The Neighbors

As a fan of the Coneheads, this familiar premise held some hope for me, but I was prepared to be disappointed. However, within the boundaries of where a show like this is aimed, this was a very funny show. No audience laughter and no talking to the camera were welcome assets.

We laughed out loud several times. The jokes moved quickly and were a pleasant mix of the surreal and absurd. The cast was solid and I especially enjoyed the fact that Jami Gertz was the only actor I was all that familiar with.

Looking forward to more and hope that they can sustain the comedic tone established in the pilot.

The Weavers (Jami Gertz, Lenny Venito, Clara Mamet, Max Charles, Isabella Cramp) are a Jersey family who moves into a gated community. Then they find out that all the neighbors are aliens from another planet. Every one of them picked a famous sport star name. The leader is Larry Bird (Simon Templeman) with his wife Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Toks Olagundoye) and their kids Dick Butkus (Ian Patrick) and Reggie Jackson (Tim Jo).

I love the aliens and the crazy hijinx they get into. They're ridiculous and loads of fun. It doesn't try to be too serious. The aliens look at the world in a totally different way and every once in awhile, they teach the Weavers lessons of their own. There is also a teenage love story between the grumpy Weaver girl and the wide eyed boy Reggie Jackson. That too is fun. It was canceled after two full seasons. It's too bad since it's one of the funnier shows around.

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 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...

When i have spotted the promo's of this show, i thought it was so random, childish and unattractive. It turns out i was WRONG. The pilot was likable and the further episodes kept getting better and better. The dialogues were fine and i think the overly-sophisticated English would really contribute to young viewers their vocabulary. However, the only thing that bothered me is that even tho they are all in a closed community, it seems a bit odd that the aliens have mastered the English language but they are unaware of everything that takes place outside of their community. But still, i have seen progress through the episodes and it might be worth for you folks to try it out as well. I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. Take it from someone who is very selective on what to watch. This show. A 7.0 from yours truly.