Paramount Plus Orders Tracy Morgan Comedy Set in World of ‘The Neighborhood’
Producer Cedric The Entertainer says Morgan’s character a ‘close cousin’ of Calvin on ‘Neighborhood’
Paramount Plus has ordered the series Crutch, a comedy that is a spinoff of CBS comedy The Neighborhood. Tracy Morgan stars.
The show “will be set in the world of” The Neighborhood, Paramount Plus said. Morgan plays Frank “Crutch” Crutchfield, a Harlem widower whose empty-nest plans are dashed when his millennial son and free-spirited daughter move back home with him. Executive producer Cedric the Entertainer, who plays Calvin Butler in The Neighborhood, called Crutchfield “the close cousin” of Butler.
CBS Studios produces.
From Cedric The Entertainer and his production company, A Bird and a Bear Entertainment, the series is executive produced by Cedric and Eric C. Rhone, along with Owen Smith, who wrote the premiere script and will be showrunner; Aaron Kaplan for Kapital Entertainment; Wendi Trilling for TrillTV; and Tracy Morgan.
Smith was showrunner and executive producer on TBS series The Last O.G., in which Morgan starred.
“Our subscribers love CBS’s The Neighborhood, so it’s a natural fit to bring Crutch to Paramount Plus,” said Jeff Grossman, executive VP of programming, Paramount Streaming. “We can’t wait to see what the immense talents behind Crutch — Tracy Morgan, Cedric The Entertainer and Owen Smith — bring to this new series.”
The Neighborhood is about a white family from Michigan that moves to a mixed neighborhood in Los Angeles. The family moves next door to Cedric’s character Calvin.
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CBS renewed The Neighborhood for season seven.
“I’m excited to be expanding our The Neighborhood universe, by producing a show with the legendary comedian Tracy Morgan,” Cedric the Entertainer said. “This new character is the close cousin to my character Calvin Butler and you will enjoy some of their many similarities. Morgan plays Crutch, a ‘say-it-like-it-is’ widowed father who is challenged when his two adult children and a couple of grandchildren need to move back home, and let’s say there will be several comedic complications.”
The Last O.G. went four seasons on TBS.
"Crutch will be navigating the ups and downs of having his kids and grandkids back under one roof, and you know if I am doing this, there will be plenty of laughs along the way,” Morgan said. “I am so happy to be able to do this with my brother Cedric the Entertainer, Owen Smith and the rest of the amazing crew we have put together. Get ready for your new favorite show!”
Michael Malone is content director at B+C and Multichannel News. He joined B+C in 2005 and has covered network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television, including writing the "Local News Close-Up" market profiles. He also hosted the podcasts "Busted Pilot" and "Series Business." His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The L.A. Times, The Boston Globe and New York magazine.