Emmys 2022: Kenan Thompson quips Zendaya can't date Leonardo DiCaprio as she turned 26

While hosting the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday night, Kenan Thompson made the audience giggle by discussing the evolution of primetime television.

He called himself the mayor of television and said that TV is more than just a source of income. Additionally, it's how their agents earn a living.

He said that tonight they would gather together to celebrate the greatest invention in human history. Thompson also quizzed what people would do in their free time if TV didn't exist. He also claimed that in the past 50 years, nobody in the room must have read a book. He added that people can only watch television, whether it's "Netflix and chill" or "Paramount+ and eating supper alone."

The comedian shared that what sound evokes more happiness and eagerness than the well-known beginning melody of a legally permissible TV theme song? Up until this point, they have always been able to sing to them, but they have never been able to dance to them.

Later, Thompson was joined on stage by a number of dancers who performed choreographed dance moves to remixes of the Friends, The Brady Bunch, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Stranger Things, and Game of Thrones theme tunes. He made a joke by asking if people watched Living Single during the Friends segment of the dance number. Alluding to Friends' many parallels to the Queen Latifah-starring sitcom, which debuted first.

He made fun of some of the gritty dramas from 2022 as well as some of the less popular television channels, saying that Better Call Saul was hard to watch because it was so scary. It was difficult to see Squid Game because of how violent it was, and because it was on Showtime, Yellowjackets was difficult to watch.

Thompson added that Zendaya, who won the lead drama actress Emmy for Euphoria, recently celebrated her 26th birthday. The age of 26 is unusual in Hollywood. Although she is too old to date Leonardo DiCaprio, she is still young enough to play a high school student.

Later on, during the ceremony, he saw Kel Mitchell again. Throughout the 1990s, the two frequently worked together on projects like the comedy feature Good Burger, the sitcom Kenan & Kel, and the adolescent sketch comedy series All That. A slumped-over Mitchell asked a slumped-over Thompson during a sketch in which Kumail Nanjiani played the bartender if he wanted a drink. Mitchell then retorted by asking if there was a good burger nearby.

Thompson made his television debut on the series Saturday Night Live in 2003, making him the cast member with the longest tenure. His performance on SNL earned him nominations for the Original Music and Lyrics Emmy in 2017 and 2018, as well as the Supporting Comedy Actor Emmy in 2018, 2020, and 2021. Together with Eli Brueggemann, Chris Redd, and Will Stephen, he received the music and lyrics award in 2018 for the song Come Back Barack, which was performed with Chance the Rapper.