Josh Roberts, a divorced actor whose TV series was recently cancelled, moves back to New York City and lives in apartment 9K. His family lives in adjacent apartments: his parents live in 9J, while his brother, sister-in-law, and their newborn baby live in 9L. This unique situation prompts Josh to try and set boundaries while reconnecting with his family members. The show is loosely based on Feuerstein's experiences while shooting the USA Network series Royal Pains; in real life, however, Feuerstein lived with his wife, 9JKLexecutive producer Dana Klein, while living next to his own family.
On January 17, 2017, it was announced that CBS had given the production a pilot order as 9J, 9K and 9L. The episode was written and author by Mark Feuerstein who were expected to executive produce alongside with Dana Klein, Aaron Kaplan, Wendi Trilling and Dana Honor. Production companies involved with the pilot include Liscolaide Productions, Trill TV, Kapital Entertainment, and CBS Television Studios. On May 12, 2017, CBS officially ordered the pilot to series. A few days later, it was announced that the series, now titled 9JKL, would premiere on October 2, 2017 and airs on Mondays at 9:30 P.M. On November 17, 2017, CBS picked up the series for a full season of 16 episodes.
Casting
In February 2017, it was announced that David Walton, Matt Murray and Liza Lapira had been cast in the pilot's lead role. On March 6, 2017, it was reported that both Linda Lavin and Elliott Gould had also joined the pilot's main cast. On June 19, 2017, it was announced that Albert Tsai had been cast to the regular series.
Cancellation
On May 12, 2018, it was announced that CBS officially cancelled 9JKL, along with Kevin Can Wait, Superior Donuts, Living Biblically, and Me, Myself & I. The combination of factors, including declining ratings, CBS's desire to have an ownership stake, and the network needing to clear space for three new sitcoms in the fall 2018 schedule, led to the show's demise.
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 13% based on 15 reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 37 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
