There goes ‘The Neighborhood,’ but Cedric the Entertainer heats up

Cedric the Entertainer obviously did not want “The Neighborhood” to end on CBS after eight seasons.

But executive producer and star Cedric, 62, can still smile about the blowout wrap party in February after shooting the series finale, “Welcome to Goodbye,” which airs May 11 (8 ET/PT on CBS and Paramount+).

Costars including Max Greenfield (neighbor Dave Johnson), Sheaun McKinney (TV son Malcolm Butler) and Tichina Arnold (TV wife Tina Butler), along with actors who appeared as far back as Season 1, packed the decked-out Radford Studio Center soundstage for the closing celebration.

“It was a blast. There were cast and crew who’ve been with the show forever, and people whose storylines ended in Season 1 showing back up,” Cedric tells USA TODAY of his final episode as Calvin Butler, the community-minded central “Neighborhood” character who doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve. “There was a blooper reel, and a lot of time recalling the laughs we’ve had on, and off, camera. By the end of the night, I wasn’t crying; I just had allergies.”

Cedric The Entertainer as Calvin gets ready to party in “The Neighborhood” finale.

OK, maybe there were some happy tears. But, truthfully, there haven’t been traumatic wails around the ending of “The Neighborhood.” The comedy, created by Jim Reynolds (“The Big Bang Theory”), delivered laughs and solid ratings for an impressive TV run with “The Original Kings of Comedy” star Cedric (real name Cedric Antonio Kyles) at the helm.

“Of course, this is the kind of show you wish you could do forever, or at least have a ‘Law & Order’-type run,” Cedric says, referencing the long-running NBC procedural franchise. “But eight seasons is a long time. And we feel blessed.”

Adding to that feeling is the sense of series completion. Amid the CBS-Paramount Skydance merger in March 2025, “The Neighborhood” was given a final Season 8, allowing a proper conclusion.

“Welcome to Goodbye” –Tichina Arnold as Tina, Cedric The Entertainer as Calvin, Beth Behrs as Gemma, Hank Greenspan as Grover, Max Greenfield as Dave, Marcel Spears as Marty and Sheaun McKinney as Malcolm.

“The great thing about it is we were able to leave the story on our own terms,” Cedric says. “Many shows don’t get that. They just find out they’re not coming back. And it’s like, ‘Whoa!’”

What happens in ‘The Neighborhood’ series finale?

The Pasadena-set comedy follows Calvin and the Butler family, whose lives are forever changed when a White Midwestern family, the Johnsons, move next door in a historically Black neighborhood.

The series finale wraps up several long-running “Neighborhood” storylines, including the double marriage of Calvin’s grown sons, Malcolm (McKinney) and Marty (Marcel Spears), the pregnancies of their respective spouses, and the Johnsons’ poignant departure as the family returns to the Midwest.

“We wanted to show that life just keeps moving forward and changes for the Butlers,” Cedric says. “Happy things come to the family, but things go away, too.”

“The Neighborhood” franchise will exit as well; planned spinoffs have not taken off. One planned series, centered on sons Malcolm (McKinney) and Marty (Spears) moving to a new neighborhood, was not picked up by CBS for the 2025–26 season.

“We tried,” Cedric says. “None of the sequels were able to go forward.”

Cedric stars in Netflix’s ‘Swapped’ and writes a new grilling bible

Cedric, however, has no plans to slow down, already moving forward with a surge of post-“Neighborhood” projects. The actor stars in the animated Netflix film “Swapped,” voicing Caloo, the father of the woodland creature Ollie (voiced by Michael B. Jordan).

“Michael was in his Oscar run at the time,” Cedric says. “He’d be leaving the sound studio as I was coming in and we’d bump fists.”

The well-seasoned grill pro just unleashed his bible cookbook, “AC Barbeque: The Husky and Handsome Guide to Grilling” (Simon & Schuster) with Anthony Anderson, his co-host on A&E’s “Kings of BBQ.” Of course, there are multiple references to grilling in “The Neighborhood” finale, which features a front-yard yard for the wedding guests (Calvin insists on plenty of freshly ground pepper).

‘The Neighborhood’ ends, but ‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’ rolls on Broadway

The crown jewel project is Cedric’s return to Broadway alongside Taraji P. Henson in the August Wilson play “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” directed by Debbie Allen. Cedric admits to nerves in his first Broadway appearance since the 2008 production of David Mamet’s “American Buffalo.”

“You get hired for your stardom, and I’m coming off this TV sitcom. But you’ve got to get out there every night with a live audience and hold that play down and show great respect to the playwright,” Cedric says. “I know I’ve done this before. I had to trust in that. And now I’m bringing the heat every night.”

Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson in the 2026 Broadway production of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.”

Cedric loves the Broadway schedule, even if eight shows a week means that Mondays, “are the only day I can go to the dentist.”

The theater return also means adjusting to a common theater annoyance that has worsened since 2008: audience phones interrupting the stage performance.

“We beg people every night to turn them off, but of course it happens,” Cedric says. “A regular phone ringing is one thing. But somebody last night had a Biggie song as a ringtone that just went on. That threw me off. But you have to keep locked in and stay in the character.”