• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, November 4, 2024

“The Neighborhood” dips a toe or two into Election Day waters Monday night on CBS and does not fall in and drown.

This is fortunate because a lighthearted, prime-time sitcom diving bodily into this year’s shark-infested election waters would be a challenging -- if not impossible -- task, and still remain lighthearted.

And so, the choice was made to sidestep debates over candidates both local and national (yuck) and create a storyline based mainly on a fictional proposition on the California ballot.

The proposition would create an economic empowerment zone where Calvin Butler (Cedric the Entertainer) is building a business called Fuse Box, a repair shop for electric vehicles.

By avoiding the presidential election altogether, the show also gets to sidestep the issues of race that percolate just under the surface, or on top of it, in the race for the White House.

Now in its sixth season, “The Neighborhood” has sometimes been criticized for a soft approach to race relations even though the show’s central situation is racial.

In the show, a white couple (Max Greenfield and Beth Behrs) moves into a predominantly black L.A. neighborhood, where their next-door neighbors are Calvin and his wife, Tina (Tichina Arnold). 

When the white couple moves in, Calvin is challenged to accept the idea that he now has white neighbors.

The criticism of the show is misplaced and a waste of time. “The Neighborhood” is on CBS, not FX. Therefore, “The Neighborhood” has an obligation to actually be funny.

In Monday night’s episode -- 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Eastern -- Calvin is all for the proposition because his business stands to benefit from tax breaks that would result if the proposition passes.

So, he electioneers. Among other things, he unethically exhorts his employees to vote yes on the proposition and rents a van to transport seniors to the polls and in the process, campaigns for their votes too.

But members of Calvin’s community are against the proposition because (a) it is being put forth by unnamed large businesses that want to benefit from the tax breaks and (b) long-time residents might be displaced.

Thus, the issue is positioned not as racial (even though Calvin’s black-owned business stands to benefit), but social and economic. 

What’s a community neighbor and entrepreneur to do? No spoilers here.

In the end, the point of this show airing on Election Day Eve is to encourage viewers to go out and vote. That’s a proposition all of us can vote yes on.