The Neighbors

I don't have much hope for the future of The Neighbors. Sure, it's wildly funny, Toks Olagundoye (who I've never seen before)is brilliant, and the show's wacky sensibility and great sight gags (like a formation of pie-carrying aliens) make it the season's best new comedy, but way too many people just don't like it. The reviews have been very poor (as opposed to the almost universal praise heaped on the terrible Ben and Kate), and the average rating on IMDb and TV.com is low.

This is Better Off Ted all over again. It's wildly funny but for some reason only a select group of us seems to recognize the fact. I am just bracing itself for its inevitable cancellation, and wish Toks and the equally funny and obscure Simon Templeman better luck with their future careers.

Having been underwhelmed by the trailer, I found the pilot much funnier than I had expected. It's essentially a show about the trials and tribulations of family life, with overtones of "The Coneheads" and shades of "Monty Python".

The pilot has laugh out loud moments and the cast did a good job. I have a fondness for sight gags and there are some great ones in the opener. The premise was set up with ruthless efficiency (that's a compliment); the creative strength and viability of the series will only be apparent after a few regular episodes. It has the potential to attract a broad audience; kids should find it funny and anyone who likes what I will call absurdist "British" humor will find it a refreshing change from the swathes of sitcoms about how awful it is to be in your 20s. This show is different, in a potentially good way, and it deserves a shot. I hope that it gets a run to see where it goes. It certainly has a prime time slot.

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.

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.

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.