The Neighbors
ABC | Release Date: September 26, 2012
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
8
Negative:
11

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Boston HeraldMark A. PerigardSep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: The Neighbors is the silliest show you will watch all year. Read full review
75
Washington PostHank StueverSep 14, 2012
Season 1 Review: The Neighbors means you no harm; it is merely offering buoyant, slightly creepy entertainment for anybody who doesn't take sci-fi or satire too seriously. Read full review
70
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen GraySep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: The first two episodes of The Neighbors actually made me laugh more than once--and without the aid of mood-altering substances. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenSep 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: In its first two episodes The Neighbors is an enjoyable, broad comedy that encourages co-viewing among parents and their children. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Matt Zoller SeitzSep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: The pilot for ABC's extraterrestrial silly-fest feels half-baked, and parts of it just sort of lie there, but this shouldn't be a deal breaker. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamaraSep 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: Created by Dan Fogelman it is enjoyable if not impressive--not bad, and almost good. Read full review
58
NewsdayDiane WertsSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: While The Neighbors sketches something genuinely creative--and truly weird--its comedy doesn't really come together. Read full review
50
PopMattersMichael LandweberSep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: Unfortunately, the pilot doesn't suggest that there is anything more interesting at work here than a weak attempt to wring laughs out of aliens who are buffoons. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldGlenn GarvinSep 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: In short, The Neighbors closely resembles the old Conehead sketches from the early days of Saturday Night Live. Read full review
50
RedEyeCurt WagnerSep 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: The Neighbors revives an old storyline used in everything from the the "SNL" Coneheads sketch to "Third Rock from the Sun." It just doesn't do it as well. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyKen TuckerSep 21, 2012
Season 1 Review: There's something winning about the absurdity and the poker-faced formality of the aliens.... The only problem is there's no internal logic to the premise. [28 Sep 2012, p.64]
40
New York Daily NewsDavid HinckleySep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: Droll and amusing though the jokes and characters in the first episode often are, The Neighbors has all its chips riding on what is essentially a one-line gag. Read full review
37
USA TodayRobert BiancoSep 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: Nothing in The Neighbors rises above mediocrity, and too much falls beneath it. Read full review
30
TimeJames PoniewozikSep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: For a bizarre comedy with the potential for some really pointed wackiness, this alien vehicle doesn't get off the ground. Read full review
30
VarietyBrian LowrySep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's somewhat offbeat, yes, but all played at such a cartoonish level as to feel like a distant throwback, a la "My Favorite Martian" or "I Dream of Jeannie," since there's no one akin to Mork or ALF to enliven the festivities. Read full review
30
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerSep 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: It's "3rd Rock From the Sun" without the wit or the understatement. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesLori RacklSep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: And that's me, faster than Usain Bolt, changing the channel. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleDavid WiegandSep 24, 2012
Season 1 Review: The show seems to exhaust its small comedic possibilities with the first episode, not to mention viewer interest. Read full review
25
Uncle BarkyEd BarkSep 21, 2012
Season 1 Review: This latest aliens-meet-earthlings sitcom is just too dopily executed for any long-term stay on this planet. Read full review
10
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushSep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: Neighbors settles for charmless performances, stupid jokes and sight gags that might be funny once, such as naming all of the aliens after famous sports figures (like Larry Bird and Jackie Joyner-Kersee), but with repetition grows fretfully stale. Read full review
10
Zap2it (Inside the Box)Drusilla MoorhouseSep 26, 2012
Season 1 Review: If you value your time, you'll change the channel after "Modern Family." Read full review
10
Boston GlobeMatthew GilbertSep 25, 2012
Season 1 Review: ABC's The Neighbors is this season's awful sitcom, the one that defies all kind of sense. Read full review
0
The Hollywood ReporterTim GoodmanSep 27, 2012
Season 1 Review: This season, ABC has Neighbors, one of the least funny things to air on television since the last Hitler documentary on History. Read full review
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