prediction came true as Jason Sudeikis won for “Ted Lasso.”)
While this was the first time Cedric emceed TV’s biggest night, he did know a thing or two about hosting awards shows as he served as ringleader of the 2014 Critics Choice TV Awards, the 2012 and 2011 Soul Train Awards, the 2005 American Music Awards, the 2003 NAACP Image Awards and the 2002 Billboard Music Awards, to name just a handful. The entertainer also had a rich history of hosting reality/non-fiction TV shows, including “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” “Cedric’s Barber Battle,” “It’s Worth What?” and “Cedric the Entertainer Presents.”
As for why he wanted to preside over this year’s kudos, Cedric told CBS News, “Television got us through this last year. Everybody started binge-watching everything. And it was something we trusted, and so I think that that’s what we should honor this night. So I want to have fun with the people who are there, being celebrated, being honored, all those who are being nominated — we just going to make it a party, and I want the people at home to feel the same way about it.”
The Primetime Emmy ceremony was led by “The Crown” at seven wins, “Ted Lasso” at four, “Hacks” and “Mare of Easttown” at three, and “Last Week Tonight” and “The Queen’s Gambit” at two. Last week at the Creative Arts Emmys, “The Crown” took home four and “The Queen’s Gambit” claimed nine, so they both ended up tying with 11 Emmy wins for the 2020-21 TV season.
