‘The Neighborhood’ Bosses Talk ‘Rare Privilege’ of Shaping the Final Season

Matthew Taplinger/CBS

What To Know

The producers of The Neighborhood expressed gratitude for the rare opportunity to craft a planned series finale.
The final episode features two weddings for Calvin and Tina Butler’s sons.
As the series ends, all main characters face emotional farewells and new beginnings.

Welcome to goodbye. For eight seasons on The Neighborhood, the Butlers and the Johnsons have entertained fans with their antics and friendships. With the CBS sitcom coming to an end on May 11, audiences can expect to see that on display — and much more.

The Neighborhood' Bosses Talk 'Rare Privilege' of Shaping the Final Season

Many shows get canceled after a season airs, and the writers do not get the chance to end it the way they want to. With The Neighborhood, the writers and producers were very happy they got to control the characters’ endings.

“Getting to write a whole season knowing we were leading to the series finale is a rare privilege in this business,” executive producers Mike Schiff and Bill Martin told TV Insider. “It gave us the chance to shape our last 20 episodes, building toward a goodbye for every character that we hope fans will love.”

Although the EPs got to write out the characters how they wanted to, Hank Greenspan, who plays Grover, shared that the series finale was rewritten after the first table read. “I think the ending that we did get was really well written, and actually, everyone got a lot of input on it,” he told TV Insider. “I remember when we did the table read, we read the script for the first time, and it was good, but everyone knew that if it’s the finale, it needs more punch.” So, the EPs went in and rewrote the finale based on the cast’s input.

Wedding bells are ringing in the final episode with not one but two nuptials for the sons of Calvin (Cedric The Entertainer) and Tina (Tichina Arnold) Butler: Marty (Marcel Spears) to his girlfriend Courtney (Skye Townsend) and Malcolm (Sheaun McKinney) to reality-TV star Mercedes (Amber Stevens West).

The Neighborhood' Ending With Season 8 on CBS in 2025-26

Among the emotion and laughter, farewells for everyone loom as the characters look ahead to new chapters, including Dave (Max Greenfield) and Gemma Johnson (Beth Behrs) and their son, Grover. In the April 27 episode, Dave contemplated moving back to Kalamazoo, Michigan, from Los Angeles, California, after his mom offered him a hard-to-pass-up job at her boyfriend’s car dealership. Will they move back and say goodbye to the place they have called home for eight years?

“This show has been a profound part of my life and so many others’,” Arnold told TV Insider. “I’m deeply grateful to everyone who joined us on this journey.”

With only two episodes left, fans will have to say goodbye to both the Johnson and Butler families for good. Will the Johnsons truly be welcomed to a new neighborhood?

The Neighborhood, Series Finale, Monday, May 11, 8/7c, CBS