Cedric the Entertainer made his debut in the American variety show ‘Showtime at the Apollo’ in 1987. In 1993, he joined the cast of the American stand-up comedy show ‘ComicView’ as a host and remained a part of it until 1994. In 1996, he grabbed the role of 'Cedric Jackie Robinson’ in the American television sitcom ‘The Steve Harvey Show.’ The show spawned 6 seasons before going off-air in 2002. He made his big-screen debut in the 1998 American comedy film ‘Ride’ directed by Millicent Shelton. In 2000, he starred as ‘The Reverend’ in the crime comedy film ‘Big Momma's House’ directed by Raja Gosnell. Despite opening to negative reviews, the film went on to become a major commercial success and grossed over $174 million against a $30 million budget. He continued to star in films like ‘Kingdom Come’ (2001), ‘Serving Sara’ (2002), ‘Ice Age’ (2002), ‘Intolerable Cruelty’ (2003), ‘Barbershop 2: Back in Business’ (2004), ‘Be Cool’ (2005), ‘Madagascar’ (2005), ‘Charlotte's Web’ (2006), ‘Code Name: The Cleaner’ (2007), ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ (2008), ‘Merry Madagascar’ (2009), and ‘Dance Fu’ (2011). In 2012, he joined the main cast of the American sitcom ‘The Soul Man’ where he played the role of ‘Reverend Sherman Boyce Ballentine.’ The show aired 54 episodes and went off-air in 2016.
He was next seen in television series and shows such as ‘2 Broke Girls’ (2012), ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ (2013-2014), ‘Power’ (2014-2020), ‘Cedric's Barber Battle’ (2015), ‘Another Period’ (2016), ‘Master of None’ (2017), ‘The Comedy Get Down’ (2017), and ‘Superior Donuts’ (2017). In 2018, he starred as ‘Calvin Butler’ in the American sitcom television series ‘The Neighborhood.’ The series was renewed for a fifth season in January 2022. He continued to appear in television shows like Black-ish’ (2018), ‘Power’ (2019-2020), ‘The Greatest #StayAtHome Videos’ (2020), ‘The Greatest #AtHome Videos’ (2020-present), and ‘Woke’ (2020). In 2022, he joined the voice cast of the American animated television series ‘The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder’ created by Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar.