WhenThe Neighborhoodcreator Jim Reynolds first started thinking about season 3, the biggest issue on his mind was COVID-19.
Would the CBS sitcom tackle the current global pandemic?
It got really emotional."
‘The Neighborhood’.Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS
“It’s such a tonally different episode for us,” Reynolds says.
And there certainly were conversations that haven’t been had before.
But it was one that everyone felt was important in getting this right."
Cedric the Entertainer and Max Greenfield on ‘The Neighborhood’.Monty Brinton/CBS
I, as a white man, can’t have that and have not had that experience.
“This certainly is not about me, nor is it about Dave,” he tells EW.
The idea was really, how can I make thisleastabout me?
‘The Neighborhood’.Monty Brinton/CBS
And how do I bestlisten?"
According to Cedric, “this was an episode that took a lot.
So that’s what I feel we were able to accomplish with this episode.”
Cedric the Entertainer, Tichina Arnold, and Max Greenfield on ‘The Neighborhood’.Monty Brinton/CBS
“If you might win hearts, you might change minds,” he says.
“Unfortunately, this is not an episode that anybody wants to make,” he says.
But it’s unfortunate that we have to address some of these things, still, and so directly.
It’s a heavy episode.
And it felt heavy when we were making it.
We all wanted to bring an authenticity to it and bring an honesty to it.
We had to make this episode."
The Neighborhoodairs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
