Love Thy Neighbor

As a child growing up in England I remember seeing this television show and enjoying it. Love Thy Neighbor broke ground with its racey content and humor. Unpleasant things that we didn't want to acknowledge, like racism, were faced head on in this program, but with a comedy twist making us laugh at the very thing that made us most uncomfortable. A take off of this British comedy was even made into the popular American show called All in the Family. Just like Sanford and Son which was a take off of the English comedy Steptoe and Son, Love Thy Neighbor made people talk and laugh about the realities of that time. Many great American television shows started from great English television. So, if you get the chance to see it, do so. It is worth the watch.

Much in the manner of many sitcoms of the time, this show was cheap and forgettable. The draw was timely racial humor (badly dated today) involving a redneck white man working under and living next door to a black man. Charlie wasn't virulently racist, but his attitude, coupled with Ferguson's combative personality, made for the typical (and obvious) conflicts. Both wives were stereotypically friendly and understanding. All four of the main cast members are talented, but the scripts for the show ensured that their talents were never tested. The sets looked like a neighborhood theater stage and were cheapened further by the use of videotape. Critics who decry the quality of programming here in the Twenty-First Century should take a look at shows like Love Thy Neighbor to realize that at least the quickie junk we have today looks halfway-decent.