The charismatic actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer is coming to NBC’s small screen with a new competition reality show ‘It’s Worth What?’ on Tuesday, July 19 at 8p ET. Best known for his major acting chops in TV and hit movies like ‘The Steve Harvey Show’, ‘Barbershop’, ‘Be Cool’, and ‘Johnson Family Vacation’, the new game show host will tap into America’s curiosity for cost and value, such as hidden gems in one’s attic. A pair of contestants is taken through a series of challenges that escalate in level of difficulty, tasking the contestants with discerning the price of the items in each round. If they successfully complete the challenges, contestants can win up to $1 million.
Cedric spoke to us reporters recently early in the morning and told us, “I need another cup of coffee to up the octane, after being up late in the wee hours with some college buddies.” Well, we’ve all been there. I asked the entertainer who has worked with some of the biggest names in the business if he knows what things cost. “After doing this, I realized I have no idea what stuff costs.” We all assume we have expertise on women’s shoes or what houses cost. I had no idea. And you just think that you know this. But there was a game where we had vacation rentals and nobody knew that the Playboy Suite in Vegas was that expensive per night like I had no idea. I was just thinking with all those Playboy bunnies and you know, in there, yes, you probably would have to spend a lot of money so..”
How does Cedric think game show hosting has changed from years ago. “Tom Bergeron is a modern day game show host who is witty and quick and Gene Rayburn was interesting. Monte Hall, Wink Martindale and Bob Barker were sincere and serious but very few were comedians or funny.” These days you see a lot of more comedians hosting like Howie Mandel, Jeff Foxworthy and Drew Carey. The idea is keeping shows funny and moving and keeping the energy up.”
Have you always wanted to host a show like this? “We’ll, you know growing up, you know, I would say that real golden era of TV games “Let’s Make A Deal, The Price of Right and ‘Match Game’ and all those kinds of game shows were really very fun to watch. As a kid I really would love the idea of being a host on a game show or being you know a member of the game show of some sort. So this was a great opportunity and something fun for me especially as a live entertainer, a live performer to be able to have that immediate and constant contact with someone who’s playing the game and be the guy that’s in charge, being the kind of ringmaster of the whole thing.”
What’s next for Cedric? Well, I’m really excited about this. I have a development deal with TV Land where I’m developing a show where I’m spinning off of “Hot in Cleveland.’ I’m just looking to develop television, good family fun entertainment for a good time always. And I’m on the road now touring. It’s the true place where I can get the reaction without having writer’s, executive producers and advertisers. Love it.”