‘The Neighbors: The Complete First Season DVD’ Review

Last season, ‘The Neighbors’ premiered on ABC with little fanfare. The show was derided by critics, but betting against the odds, I decided to give the show a chance. Man, am I glad I did. While the show may not be perfect, it was actually quite the surprise for me. Instead of something completely devoid of humor and fun, as I was led to believe it was, I found something quirky, fun, and full of heart. Now, Disney has brought the show’s entire first season to DVD, featuring all 22 episodes over three discs.

The show follows the Weaver family, a family of five who leave their old lives behind to move into a gated community. Little do they know that the neighborhood they’re moving into is actually inhabited by a group of aliens who have been living on Earth for the last decade, studying humans. When the Weavers discover the truth about their new suburb, instead of running away, they befriend their new neighbors and decide to try and help them learn how to really assimilate into human life.

As with any sitcom, the show can only survive on its cast and writing. Thankfully, the show is in the very capable hands of its leads, Jami Gertz, Lenny Venito, and Simon Templeman. Gertz and Venito both play the Weaver patriarchs, and they’re really quite good in it. They’ve got chemistry, and they are both very funny together. I’ve been a fan of Venito for some time, who has popped up in some of my favorite shows over the years, such as ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Rescue Me’. He was always memorable in his bit parts, so it’s good to see him in a lead role on a weekly series. He’s actually very, very funny as Marty Weaver, making the character incredibly likable and relatable. Marty is probably my favorite character in the series, with Simon Templeman’s character, Larry Bird, in a close second. The two play off each other incredibly well, and have perfect comedic timing. Without their interactions, the show won’t be nearly as fun.

One thing I love about the show is just how offbeat it is. With most “aliens living on earth” movies and shows, a lot of the humor comes from the aliens awkward moments when trying to understand how to be human. I think my favorite is the fact that the aliens have all named themselves after famous athletes, because they believe it’ll make them blend in. They also managed to get two of my favorite sci-fi actors, Mark Hamill and George Takei, to guest star in the season finale, ‘It Has Begun…’, which is probably my favorite episode of the season. The tongue and cheek nature of the series is really what makes it work, so if you enjoy that sort of awkward, offbeat, self referential humor, this show is definitely for you.

It’s just too bad that the series didn’t get better special features on this DVD release. This ‘Complete First Season’ DVD only has a few deleted scenes and a very standard blooper reel, which seems to be the norm now on most of the Disney TV show releases now. It would have been great to get a making of feature or behind the scenes look at the writing process and the actors on set, but unfortunately there’s nothing like this here. The blooper reel is about seven minutes long, and it’s definitely amusing. I just really would have loved to see more here.

‘The Neighbors: The Complete First Season’ is a fun, quirky, offbeat show that is definitely fun. While it starts a bit rough, it finds it’s footing and actually becomes quite fun by the time it’s over. It never takes itself too seriously, and is almost like ‘3rd Rock From the Sun’ for a new generation. If you love sci-fi and comedy, this show is definitely worth a look. Fans of the show will definitely want to pick up this series, even with the lack of special features. This set definitely comes recommended.

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