Ranking every People's Choice Awards host

This was a bald-faced attempt by CBS to promote its unpopular sitcom based on the life of Tony Kornheiser, “Listen Up!” Both Alexander, the once-and-future George Costanza, and Jamal Warner are both talented guys, but they didn’t have chemistry on that show. That was also clear in a role they weren’t really right for, which is award show host.

Johnson was a huge star in the ‘80s — he was Sonny Crockett on “Miami Vice” — but by 1997 his star had faded. Roma Downey was never really a star. She’s mostly known for doing religious-themed shows with her husband, Mark Burnett. It’s something that’s always been up her alley, as she starred in “Touched by an Angel.”

Danza is not the most vibrant personality. He’s a good sitcom actor, maybe even a really good one, but he’s not known for thinking on his feet and being a charmer. This is not a role the “Who’s the Boss?” star was right for. He was not the boss of that stage to be sure.

Cryer is carrying this one. Remember when he and Sheen were starring in “Two and a Half Men? You know, before Sheen seemed to go off the deep end. Well can you imagine a guy like Sheen being a good award show host? Exactly.

You are going to see the name Army Archerd on this list several times. You also probably have no idea who Army Archerd is. He’s a guy who wrote a famous column for “Variety” for 50 years. That makes him a showbiz schmoozer type, which led to occasional TV appearances. He co-hosted five different People’s Choice Award events. Here he paired with Lee Remick, a talented actress but not necessarily the host type.

Nelson Muntz may be mad at us, but we can’t have Williams any higher on this list. The crooner could have sung “Moon River” a dozen times and still not really wowed the crowd. He did host a variety show in the ‘60s, but by 1984 he was not exactly in the zeitgeist.

Archerd is back, sort of. This was actually the first People’s Choice Awards. Here he paired with Richard Crenna, a journeyman actor who wasn’t necessarily still a star in the ‘70s. Well, he was never really a star, to be honest. It was a weird choice to pair these two or to use these two at all as hosts.

Denver was a talented musician. He also did a bit of acting, though music was definitely his strength. There were music categories, so it wasn’t completely strange to have a musician as a host. However, not a lot of musicians are right for the specific role of emceeing an award show.

Landon was all over TV for years. The dude was on “Bonanza,” “Little House on the Prairie,” and then even “Highway to Heaven” was fairly popular. Lee was a singer and dancer who also acted in soap operas. That’s a good person for an award show. She could have been paired with somebody else and moved up the list a bit. Instead, we’re still relatively low.

You’ve got to know when to hold them, when to fold them and when to throw to the next presenters at your award show. Rogers had a little more charisma than Andy Williams or John Denver, and he once sold those rotisserie chickens or whatever, but he was at best adequate in the role.

Johnson is back, this time in 2000, but he had entered a slightly different area of his career. He was now starring in a TV show called “Nash Bridges” with Marin. It’s one of those shows you never saw but apparently a ton of people did watch it. This time Johnson is higher up the list because he’s paired with Marin, of Cheech and Chong fame, instead of Roma Downey.

Cuoco hosted back-to-back events, owing to the fact she was in many ways the face of the hit CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.” Fittingly, given that she played the actress who was the “normal” one among a gaggle of “nerds,” she was the one who got to host. That being said, she wasn’t anything more than decent at the job.

Here’s some more Archerd. Did you know that he was on “Hollywood Squares” a few times back in the day? This was prior to the Whoopi Goldberg years, of course. As for Forsythe, we won’t say much right now, only because we’re about to be talking about him more in a second.

Told you! Three years after co-hosting with Archred, Forsythe was given the chance to host it by himself. He had a long career, though interestingly his best-known role just featured his voice. Forsythe was the man who voiced Charlie, he of “Charlie’s Angels” fame. Also, he starred in the teen exploitation film “Kitten with a Whip,” which showed up on “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”

We’ve broken into the top 20! Annie Potts is probably remembered best for playing Janine in the “Ghostbusters” movies. She also starred in “Designing Women” as part of that sitcom's ensemble. Daly was in the midst of his run on “Wings” when he got the hosting gig here. Both are perfectly solid personalities and good actors, but acting and hosting aren’t the same role.

The show really went all out to try and pack the hosting duties this year. It was the 16th People’s Choice Awards, so it wasn’t exactly a special anniversary. This was 1990, by the way, when Savage was very much still a child. He’s certainly the youngest host in People’s Choice Awards history and one of the youngest award show hosts ever.

You likely remember Albertson as Grampa Joe in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” However, in the world of TV he’s known for being the man of “Chico and the Man.” He actually won an Emmy for that role. Albertson hosted the second-ever People’s Choice Awards, making him the first solo host.

Hey, somebody who has history as a standup comedian. Butler was also the star of the sitcom “Grace Under Fire” for several years. However, Butler is also known for her, shall we say, erratic behavior. Due to her idiosyncrasies, she still finishes middle of the pack here.

