“My family has been here for decades,” Cedric The Entertainer says as he provides the voice-over for the series premiere of the CBS sitcom “The Neighborhood.” “I live in a proud, black neighborhood – and I intend to keep it that way.”
He stars as Calvin Butler, a family patriarch, suspicious of what he sees as an early sign of the gentrification within the neighborhood and surrounding community he’s been a part of for decades.
When the Butlers hear the Johnsons would be the family moving in next door, Calvin Butler is eager to welcome them to the neighborhood upon hearing their last name.
They walk over to introduce themselves. A white man opens the door.
“We’re looking for the Johnsons,” Calvin Butler said.
“Dave Johnson,” the man says while extending his hand.
And so begins “The Neighborhood,” which will premiere as part of the CBS fall lineup of new shows on Monday, October 1.
“The Neighborhood” marks Cedric’s “big three” network sitcom debut. The show’s premiere comes a few short months after the St. Louis native’s legacy within the entertainment industry was cemented by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“My career is a diverse career, but my core audience has been African American,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “And then CBS is a unique environment in the sense that it is a largely … white American network. To be able to bring my urban audience, my African American audience over to the network, I think there is the potential for great conversation.”
He made a name for himself nationally on the small screen as host of the second season of BET’s Comic View. He went on to have a game show and a handful of sitcoms under his belt, beginning with “The Steve Harvey Show” as right-hand-man to the fellow King of Comedy. Cedric is returning as a supporting player for the second season of the TBS sitcom, “The Last O.G.” starring Tracy Morgan and recently enjoyed a successful run as leading man of TV Land’s “The Soul Man,” alongside Niecy Nash.
“The Neighborhood” was created is written by Jim Reynolds and directed by James Burrows. Urban sitcom veteran Tichina Arnold, who plays Calvin’s wife Loretta Butler, is among the show’s co-stars. CBS has ordered 13 episodes of “The Neighborhood.”
Cedric and fellow St. Louis native Eric Rhone (Cedric’s longtime friend and business partner) serve as executive producers for the show by way of their A Bird And A Bear Entertainment. They share executive producer responsibilities along with Reynolds, who created also the show.
“What we deliver, it has a degree of truth and really great humor and sensibility in what represents a black family in this day and age,” Cedric told The Los Angeles Times.
The Neighborhood airs at 7 p.m. Monday nights on CBS starting October 1. Check local listings for channels. For more information on the show, visit https://www.cbs.com/shows/the-neighborhood/.
