Suicide, drug addiction, bestiality and glory holes. Dark and disturbing realities in our society, or a family-friendly pilot episode that is “very funny”? TBS aired its first original primetime animated series, “Neighbors From Hell,” on Monday.
The basic idea is that Satan sends a family from Hell to Earth with a mission to stop a giant company from drilling into Hell. To complete said mission, they have to blend in with suburban America. It’s a fairly tired premise (i.e., “Coneheads,” “The Addams Family,” “The Munsters”), but what sets this show apart is the all-star cast of voices and the dark and edgy references.
The three main characters in the show are Balthazor Hellman (Will Sasso), Tina Hellman (Molly Shannon), and dog Pazuzu (Patton Oswalt). Balthazor is basically Fred Flintsone meets Homer Simpson meets Peter Griffin. Three words: dumb, fat, dad. Tina is bitchy. Her most memorable scene involves her awkwardly strangling a woman to near death. Pazuzu is my favorite main character, mainly because I love Patton Oswalt. He alters his voice to what he describes as “every heavy metal-lead singer doing crowd banter between songs.”
What makes the show unique is its outrageous gags. A boss opens a door by sticking his genitalia through a hole in the wall. An owner makes out with his dog and makes an uncouth reference. Balthazor forces an employee to binge drink at a strip club. A neighbor addicted to heroin stumbles into the demons’ house and is knocked unconscious. And this is all in the first episode. My favorite gag in the show would definitely be the suicidal poodle. I would go into further detail, but I feel like my description of this kind of humor would say more about me than it would about the show.
My only question is: Who is this show for? What household would sit down and watch this together? I’ll keep watching, I just have no idea who else will.
