The Neighbors

I watched this recently while channel surfing, and stopped to view it because I noticed it had Jami Gertz, who I really liked in the Still Standing series a few years back. I saw the episode about mating and laughed out loud many times. And clean humor about sex, family, and teens. I loved it...I am planning to watch it tonight..just for some fresh TV ...we need more creative shows like this. It's definitely a positive shift away from the overindulgence of so called reality TV... This is a cute view into a unique neighborhood and looking at differences in culture, albeit aliens...I hope they can continue this series and give it some chance to develop a following. For some reason it makes me think of the series My favorite Martian For way back in my childhood... (Back in the 60's, with Black & White TV, only 3 channels and no remote) The good ole days...

Where this show is so new I'm inclined to keep this short and sweet: I'm unsure why some are rating this show so low, as it seems to have been quite clearly written and designed for fun. I'd like to suggest more cynical viewers lower their proverbial gun barrels and take pleasure in a show that simply wants to be silly, creative and a little bit cheesy...as opposed to the barrage of deep message-laden pseudo-preachy programs that we're currently bombarded with.

I found the pilot a bit shaky in spots, but I can't recall a pilot of any program where this wasn't the case. The characters were well-portrayed; I found the acting particularly strong given the subject matter. It also had a decent spectrum in relation to how it will relate to adults and younger viewers; hence the steady-fire logic of visual and vocal quips that kept things rolling along nicely.

I'm trying to be as vague as possible as I'd rather entice people to check it out, instead of spoil it by trying to summarize or describe it adequately in text. It's a situational-style sitcom with Sci-Fi overtones. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and clearly has a lot of fun in the production. I found the writing particularly clever in many spots, and laughed out loud on many occasions. I can only hope the humour and writing stays strong throughout the season, because if that starts to weaken, it may deflate the whole concept altogether. Nonetheless, I've found it to be a decent breath of fresh air so far.

3rd Rock from the Sun is a tough act to follow. The Neighbors does a pretty good job, but uses wit and timing instead of zaniness and slapstick comedy to get its laughs. That makes it consistently funny, just not side-splittingly funny. Naming all of the aliens after sports heroes was an inspired choice-- they'll never run out of funny names (a tot named Dick Butkus?), and the fact that the aliens are dorky doubles down on the running gag. So are all their matching outfits/uniforms that remind us of golf clothes from the 1970s.

Also on the upside, some of the cast members are real gems. I don't know where Toks Olagundoye has been up til now, but she's got real movie star power as the glamorous alien mom. Her rapid fire back and forth with alien husband Simon Templeman, who has perfect comedic timing and never wastes a good line, are my favorite parts of the show. Jami Gertz and Max Charles are good enough as the earthling straight man/woman, but I think maybe too much of the plot compares their unfunny ordinariness to the aliens' backwards/upside down view of what humanity is like. The child actors are pretty good, too, even if the show relies a little too much on alien child Ian Patrick's precociousness. Clara Mamet is exceptional as the brooding, frighteningly calculating and cynical teenager.

I was worried that after a few episodes the running gags would wear thin and they'd run out of ideas. Not so at all! I've just finished the Thanksgiving episode and, if anything, it's getting better and better.

I signed up for an account with IMDb just so I could show support for this sitcom.

It seems like 99% of the sitcoms out there are bent on using sexual, crass humor to attain and retain their audiences. Most new sitcoms that come out, you can hold your breath without passing out before a crude joke breaks. It gets old.

So when a show comes out with a fun premise and actually makes me laugh WITHOUT being crude and crass, I enjoy every moment of it. Because inevitably it will get bad reviews and be canceled after (usually) one season-- if that.

So here's my take, in a nutshell:

The character are fun. Simon Templeman and Toks Olagundoye are hilarious as alien parents. Great delivery and timing, and Toks can do just about any accent under the sun. Watching them (and the rest of the cast) tackle "normal human" trappings has thus far been creative and fun-- and CLEAN. Which to me just makes it more classy. Supposedly I have a good sense of humor, so I'm hoping that others can find the humor in this show as well. It's still early, but I feel like there's a lot in the tank for growth in the characters. And the amount of "normal human" trappings they can explore are so vast, I feel it can last for a while.

For example, they just took on the subject of sex. Yes, they could have gotten pretty crass. This episode was, to be honest, the one that would have me either continuing to watch the show (if they did it with class), or turning it off. Throughout the episode, I felt they handled it really well, which was (again) refreshing.

Granted, this isn't the type of sitcom that's going to run for a decade and all that, but it's a breath of fresh air and I am discouraged that it's only getting (at time of review) a 5.4 out of 10. Sadly, though, I'm not surprised.

I know this review doesn't help with in-depth analysis, but I hope it at least sheds some light on a sitcom that doesn't (at this point) follow in the footsteps of the same old tired, dirty, trite junk that seems to bombard us from every angle.

This is a cute series, light hearted and fun. It treats one taken-for- granted subject of our human life per episode and it manages to turn it on all sides in a nice way...does what very well exactly what'the new normal' fails terribly: produces interesting characters that we care about, nice stories, criticize slightly some aspects of daily life that are less than ideal and reframe our daily life, while actually manage to be funny and not fall in an overly judgemental storyline. OK, it might not be the comedy of the century, but its really catching some steam lately and it deserves proper time and attention to develop. I read some awful reviews of the pilot and i totally disagree with most of them. This is a nice series, with nice and funny actors, good story and quite some laughs. Very enjoyable...let's give it some support!