Horrid Neighbors From Hell defaces TBS
06/07/10 02:55 PM
Premiering: Monday, June 7th at 9 p.m. (central) on TBS
Voiced by: Will Sasso, Molly Shannon, Patton Oswalt, Tracey Fairaway, David Soren, Kurtwood Smith, Kyle McCulloch, Dina Waters
Produced by: Pam Brady, Mireille Soria
By ED BARK
Your life hasn't been a true living hell just yet. And it doesn't ever have to be. Just stay away from TBS' Neighbors From Hell, arriving from the depths Monday night as the allegedly "Very Funny" network's first original prime-time animated series.
Calling it witless, tasteless and a waste of time is an act of mercy. The series' only saving grace is an early truth-in-packaging declaration from hell's "Dark Sir," who warns that all TV rots the mind and therefore can never be used for entertainment purposes.
Clearly he's seen Neighbors From Hell and has been very badly shaken by it. Threatening this series as penance would remove all inclination to sin. Water-boarding is the new pause that refreshes. Just put this on a continuous loop and you'll get all the information you want from anyone on the receiving end.
The premise is basically godawful. The lime green Hellmans from down under, headed by parents Balthazor and Tina (Will Sasso, Molly Shannon), are ordered upstairs to destroy a new super-drill capable of boring to the center of the earth and laying waste to hell.
"If you succeed, I see executive stripes in your future," Balthazor is told.
The rest of the half-hour is a showcase for projectile vomiting, poop-smelling and some of the clumsiest, coarsest racial "humor" ever visited upon a series of any ilk. One of its dispensers, a raucous neighbor lady named Marjoe (Dina Waters), recounts how she and her husband taught their second-grade son the birds and the bees.
"Brad and I up and do it right there in the breakfast nook," she says. "I mean, Brad gave me a solid rogering right into my shelf of Negro salt and pepper shakers. That doesn't offend you, right? 'Cause we do it 'ironically.' "
No they don't. Because nothing about Neighbors From Hell rises to the level of irony, subtlety or even bargain basement slapstick. Instead someone thought it would be a howl to have the amoral drill company boss (voiced by Kurtwood Smith from That '70s Show) refer to his company's Turkish drillmaster as a "poor little brown ape" among other things.
Marjoe's not nearly finished either. "Wait, you're demons!" she exclaims to the Hellmans at large. "I thought you had green, shiny skin because you were Jewish."
We're only scratching the surface of a miserably inept and flat-out bigoted eyesore/earsore that TBS never should have green-lighted for any time of day or night. Neighbors From Hell fails on every level. Couldn't anyone see that?
GRADE: F