Janelle James Will Host the 32nd Critics Choice Awards

Comedian Janelle James will host the 32nd annual Critics Choice Awards on Jan. 3, Variety reported on Oct. 29, 2026.

James is best known for playing Ava Coleman on ABC's Abbott Elementary. She has received five Emmy nominations in a row for the show. Emmys are the main US television awards. She also earned a 2026 Critics Choice Award for best supporting actress.

The ceremony will air live on E! and USA Network at 4 p.m. Pacific Time (PT, the clock used on the US West Coast). Both are television channels that run shows on a fixed timetable, so viewers can watch them on a TV set or a cable or satellite package that includes them.

Nominations come first. They will be announced on Dec. 4 at 9 a.m. PT. The announcement will appear on E! and USA Network, the Critics Choice website, E! Online, and the social media accounts of the Critics Choice Association and E!.

The show is executive produced by Bob Bain Productions and Berlin Entertainment. An executive producer oversees a programme's overall creation, from money and planning to the final cut, rather than working on set each day. Joey Berlin is chief executive of the Critics Choice Association, the group that runs the awards.

James has a busy stretch ahead of the ceremony. She will debut her first hour-long stand-up special on Netflix on Nov. 10. She is also developing Rock City, a comedy for Hulu. Developing means the project is being worked on but has not yet been confirmed to air.

The host chair has changed hands in recent years. Chelsea Handler returned as host for the 31st ceremony, held earlier in 2026. Before that, Taye Diggs hosted the awards for four years up to the 2023 ceremony.

The 32nd ceremony is the next big date on the awards calendar. Nominations come first, on Dec. 4, and the winners follow on Jan. 3.