Cedric the Entertainer: It's Worth What?

Cedric the Entertainer said it plainly: "It's Worth What is definitely the kind of show that has elements of things we've seen — Price is Right, Let's Make a Dea…" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

Cedric the Entertainer — comedian, actor, and star of The Steve Harvey Show, Barbershop, and The Original Kings of Comedy — is the host and executive producer of NBC's new alternative game show It's Worth What? The show takes pairs of contestants through escalating challenges where they must discern the price of items — from hidden attic gems to celebrity collectibles — with a chance to win up to $1 million. The show premiered Tuesday, July 19 at 8:00 pm on NBC. Premier Guide Miami's Judith Wallace spoke with Cedric ahead of the premiere.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Who would you say is the next big thing in comedy for this generation?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: Kevin Hart is the guy right now, and he's a super funny young cat. My two protégés are great — Malik S and J.J. Williamson out of Atlanta, very funny young guys. And then there are a lot of cats that have some notoriety but still haven't had that pop — Earthquake, DeRay Davis. All these guys I think are really talented comedians and should get an opportunity to be seen at some point in time.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What was it like working with Russell Simmons back in the day?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: One of the great eras of comedy was those early 90s, when Russell brought out Def Comedy Jam. And it was an opportunity for the urban comic to find a voice — one that was speaking directly to that core African American audience. And the show was so popular that it was pop culture. When he got into the world of television, to be a part of something like that was just such a cultural phenomenon. We became stars — me, Bernie Mac, Steve Harvey, guys like Chris Tucker. You started to see these faces and they popped out on the scene. Def Comedy Jam was a catalyst to that for sure.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Looking back on game show hosts in the past, were there any real comedians?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: Tom Bergeron is funny — he's a modern day game show host, very witty and quick. Gene Rayburn was interesting. But most of the time they almost came off pretty seriously. Monty Hall, Wink Martindale, Bob Barker — you bought them for their sincerity and kind of swag if you will. Nowadays you see a lot more with the Howie Mandells and the Jeff Foxworthys and Drew Carey. I think it's leaning more towards keeping the shows funny and keeping that energy up.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Who was your favorite TV game show host growing up?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: I was a big Bob Barker fan. In the Midwest you just loved Bob — he was smooth and he was cool, surrounded by the pretty girls always and with the skinny mic. Every game show host always asks for the skinny mic and of course they wouldn't let me get the skinny mic, so it's cool. I was going to ice mine up a little bit, give it a little bit of bling. It would have been a little frosty but I didn't get a chance to do it. I go with a cool lavaliere.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Was hosting a game show a dream of yours?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: Growing up in that real golden era of TV game shows — Let's Make a Deal, The Price is Right, Match Game — I really would have loved the idea of being a host on a game show. So this was a great opportunity and something fun for me especially as a live entertainer, a live performer, to have that immediate and constant contact with someone who's playing the game and be the ringmaster of the whole thing. I'm happy that I had this opportunity.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What will you bring as host?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: My overall sense of style and humor — and being a runner-up contestant for sexiest man alive — is going to be what drives this show. I love standup and I really like this opportunity to develop television. I would love to just be the kind of name that people recognize as good, fun, family entertainment. PhD of entertainment. I'm going to get some college to give me an honorary doctorate.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: How did your comedic side play into being the host?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: The opportunity of being a live standup and interacting with an audience — right away we got a live audience in the studio. And you have natural crazy reactions from the contestants when they win or lose. My comedic ability is able to be used right in there to keep the show up and light and funny and keep it moving. Being a live performer allows me to feel the room, feel what's going on, and know how to respond accordingly in an instance.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Which other game show host would you challenge?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: If I had to challenge a game show host I probably wouldn't go up against Alex Trebek. I'd probably challenge Drew Carey and then we would do a moped race — he rides a moped around town. I would cheat. I would have to come and get some of those Price is Right girls on my show. That's what I would need. I tried. I fought for it hard.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: You also worked with Lara Spencer on this project. Why Lara?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: Lara's also a co-creator of the show. It came from her experiences on Antiques Roadshow and being a real yard-saler, and you knew there was true passion for her. She's got great energy and she cared about the show. When you know somebody really knows what they're talking about and that they care about it, that just adds confidence to knowing that we had a good idea that we could figure out how to make it work.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What was your most memorable moment from the show?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: We brought out a live elephant in comparing the price of keeping a live elephant versus an elephant-sized diamond. And so I actually fed the elephant an apple. And then I taught the elephant how to Dougie — which is a dance.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Were there any funny moments with contestants?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: There was a young guy who married a woman about 12 years older than him. They were a cute couple, had a really fun relationship — he was a DJ and she met him at the club. They played the game with great energy, a lot of dancing and running. He had some dance that he would do whenever they were excited around the house. She was like, 'If we win this next one you've got to promise to do the dance for me.' So they won and he jumped off the stage and started doing a freak daddy dance. I was like, 'That's really personal. You all might want to keep that at home.'

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: What's next for you?

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER: I'm excited about this show, the premiere of it. And then I have a development deal with TV Land where I'm developing a show spinning off of Hot in Cleveland. So we have that and we're developing this group right now — I'm excited about that as well. And I'm out touring now. I love the standup. I love that live audience response. It's the true place where you can get that reaction without writers and executive producers and advertisers and all these things you've got to comply to.

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