The Butlers and the Johnsons are getting ready to say goodbye to each other. The Neighborhood is ending after Season 8, and Tichina Arnold, who plays Tina Butler, is breaking down what fans should expect.
Calvin (Cedric the Entertainer) and Tina Butler live in a primarily Black neighborhood. The Johnsons moved in as the only white family eight years ago. Dave Johnson (Max Greenfield) tried to befriend Calvin, but he was too upbeat for him. As the seasons went on, Dave broke down Calvin’s walls, and they became friends.
Now that Calvin and Tina’s sons, Malcolm (Sheaun McKinney) and Marty (Marcel Spears), have moved out of the house, they are dealing with being empty-nesters, grandparents, and neighbors. Tina still wants to be a hands-on mom while realizing that her children are now grown and have their own lives after moving to Vince Beach from Los Angeles.
To help her not think of her babies out of the house, Tina takes up salsa dancing as a hobby, and ropes Calvin in to do it with her. The couple practices 25 sessions at their home, but Calvin is reluctant to move the couch that many times.
In the premiere episode, Malcolm is trying to ghost-write a novel for a Real Housewife while Marty tries to convince the woman he had a baby with/has feelings for, Courtney (Skye Townsend), to move in with him after her lease expires.
Dave and Gemma (Beth Behrs) deal with their growing teenager, Grover (Hank Greenspan), and figure out where he keeps sneaking off to when Gemma sees suspicious locations on his tracker. Plus, Dave gets fired from his job after AI takes over.
TV Insider talked to Tichina Arnold about the upcoming season, which will be the sitcom’s last.
Monty Brinton/CBS
What are you most excited for fans to see in Season 8 of The Neighborhood?
This is a really funny season. Just from everything that we taped so far, it’s going to be a really funny, laugh-out-loud season.
What can you share about Tina’s story arc and progression this season?
Tina’s always up to something. In the first episode, it’s the empty-nester vibe since Malcolm and Marty are doing their own thing. So, Tina gets the empty nest syndrome, and she picks up salsa dancing, and convinces Calvinto to dance also, and they are actually pretty good.
How long did it take you and Cedric to perfect that routine?
Like seven minutes. *laughs* I say this all the time, Cedric is a great dancer, and he’s a really good singer. We’re those type of actors. We’re not dancers, but we know how to move well. Thank God for that.
What other passions do you think would be good for Tina to take up now that she’s an empty-nester?
Oh my Gosh. Let’s see. I had a bakey. Now, salsa dancing. The only thing that is left is hang gliding, or some bizarre hobby, like jumping from planes or skydiving. We give suggestions, but I like to see how the writers envision me and my character. Every season I come back, I don’t know what I’m up to until I see the first script.
Sadly, the show is ending after eight seasons. Why do you think that The Neighborhood lasted as long as it did?
Because we have a great team of people. And God, of course. But we have Cedric at the helm. He’s such an amazing guy, father, husband, friend, all-around good person. Having him at the lead is a pure testament to how he handles business and how he handles people. And so I was excited about that, because I had never worked with Cedric before, and when I watched how he engaged with other people, it really allowed me to embrace what we organically had and that really stood the test of time. We got through quarantine, through three different strikes, so this show has persevered.
I always give credence to Patrick Kienlen, our line producer. I really will give him all the glory when I can and whenever I can, because he works so hard and makes sure that we keep on, but stay on budget or under budget. He makes sure that we, even if we don’t have the budget, we have what we need for the show. He makes sure that the crew is taken care of. He’s just an amazing guy that loves this show. When I heard that we weren’t coming back, he was the first person that I thought of, because this show has been his life, and he’s good at what he does, so him blessing us with his creativity and talent, and love for the show is definitely one of the other reasons why we lasted so long.
What are your hopes for your character and how the show ends in general?
On a high note, of course, and I’ve just been telling everyone, just think of being grateful. Whenever you become bittersweet, just think of gratefulness, because for a show, especially a multi-camera show, to survive eight years on a major network, is kind of unheard of these days. Given the nature of all that is going on with streaming, and a lot going on, and people have a lot of choices, but we’ve had some Die Hard watchers of the show that have dedicated themselves to the show. We would not have gotten this far without the people who have been watching and enjoying the show.
So hopefully the last episode will end on a high note, but it will be a sad one. I know Beth will probably cry. I already know who the criers will be. But all good things must come to an end eventually. It’ll make way for Crutch.
You and Cedric make an appearance on Crutch. Can you tell us a bit about your role on the spinoff?
I love the loving, adoring wife, of course. But we go to him because his cousin lost his wife, so he’s going through the empty nest kind of thing. But that doesn’t last long, because all his kids end up moving back home, and so, Calvin and Tina go back to help him out a little bit. I’m really supporting Calvin, so I don’t have any real Tina moments.
I’m very excited to work with Tracy Morgan. He’s just a great guy as well. Just funny, funny, funny. I know him from my Martin days. With him getting his shot at his show, he will always be a part of The Neighborhood. All the love on the neighborhood block.
There have been many guest stars on the show. Last season, you had Garrett Morris, who connected with Beth on 2 Broke Girls. Can fans expect anybody from your past works on the show?
When we do the show and when I read the scripts, on table read day, that’s when I say, ‘Can somebody play this part or this part?’ But I never really, not, unless an actor calls me and says, ‘T, can you get me in the show?’ Or ‘Can you have them consider me?’ I really don’t see it until it’s in my face on the black-and-white pages. So I don’t have it. They asked me that a long time ago, and I was like, if we could get Anthony Hopkins on this season, that would be my dream. I love him so much as an actor. But that’s a pipe dream that’s never going to happen.
We’ve had some great stars on our show. Everyone who has appeared has shown up and shown out. We’ve had a great eight years.
What are you going to miss most about working on The Neighborhood?
The cast and crew. I can honestly say we all just really get along. We all have just respect and love for one another, laughed with each other, and are proud of each other. We had a few deaths, so we’ve gone through a lot on this show, but we have persevered, and it has just allowed us to become closer. So I will miss the cast and crew for sure.
So now that the show is coming to an end, what would you like your next project to be or what is your next project?
I’m gonna do more directing. I actually am directing the twelfth episode of the season, which is exciting. So I’m very happy that I got an opportunity to do that. I did it last season, too. So I’m gonna do episode 812, so outside of my acting, I definitely will be working on my company, China Moon Rags, which I have been working on for a long time. So I’m gonna focus on that, focus on singing again with my band, which I’m performing at my Halloween party. I have an annual Halloween party that I give specifically for the cast and crew of The Neighborhood. My band is going to sing and perform, and I have a company called Queens Light Productions. So we have, I don’t want to say what we have, but the deal that we have, but we’re working on something, and hopefully CBS will give it a first look.
What was it like directing this cast?
I love every minute of it. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew what to expect, because the first time I was directing them, I was like, ‘Wow, I really know them all so very well,’ so I already knew what they were going to do, how their characters were going to act, how they were going to act off camera. I kind of had the leg up, because I’ve worked with them every day, so it made directing that much easier. So it was great. Everybody listened to me. That was kind of cool.
Do you have anything else you want to add about the season?
We are just so so grateful to the people who supported and watched The Neighborhood for eight years. I can’t thank them enough. We hope that they will continue to watch the reruns and such. We appreciate it. We would not have done it without them.
The Neighborhood, Mondays, 8/7c, CBS