His stage name's a mouthful — and so is Cedric The Entertainer's spiel for his new fall show, Cedric the Entertainer Presents (debuting Sept. 18 at 8:30 pm/ET on Fox). "It's an old-school variety sketch show," he tells TV Guide Online. "It'll be very reminiscent of In Living Color, Carol Burnett, Flip Wilson and Jackie Gleason."

Sound derivative? Perhaps, but Cedric's so amiable that one wants to give the guy a shot. The comic has high hopes for some of his recurring characters, like the Cafeteria Lady. "That'll probably be the only time I'll dress up like a lady," he smiles, "but it's a character that comes from my heart in my stand-up routines. She's the very mean lady who rules the junior high school cafeteria. We all know her.

"It's a lot like Flip Wilson with Geraldine," he adds. "I actually put a little makeup over my mustache, but the hairs still stand out. She did have a moustache — that's what's so funny about it. Our school's cafeteria lady had a thick mustache like Billy Dee Williams in Lady Sings the Blues. That actually concerned me from time to time as a kid. It's like, 'Yes, sir, um, I mean ma'am!'"