Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Episodic Review: The Neighbors - "Sing Like a Larry Bird" Airing Tonight on ABC; CBS Season Finale Dates

On the next...The Neighbors:
By: Pavan

ABC's Wednesday night comedy starring Jami Gertz and Lenny Venito airs Wednesday nights at 8:30pm and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (March 13). It's a musical episode with Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken writing the songs! In the episode airing tonight, "Sing Like a Larry Bird," increasingly comfortable exploring the world outside of their gated community, the Bird-Kersees ignore the Weavers' concerns and decide to go to into the city to see a Broadway show. Inspired by the experience, Larry Bird (Simon Templeman) decides to put on a musical of his own, which goes well until Dick Butkus (Ian Patrick) literally missteps. Instead of going to Marty (Lenny Venito) and Debbie (Jami Gertz) for help (as they have done many times before), the Bird-Kersees risk exposing their true identities when they call 9-1-1.

Who needs Les Miserables, when we have the Bird-Kersees! This episode has it all--comedy, drama, romance, and musical numbers. And not every part of the episode is a musical scene, so it has a good mix of music and actual dialogue. I've got to say though that the musical numbers the Bird-Kersee family (aka the aliens) did were outstanding. They were Broadway style and quite frankly, hilarious as hell. I think the Bird-Kersees can definitely smack the cast of Glee! This is one of the top episodes of the series so far and every member of the cast had a lot do in this episode. The Weaver family (aka the humans) didn't sing, but that's OK because that wouldn't have made sense since the Bird-Kersees were the ones curious about Broadway. This episode is not just a musical as I mentioned, but we have so many pop culture references that I couldn't even keep a full list. Cats, Hugh Jackman, Glee, Annie, Jay-Z, The Voice, 3rd Rock from the Sun, ET, and Magic Mike are just some of the very cool references made on tonight's episode. The Voice scene was hilarious as Larry, Jackie and Dick were choosing who they wanted to be part of their musical. And the two big musical numbers in this episode just crushed it and made the episode even better. The actual storylines of the episode were hilarious, too, from Larry & Jackie wanting to see a Broadway show without Marty & Debbie knowing to the Weaver kids rebelling and doing whatever they please. And Reggie Jackson brings the romance with comedy and music, as he ponders between his girlfriend Giselle or Amber Weaver. This one is definitely worth watching not just once but at least twice. It's Les Miserables without all the boring stuff and lots of comedy...and that's how it should be! A-

The Neighbors is a good show! It had a very bad wrap for some reason before it even premiered. I think people forgot about shows like 3rd Rock from the Sun, as that show was very good and was critically praised and it had a similar premise. This series has gotten way better since the early episodes, especially the pilot, so you should definitely catch-up if you haven't seen it since the pilot or episode two. I had a feeling this show would last because it is very mainstream and fits the ABC family comedy brand very well. It's unique and fun every week. I think many people are realizing that now and now no one says this is a bad show. Ratings have been definitely better than anyone ever expected, while not great but it is consistent. I think it will be back for a second season and perhaps it will be a contender for a Friday slot, where I think it could deliver the same ratings as it is now on Wednesdays. After tonight, there are only two episodes left before the season finale. It's truly a shame that tonight's episode is surrounded by repeats on ABC Comedy Wednesday. But maybe that's a good thing because this is the must see show of the night with this musical episode. It has the center of attention tonight and it delivers big time! It's not only going to smack the cast of Glee, but all of its critics from the summer who didn't give this show a chance at all.

View behind the scenes from tonight's episode featuring the work of Academy Award-winning composer Alan Menken:



CBS has announced season finale air dates that will include two-hour finales for Survivor: Caramoan - Fans Vs. Favorites, The Amazing Race, Criminal Minds and Elementary. The first finale will be on Sunday, April 28 at 9:00pm for The Good Wife. The other Sunday series will wrap on Sunday, May 5 with a two-hour finale for The Amazing Race from 8:00-10:00PM, followed by the season finale of The Mentalist at 10. CBS will dedicate Sunday, May 12 for the Survivor: Caramoan - Fans Vs. Favorites season finale from 8-10pm followed bu the live Reunion Show at 10. CBS has not announced what it will air on May 19 for the last Sunday of the TV season. Moving on to Thursday, May 9, the season finale of Two and a Half Men will air at 8:30 leading into the season finale of Person of Interest at 9. The other Thursday series will wrap a week later on May 16 with The Big Bang Theory at 8 (and probably a repeat at 8:30) leading into the two-hour season finale for freshman drama Elementary from 9-11pm. The Friday dramas will wrap-up on Friday, May 10 with Vegas at 9 and Blue Bloods at 10. The season finale of Undercover Boss will air a week later on Friday, May 17 at 8. CBS has not announced what will air 9-11pm on the last Friday of the season.

The Monday sitcom block will half wrap-up on Monday, May 13. The season finale of How I Met Your Mother will air at 8 and 2 Broke Girls at 9, while the other two sitcoms wrap up on the last Monday of the season on May 20 with Rules of Engagement at 8:30 and Mike & Molly at 9:30pm. Hawaii Five-0 will wrap up its season also on May 20 at 10pm. The CBS Tuesday drama line-up will all end their seasons a week early on Tuesday, May 14 with NCIS at 8, NCIS: Los Angeles at 9 and new drama Golden Boy at 10. And finally the Wednesday dramas will end on two separate weeks, with CSI on Wednesday, May 15 at 10 and a two-hour season finale for Criminal Minds from 9-11pm on May 22. No word on what will air at 8pm on both May 15 and 22, since Survivor wraps up its Wednesday airings on May 8. Stay with us for continued updates.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, April 18

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 14)

Friday, April 18

  • David Alan Grier (St. Denis Medical/Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!/The Cool Kids/The Carmichael Show/Bad Teacher/Life with Bonnie/DAG) - Watch David on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Bernadette Peters (High Desert/Mozart in the Jungle/All's Fair) - Bernadette is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Chet Hanks (Running Point) - Chet appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Woody Harrelson (Cheers) - Woody takes "The Colbert Questionert" on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Bobby Moynihan (Mr. Mayor/Me, Myself & I), Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Mary Eliabeth Ellis (Santa Clarita Diet/The Grinder/Perfect Couples/It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) - Bobby, Thomas and Mary are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Luke Kirby (Étoile) - Luke talks about Étoile on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is joining Drew and Ross Mathews to hit the headlines on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Annaleigh Ashford (B Positive) - Annaleigh is telling Drew about the thrilling new series Happy Face based on a real life serial killer on The Drew Barrymroe Show, so check your local listings.
  • Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) and Delroy Lindo (UNPrisoned) - Michael, Delroy and others tell Sherri about their highly anticipated new film Sinners on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - Joel talks about Bravo's Love Hotel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two

11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season

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