‘Crutch’: Tracy Morgan Talks ‘The Neighborhood’ Spinoff Show & its Special Tribute to His Late Wife

CBS is expanding The Neighborhood universe with Crutch, a new sitcom built around Tracy Morgan’s scene-stealing guest character, Francois “Crutch” Crutchfield.

Crutch follows Morgan, who plays the titular character, and is the cousin of Calvin Butler (Cedric the Entertainer) on The Neighborhood. He made an appearance on the November 3 episode of the CBS sitcom, and Crutch dropped the same day.

The sitcom follows Crutch as his adult children move back in with him after getting divorced and losing their jobs. Crutch also stars Jermaine Fowler (Superior Donuts) as his son, Jake, Kecia Lewis (Hell’s Kitchen) as his daughter, Antoinette, Adrianna Mitchell (Snowfall) as Jamilah, Adrian Martinez (The Amateur) as Flaco, Braxton Paul (Sesame Street) as Lisa, and Finn Maloney (Suncoast) as Mase.

TV Insider sat down with Morgan to talk about the new series, including a special tribute to his late wife, which dropped on Paramount+ on November 3.

TVI: The finale really sets up Season 2 with your kids staying, and your daughter getting served divorce papers. What would you want to see in a potential second season of Crutch?

Tracy Morgan: Well, we all face adversity. I want to see my daughter overcome the adversity with her husband. I want to see how that turns out. I’ve never been the type of father to give advice to my daughter, but if you need me, I’m here. I need you to go through this, cause this is life. I need my son… my son is pretty much found, but his cases will be his adversity. And then my grandchildren will grow. I really want to see my daughter find the right one.

Speaking of, could Crutch get a love interest? There was some chemistry at that roof party at the end? 

Who knows? We can’t look that far ahead. I think I’m so in love with my wife, who passed away.

I loved how present she was throughout the series with that photo he talks to. I thought that was great.

That was my real wife. Today marks nine years.

That was a lovely tribute to have in the show. 

Yeah, it keeps me grounded.

I love having Luenell as that classic sitcom character. She’s so funny. How did casting her come about? 

Me and Luenell have been friends from the beginning, a long time, and to me, she’s 45 percent of the three. She’s a scorer. She’s gonna score. And I think that is such a treat for the public. She’s so funny. I think it was a treat to have her. She’s going to steal the show.

Crutch reminds me of a classic sitcom. What is your favorite classic multicam sitcom of all time? 

Good Times with the father and Archie Bunker. A mixture of those two. Father was stern, but disciplinarian; he was wise, and his mother, so this is that. And then you have Archie Bunker, his crazy self, mixed with Good Times.

Sanford & Son, because my sister-in-law’s always going at me like Aunt Esther. So, this is all coming from those classics. I watch The Honeymooners to this day, every night.

You can really tell it harkens back to those. And Crutch is stern, like those characters, but he’s also very sweet. You get that right away in the pilot.

It has a heart. The show is funny, but it has a heart.

Yeah, like, I love in the very first one, he has to get rid of his snake, because he named the mice he was gonna feed it. Like, he’s just a sweet… he’s a sweet guy.

That’s all part of being Tracy Morgan because I really had a snake. I have a 20,000-gallon shark tank out in the back. I have about 10 fish tanks here, and I love nature. My dad went to Vietnam, so I was always a part of nature.

How much of Tracy is in Crutch?

100 percent. I’m a father. I had a father who had my brother move back in with him. All those issues, Tracy Morgan. I’m just mimicking my dad.

Was shooting Crutch… obviously, you’ve done The Neighborhood, and you were on SNL for years, and 30 Rock had a couple live episodes, but was this the first time doing a lot of live recording in front of a live studio audience in a while?

I had The Tracy Morgan Show.

What do you like about the live audience vs. doing it without? 

Energy, but I love doing single-cam too. You’re just stretching different muscles, that’s all.

You can feel that energy in Crutch, for sure. Tell me about working with your on-screen kids, Ariana and Jermaine.

I have relationships with them. I’m really like an elder to them. You need to talk? Come to me. I’m here. I met Jermaine on the set of Coming to America 2, and he makes me laugh so hard every day. I love him so much.

Could you return to The Neighborhood in its final season? 

Maybe.

What are you hoping fans walk away with from Crutch? 

Family. Family is everything. Good, bad, or indifferent. Don’t change them. Leave them alone.

Tell me about the relationship with the grandkids on the show. I thought it was so sweet, and the difference between parenting between Crutch and his kids and then them. 

Those are my babies. I’m a grandfather, so I get to correct the mistakes I made with my kids because I know a little something now. That’s this special bond I have with them.

Why do you like the setting as Harlem, New York City? 

Harlem is so rich! The culture there is so rich. There’s just comedy all day there. Everybody knows Harlem. The son of Sam ain’t killed nobody in Harlem. He knows better. You don’t want to go there. It’s something happening every day there. So why not? The writers have something to write about every day.

Do you have any dream guest stars for Season 2?

I would love to have people on. My dream guest would be Eddie Murphy. He hasn’t been on TV in years since the SNL 50th anniversary.

Crutch, Season 1, now streaming, Paramount+

— Additional reporting by Leah Williams