Earlier this month, ABC introduced ABCd, a relaunch of its streaming app that featured a new user interface, live stream capability in 14 additional markets, and the introduction of 38 cancelled series that either aired on ABC and/or were produced by the network’s studio. In adding the concluded series, ABC hopes to bolster the appeal of their app and offer an alternative to those who reflexively go to Netflix or Hulu when looking for something to watch, as the broadcast networks have been struggling with redirecting viewers away from DVR and outside SVOD services and toward VOD and their own SVOD apps. The series offered for viewing range from critical darlings (My So-Called Life, Sports Night) to projects that never got off the starting block (My Generation, Manhattan Love Story), from witty family comedies (Trophy Wife) to thoughtful dramas about transitional periods in life (Felicity), from projects doomed by the 2007-2008 Writers’ Strike (Dirty Sexy Money) to those that had complete runs and got to tell the story they wanted (Brothers & Sisters, Ugly Betty), yet the series that you should prioritize above the other 37 entries viewing for your attention is possibly the lowest key newbie on the ABC app – The Neighbors.
Debuting in the fall of 2012, The Neighbors followed the Weaver family as they moved into a gated community where they’re shocked to learn that their neighbors are all Zabvronians, alien beings from the planet Zabvron. Though they understandably have the urge to flee as soon as they realize what they’re up against, the Weavers soon find that there are more similarities between them and their next door neighbors than they initially thought. The series, from creator Dan Fogelman (Crazy Stupid Love), was savaged by television critics leading up to its premiere, the victim of the off-putting hive mind that can pop up when talking TV, but put up solid enough numbers in its first season to get renewed. Unfortunately, The Neighbors became victim of terrible scheduling and wound up on lowly trafficked Fridays, airing behind the most incompatible lead-in it could’ve gotten (Last Man Standing) without the benefit of any promotion. Thus, the show was cancelled in the spring of 2014 with 44 episodes in the bank, a fact that made its cancellation all the more puzzling considering that ABC owned it; in this time of vertical integration, it takes a lot to throw away that many episodes of something you own even if it’s low-rated, but The Neighbors went out (more or less) on its own terms creatively, making a streaming binge all the more worthwhile.
Also making a binge worth your time is the fact that The Neighbors takes a format that broadcast networks have found comfort in (the single camera family comedy) and turns it on its head with the use of aliens and outer space. Due to shrinking live ratings, broadcast networks have pared down the amount of risks they’re willing to take, concentrating their efforts on professional (e.g. lawyer, police, doctor) dramas, superhero epics, and movie adaptations, which, while still entertaining if well-executed, leaves little wiggle room for shows that attempt to break the mold. The lower-rated/decidedly not broadcast friendly shows that make the cut tend to be award darlings (American Crime, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Last Man on Earth) and shows that have unusual ratings trajectories (Scream Queens), so something as offbeat, colorful, and quirky as The Neighbors even making it to broadcast and going for two full seasons is a victory in and of itself. Granted, ABC has, in recent years, attempted to expand their comedy formula in terms of racial makeup (Black-ish, Cristela, Fresh Off the Boat) and other types of diversity (The Real O’Neals and homosexuality, Speechless and disability), but ABC’s comedies tend to be more straightforward (and, at times, interchangeable) than the metaphorically minded silliness of The Neighbors, a show filled to the brim with fourth wall breaks, lavish musical numbers, and an intelligent pop culture sensibility. While it does possess the heart that ABC comedies are known for, its moments of sincerity doing a lot to keep the show grounded, it’s a show that doesn’t deprive itself of humor in the name of heart, nor does it revert to the treacly or bicker-heavy pitfalls that modern family comedy can find itself in. It’s a show that’s very much itself, an adventurous romp through familiar territory done with a sense of creative bravery and pure joy that makes its steady improvement all the more delightful to behold.
