Cedric sitcom finds humour in racial issues
TORONTO Cedric the Entertainer says his new sitcom, The Neighborhood, offers a lighthearted look at U.S. race relations at a time of much tension.
In The Neighborhood, set for a fall debut on Global and CBS, the actor and standup comedian plays the patriarch of a family in a predominantly African-American neighbourhood in Los Angeles. His character gets his back up when a white family moves next door.
The multi-camera show tackles heavy subject matter with levity and a live studio audience, and the standup star and actor admits he wasn’t initially sure if it would work.
“This show was one that took some coercing to get me there, to get the script right, to work with the writer to be able to tell a story,” he said in a recent interview.
“Because in America right now the thing of race is very out front, it makes it a little testy in the attitudes, people are drawing these hard lines in the sand over so many issues.
“And yet when looking at it, you feel like it’s the right place to pull from comedy and get people to actually laugh and become more together and more in common.”
The show offers an opportunity to “look at each other in a different way, see each other as individuals” at a time when racial tensions are making headlines, he added.
“From the police brutality of it all to the national anthem, it’s just always these fine lines,” said Cedric.
The comedian was in Toronto to help Corus Entertainment promote its 2018-2019 lineup, which was unveiled earlier this month.
Other new U.S. shows headed to Global include the Dick Wolf-produced FBI, starring Canadian Missy Peregrym, and the medical drama New Amsterdam.
Returning Canadian series include Mary Kills People, Big Brother Canada and Private Eyes.
In fall 2019, Food Network Canada will have the inaugural instalment of Iron Chef Canada.
Corus announced the first three Iron Chefs joining the inaugural season: Hugh Acheson, Lynn Crawford and Susur Lee, who tied chef Bobby Flay on the American version of the franchise.
“Some of the Canadian content we have in development that’s on the cusp of being greenlit is not quite ready for these releases in the season,” said Maria Hale, vice-president of Global entertainment and content acquisition programming.
“So there could be more coming down the road.”