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Sheaun McKinney, Star Of CBS Comedy 'The Neighborhood', Reflects On Show's Past And Future

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The CBS comedy "The Neighborhood" is about what happens when the friendliest guy in the Midwest moves his family to a neighborhood into a predominantly African American neighborhood in Los Angeles.

It stars Cedric the Entertainer, who on the show has two grown sons, which adds fun and flavor to the family dynamic.

The show, which has been renewed for a fourth season, will air its season finale on Monday, May 17th.

CBS4's Lisa Petrillo talked to South Florida native Sheaun McKinney, who plays the eldest son, Malcolm, about the show's past and future.

Petrillo: "First of all congratulations on the fourth season of The Neighborhood coming up. Are you excited about that?"

McKinney: "I'm really excited, especially in the climate the world has been in, it's an absolute blessing. So thank you to everybody that continues to support our show. It is a tremendous blessing."

Petrillo: "So what do you think is the secret sauce to The Neighborhood's success? Is it because you just feel like you want to hang out with his family."

McKinney: "I think that's what it is. People can relate to them. I always say it's easy to put issues that go on in life under the guise of humor and that's what we do. We have a king of comedy in Cedric The Entertainer leading the show and we go with topical issues. People are much more likely to engage with something that they may be afraid to talk about under the guise of humor and I think that's what it is."

"At the start of our show I was a tremendous baseball player and I tried to get them to write that he played at the University of Miami because I'm born and raised in Miami -Dade, Coconut Grove, Richmond Heights, and all those places. He was a baseball player who got hurt and then he had to move back home to live with his parents, which every kid aspires to do," McKinney said with a laugh.

Petrillo: "So tonight is the big season finale and we have some life-changing surprises for the family we hear. Can you give us a little hint about that?"

McKinney: "I will say it's life-changing if you saw the episode before, you saw that Dave and Gemma were discussing having a child, so there's something different in that."

Then there's the part when Calvin (Cedric) received his Dad's urn as a gift.

McKinney: "This is one of the things in our show, I can't speak for all Black people, but I'm gonna go ahead and tell you that when we all got the script and saw the urn we were like what? Well, I can't imagine somebody mailing me an urn. I mean, there's a person in there!"

Petrillo: "Yeah, you can't really return to sender!"

McKinney: "Exactly!"

Petrillo: "Do you want to give a shout-out to your family here in Dade County?"

McKinney: "I have to give a shout-out to my family so I can come back. So Mama, Sandra Jean, Moon, I love you guys. Shout out to Coconut Grove and Richmond Heights. If I don't mention Richmond Heights, I won't be allowed back in."

You can catch The Neighborhood's season finale on CBS4 at 8 p.m.

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