But a show as unusual as The Neighbors lives and dies by the depth its cast can give it. Without a solid cast, this is the type of show, filled with off-kilter energy, that could’ve been swallowed whole by the high degree of difficulty embedded in its premise, but luckily, The Neighbors had a good group in which to keep this tale of aliens as recognizably human as any other comedy. As bubbly ray of sunshine Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Toks Olagundoye was able to make create a fully human character amid the quirks of the show, a being whose quest for personal fulfillment and a sense of belonging in this strange world became deeply sympathetic while fueling a reliably funny character arc that resonated with anyone who’s ever felt out of place. Equally as game was Simon Templeman as arrogant Zabvronian leader Larry Bird, the character who has the most difficulty adjusting to life on Earth. Prickly and pompous, Bird didn’t display as much vulnerability as his wife, but his journey was a nice counterpoint to Jackie’s, as he fought to keep his community from becoming too assimilated in the world around them only to gradually find himself accepting the Weaver family for what and who they are. While Tim Jo as loyal, pure-hearted Reggie Jackson was easily the soul of the show, Ian Patrick’s turn as Dick Butkus, a sort of Stewie Griffin/Tommy Solomon hybrid who reveled in the show’s more surrealistic qualities, helped round out the alien family in the perfect way. The human characters on the show got less showy roles to play with, but not only did Lenny Venito, Jami Gertz, Clara Mamet, Max Charles, and Isabella Cramp find interesting places to go with their characters (particularly Mamet, whose Daria Morgendorffer-esque Amber gradually blossomed under the influence of Reggie), they each succeeded in making their interaction with the Bird/Joyner-Kersee family feel authentic and rooted in something other than “ha, aliens sure are weird, right?”. The weirdness of the aliens was never allowed to take over the show and in keeping that segment of itself controlled, The Neighbors allowed the character interaction to take precedence, thereby resulting in better performances and a stronger foundation.
Yet despite its strong sense of self and solid set of performances, the most interesting thing about The Neighbors is its message of inclusivity. The show functions as something of a live-action Bob’s Burgers, in that it’s a giant celebration of weirdness and acceptance of difference in your fellow man. It never judges Larry, Jackie, or any of the aliens for what they do or who they are; instead, it focuses on showing that everyone is a little weird and sometimes, you find people whose weirdness matches your own. In spite of seeming difference, everyone has points of commonality and in most cases, it’s possible (and preferable) to see past said difference, no matter if it’s as huge as coming from another planet or as small as turning your music up a level too loud, and focus on how we’re all in the same fight together. Optimistic and noticeably full of love, The Neighbors is a show made for the troubled political climate we’re currently in, not only for how escapist it is but because of how, through a certain lens, it could be looked at as a subversive immigration allegory. Rather than have the aliens be the point of entry characters and their landing on Earth be the event that catalyzes the series, The Neighbors had a white human family move into a neighborhood where they were the decided social (and species) minority, thereby forcing them to confront issues of assimilation, identity (e.g. what does it mean to be human, how much can we learn from the aliens), and prejudice in ways that aren’t that common on television. It’s a pretty ingenious way to demonstrate to members of its audience who don’t fully understand immigration and oppression what it’s like to be the other by using the Weaver family as something of an audience surrogate; while the show does respect the emotion behind Jackie’s need for roots on Earth and desire for connection with the world around her, as well as Larry’s reticence at giving up the Zabvronian tradition and way of life in which he’s used to, the audience might not have been as able to identify (and sympathize) with a family of space aliens had they been the only one experiencing difficulties fitting in with society at large, especially since the Bird family was going to be the primary source of comedy on top of that. Using the Weavers as a mirror amplifies and humanizes the issues that Jackie, Larry, Reggie, and Dick face in living on Earth, thereby allowing the Bird-Kersees the room to be funny and the respect of not being reduced to their outsider status.
Like anything that goes against the norm, The Neighbors was a show that took a minute to grow into itself, which makes its treatment by ABC all the more despicable. As a result of network short-sightedness, this show was never allowed to fulfill its vast creative potential and really see what this group of characters could do together. While there is some type of karmic justice in that the shows that immediately replaced The Neighbors (e.g. Back in the Game on fall Wednesdays, Suburgatory on spring Wednesdays, Cristela on fall Fridays) all crashed and burned, it makes the show’s cancellation another painful example of a broadcast network trying to improve on a situation that didn’t necessarily need fixing. Had ABC put more effort into getting the show re-sampled, or at least let the show hit syndication numbers in relative peace, we would be talking about The Neighbors as a cute show with a solid run and a great cast instead of as something crystallized by cancellation, though the way its series finale unfolds is the best one could ask for considering the situation it was put into. But if there’s one thing I could ask, it’s don’t let the vicious, mean-spirited reviews or the way the show was treated influence or define your opinion of it’s worth; now is the opportunity to find out about a project that slipped between the cracks on broadcast television, a wholly original bright light in an increasingly muddled and dark television landscape. Now is the time to stream The Neighbors and show ABC that there is an audience out there for this show. They just never bothered to find it.
You can stream The Neighbors here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_iJy5auBko
