The Neighborhood: Who Is Wendell Johnson? Show Tribute Explained

The CBS sitcom The Neighborhood offered an emotional tribute to its late team member Wendell Johnson at the end of the latest episode.

The Neighborhood Remembers Wendell Johnson

At the end of The Neighborhood's Season 6 premiere, CBS included a tribute to Wendell Johnson, who tragically passed away on October 18, 2023.

The network displayed a black-and-white photo of Johnson at the end of Episode 1, honoring his memory after his death.

Johnson worked as a production designer on 33 episodes of The Neighborhood, starting his work in Season 2 before being credited for most of Season 4 and Season 5.

Below is an image of Johnson along with his family:

Johnson was perhaps best known for his work creating the graphics for the opening sequence to Will Smith's hit '90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Before working as a production assistant on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Johnson got the call to work on Fresh Prince after an associate producer saw his what he did on Webster, creating the logo and graphics for Smith’s new program.

Associate producer Maria Lopez (via Art of the Title) brought Johnson in to work on the Fresh Prince opening sequence, which specifically had to be graffiti to fit the look of the show.

Johnson’s personal website shares dozens of projects he worked on over the years as a production designer, including Kevin Can Wait, Mulaney, Growing Up Wayans, Survivor, and The Carmichael Show.

In total, Johnson has 33 credits listed on his IMDB page, including serving as the art director for Fired Up, The Trouble With Normal, and Mad About You.

Wendell's longtime friend Amy Winslow also set up a GoFundMe page to help his family take care of cremation and memorial celebration expanses. Set for a goal of $30,000 USD, the donations have already exceeded that amount and now total nearly $46,000 USD (at the time of writing).

The Direct sends our deepest condolences to Johnson’s family, friends, and loved ones along with the entire The Neighborhood community during this difficult time.