"Billboard" felt that the surprise performance "was hilarious if wholly unnecessary". Caryn Ganz of MTV wrote that the singers were "struggled" with the "nasal" vocal performance and the song "landed a bit awkwardly in context". Ganz, however, noted that the audience "went truly berserk" with the "ear-splitting response" to the performance. Amelia McDonell-Parry of "Rolling Stone" wrote that "Samberg hardly has the pipes to fill an arena, but no one seemed to mind." Samberg felt the performance was "surreal", while Timberlake called it a "magical" moment. Timberlake, who was absent during the Primetime Creative Arts ceremony on September 8, celebrated after being notified of his Emmy win by performing a piano rendition of the song at the Tacoma Dome, Washington. Samberg was willing to perform "Dick in a Box" with Timberlake at the main 59th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in Los Angeles on September 16. Timberlake also had a concert at the Staples Center that night, which raised the possibility that he could perform the track at the ceremony. The Emmy Awards producers were reportedly unsure about airing the explicit content and asked the duo to come up with a more family-friendly version of the track. The singers rejected the idea and the performance was canceled.