Behrs seems nice and all, but this ranking is mostly for Dennings. She’s funny and charming and is great at deadpan comedy. She has the chops for a role like this. Having Behrs to play off probably helped, and if there is anything positive to say about “Two Broke Girls” it’s that these two had chemistry. But Behrs is more of a blank slate than Jennings.

These are a couple of old-school names you may not know, but they were both serviceable in their time hosting together. Hosting was the name of the game for Parks. He hosted the Miss America telecast for over 20 years. Hartley is a long-working actress who got a few Emmy nominations in her life and one victory. Several years after this, Hartley would take on the role hosting the syndicated show “Wild About Animals,” so clearly she had some hosting skills.

Seymour is an actress with charm, which is good. A charming host is never a bad thing. Ritter’s skills are a little more in line with what a host does at an award show though. Namely, he had a lot of comedy-performing experience. Starring in a three-camera sitcom involves a lot of interacting with a live audience, after all, and Ritter had a ton of energy as well. Energy and charm. That’s a winning combination for hosting.

Reynolds is probably the biggest movie star to ever host the People’s Choice Awards. Granted, by 1991 his star was dipping. He was years away from his turn in “Boogie Nights.” The thing Reynolds brought to the table was name recognition. He also had that old-school movie star swagger. That got him this spot on the list.

Before he gained real fame, James hosted back-to-back shows at the turn of the millennium. He was just starting to break thanks to his sitcom “King of Queens.” This was before his friendship with Adam Sandler would turn him into a movie star. You may have James fatigue, but he was capable of handling a role like this, and he got two opportunities for a reason.

Nobody has hosted more People’s Choice Awards than Queen Latifah. In fact, she hosted a whopping five in a row. She’s the only person to host more than two. It’s not that she was great. She was good. Perfectly good! Hosting award shows is hard. To do it five times with decent returns is quite admirable.

This is such an obvious choice for an award show running on CBS. Romano was the face of CBS in the late ‘90s. He starred in his sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which was super popular for many years. Romano was one of those guys who got a sitcom from being a successful standup. He turned his life into a sitcom. It’s the standup skills that served him here, naturally.

McHale is the most recent host on the list. He’s kind of built for hosting. He’s hosted other award shows in the past and made his bones in many ways hosting “The Soup.” McHale is also deeply ensconced in popular culture. Basically, he was made to host an award show like this.

That being said, the woman who hosted the year before McHale was ever-so-slightly better. Lynch just has better host energy, especially for a celebration of pop culture. She’s funny and charming, of course, but she’s also got more pep in her step. McHale is the guy you want to sit next to in the crowd and hear his snarky asides. Lynch is the one you want to host.

This is just a charm factory right here. Neither Faris nor Janney is a standup. They are both actors and talented ones in their own ways. Janney has Emmys and an Oscar, after all. However, they have great chemistry, and they are both just oozing personality. It’s fun to watch Faris and Janney together.

Romano is back, so we don’t have much more to say about him. This one ranks higher than his solo stint, though, because of the presence of McEntire. You have to be careful when pairing people as hosts. McEntire brings a different energy than Romano, but in a way that clicks with what Romano does. It’s a really smart pairing.

Reiner doesn’t have quite the same energy as his longtime comedy partner and friend Mel Brooks. However, he’s a hilarious guy. That’s still true, by the way! He’s in his 90s, but he’s still sharp and super funny. Back in 1988, Reiner had even more energy and was even sharper. It’s a shame he didn’t get a chance to do this more often.

We won’t say much about Van Dyke right now. He hosted once by himself and, spoiler alert, it hasn’t dropped on this list yet. Van Dyke rules. He’s so good that he’s got this pairing this high up on the list despite the presence of Archerd, who just cut into Van Dyke’s hosting time.

Ferguson is the most underrated late-night host of his era. He’s also great for something like this. He would riff and improvise his monologue most nights. Also, the Scottish comedian was on CBS at the time. Ferguson is a truly funny guy, and he doesn’t take stuff like this seriously. He’s the kind of guy who can thread that needle of poking fun at something without completely diminishing it though.

Commanding a stage is Reiser’s thing. He was an extremely successful standup, and that energy is obvious even in a lot of his acting gigs, and it carried over to his hosting role. He’s capable of riffing and reacting to the proceedings as they unfold. Reiser was able to roll with the punches, which made his hosting sharp.

Dick Van Dyke is the best. He’s not a standup, but he’s funny and charming. He’s an old-school song-and-dance man. Plus, he just seems so nice and friendly. There are always great vibes around Dick Van Dyke. You feel happier when you’re watching him on your screen or on the stage. Van Dyke was a perfect choice to host an award show dedicated to the people. He’s really the people’s choice himself.