CBS Winter Press Tour ’19! Tichina Arnold On The Neighborhood Being A Funny Agent For Change
By Delaina Dixon | January 31, 2019 | Entertainment
Three CBS freshman series have been picked up for the 2018 and 2019 season, including The Neighborhood. Series star Tichina Arnold believes that the show’s pickup is a sign of CBS’s commitment to diverse storytelling and programming, a problem it’s had to address repeatedly in past years.
“CBS is more inclusive. They are more diverse┬ábecause I’m on it,” she declared through the series panel. “Change is happening for the good.”
The Neighborhood chronicles the awkward relationship betweenCalvin Butler, a proud African-American home owner, and his new neighbors, who are Caucasian. Tichina feels that the unusual pairing can be an ideal platform for enlightenment.
“The conversation[s] that happens in the black household is a completely different conversation that happens in the white household. So when two households get together and they have a conversation, they learn from each other,” she explained. “It’s a wonderful thing. I think this show represents that.”
She’s also glad that the show’s lessons┬áare┬ádelivered with humor. “Dealing with social issues through comedy is, to me, the best way to do it, you know. We can get away with a lot of stuff.”
Like what, Tichina?
“I love the washcloth episode, because something as simple as her not using a washcloth, and me using a washcloth — who knew that that could be a racial divide? So I love simple things that people don’t normally talk about and that we address and we find, and bridge gaps in just the simplest things.”
Catch The Neighborhood Mondays on CBS.
photo credit: CBS
