06-05-2025
The Neighborhood Spinoff Is Dead — But Malcolm's Big Move Will Stick in Season 8, Says Cedric the Entertainer
The Butlers and Johnsons just helped Malcolm kickstart a new chapter in a new city — all part of a plan to franchise The Neighborhood and launch a second show starring Sheaun McKinney and Marcel Spears that would follow the OG on Monday nights this fall.
Alas, CBS decided not to proceed with a spinoff… but that doesn't mean Malcolm's big move was for naught.
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When The Neighborhood returns with its eighth and final season later this year, the events of Monday's Season 7 finale will not be ignored. Cedric the Entertainer, who co-wrote the backdoor pilot, tells me that future episodes will incorporate some (if not all) of Malcolm's new life in Venice.
'We love the idea that Malcolm has moved there,' the series star/executive producer says. Plus, whether or not there was a spinoff, 'we still wanted to [make] this transition and show the growth of the Fuse Box, which is why we have Marty going back and forth [from Pasadena to Venice in the first of Monday's two episodes].'
Cedric says it represents 'the growth of the show,' as well as the growth of Calvin and Tina's sons, who are finally branching out on their own — something that he and his fellow EPs, co-showrunners Bill Martin and Mike Schiff, would be remiss to walk back now.
'We love the fact that we can have Malcolm going back and forth, a little nervous about living on his own — when people feel, like, 'Oh, this will be great! I've got my own house,' and then they still find themselves at their mama's house! We feel like we've got great stories [to tell] in that space — and, of course, the opportunity to use that [Venice] set from time to time to be able to go tell stories there.'
As for the nixed spinoff's ensemble — which, in addition to McKinney and Spears, would have included Hunter King and Kara Royster as would-be influencers Bellamy and Matisse, Angelique Cabral as Malcolm's literary agent Lisa, and Justin Long as tech titan Bruce — Cedric hints that you might see a couple of those characters again. In addition to Lisa, who would naturally remain in Malcolm's orbit, the EP suggests that there's an easy way to incorporate Bruce into an ongoing storyline.
'We love what Justin brought to the role, so it seems like there could be an opportunity there with [Bruce] becoming interested in what we're doing at the Fuse Box,' Cedric says. Plus, everyone got a kick out of seeing Long play off of former New Girl co-star, Max Greenfield.
'He came in and brought a lot of that neuroticism — that crazy, hyper energy that Max brings [to Dave] — as this tech billionaire guy. He killed it!' the EP exclaims. 'Those two together were hilarious at all times.'
Cedric also spoke with TVLine about a different spinoff, Paramount+'s Crutch (starring Tracy Morgan), which you can read more about here.
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What did you think of the backdoor pilot for the now-defunct Malcolm-and-Marty spinoff? Would you have liked to see it go forward? Weigh in via the following polls, then drop your thoughts in a comment below.
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