‘The Neighborhood’ Dealing With Big Shakeup

The Neighborhood Season 5 will feature some shakeups behind the scenes. Deadline recently reported that The Neighborhood‘s current showrunner, Meg DeLoatch, is leaving the series. DeLoatch served as both an executive producer and showrunner for Season 4 of the comedy series. 

This marks yet another major change for The Neighborhood in recent years. DeLoatch joined the series in June 2021. At the time, she replaced the previous showrunner and executive producer Jim Reynolds, who created The Neighborhood. According to Deadline, there will likely be some changes to the show’s writing staff due to DeLoatch’s exit, as she released all but one of The Neighborhood‘s Season 3 writers when she took the reins. Now that she has left the Cedric the Entertainer-fronted show, DeLoatch will be focusing on her overall deal with CBS Studios, which produces The Neighborhood.

The search is currently underway for The Neighborhood‘s next showrunner. As previously mentioned, this was a role that was once held by series creator Reynolds. In April 2021, it was reported that he would be exiting the series. Deadline‘s sources claimed that CBS Studios was interested in a change in leadership for the show. Prior to Reynolds’ exit, it was alleged that CBS Studios dealt with feedback and complaints about him that involved “race-related issues.” That feedback reportedly came from two Black writers who left the show after Season 3. The publication claimed that Reynolds decided to leave around the same time that CBS Studios came to the conclusion to replace him. 

“I am very proud of The Neighborhood and have given everything of myself over the last three years to make this the best show possible,” Reynolds stated about his exit. “I am so happy that the show has found such an enthusiastic audience and that it will live on. At this moment, in light of everything going on in the world, I had concluded that I am not the right person to continue to tell these stories. I am excited to see the show thrive and wish everyone involved the very best.”

The Neighborhood airs on Monday nights on CBS. Ahead of the news of DeLoatch’s exit, it was reported that The Neighborhood was picked up for Season 5. Kelly Kahl, President of CBS Entertainment, said about the renewal of several of CBS’ comedy shows, “We’re thrilled to bring back television’s four most-watched comedies for next season, and I’m proud of the incredible team that maintains CBS’ position as the clear leader in comedy.”