Our Australian Neighbors

The Neighborsis a new American half-hour sitcom that airs on ABC on Wednesdays at 8:30/7:30 central.  The premise of the show is based on a family that moves into a neighborhood completely overtaken by aliens.  This show is reminiscent of many sitcoms of the late 60s such which added fantastical elements like I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, and Bewitched.

In the pilot episode, many elements provide a sense of the cultural discount uniquely tied to the U.S.  After the non-alien family (The Weavers) moves into an American suburb, the aliens bring pies as welcoming gifts.  It is even mentioned that it is an “American” custom.  Another joke is that all of the aliens’ names are of American sports figures.  The head alien is Larry Bird, his wife is Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and their sons are Reggie Jackson and Dick Butkus. Yet, I would argue a show like The Neighbors could translate well overseas because it has a high concept formula – a family moves into a neighborhood with aliens.  One does not really need to understand the intricacies of American culture to get the gist of the narrative.

Looking at how The Neighbors could find success in other national markets, it important to see how the show would fit in with the flow of the networks within these countries.  For example, Australia (Sydney) seems to rely heavily on shows from the U.S. that have had success within its own borders (with a few exceptions).   Moreover, many shows are shown heavily as syndicated reruns.  For example, a new episode of 2 Broke Girls airs on Tuesday at 9 on the Nine Network, yet two reruns air on the Go! Network on Wednesdays from at 8:30 and 9pm.  In the U.S., 2 Broke Girls has not aired in syndication yet on a daily or weekly schedule, so the only episodes we see are the weekly ones that air on CBS on Monday nights.  Similarly, Modern Family has a daily schedule of reruns in Australia on the Ten network while new episodes air on Sunday.  In the U.S., Modern Family has not yet been sold into daily syndication.

The best way for this show to be marketed in Australia would be alongside some of the other U.S. sitcom favorites.  It is a family show about families, so it would make sense to package it with another ABC show Modern Family.  Currently, the new NBC show The New Normal airs right after Modern Family on Sunday nights on the Ten network.  These “unique” family shows airing back to back provide a sense of consistency.  Although it seems as if Australian television relies a lot less on consistency of the genre with its flow.  For example, Big Brother airs right before 60 minutes.  Moreover, there is a long running Australian soap opera called Neighbours that will cause obvious confusion, so the title would have to be altered for the Australian audience.

I believe there could be new media possibilities for this show.  Many sitcoms like The Office rely on webisodes to enhance the viewing experience.  Back stories of the unique aliens would be an obvious choice.  There could also be webisodes with the unique alien families that are not relied heavily within the weekly episodes.  Furthermore, the pilot episode jumps forward 10 years from when the aliens moved into the neighborhood until the Weavers come in.  There has to be hilarious incidents that occurred during the ten years where the aliens were trying to get adjusted to American life.  Yet, unlike shows like Lost where new media is critical, sitcoms are much more lighthearted so these need to be used for comedic purposes rather than trying to get too heavy into a convoluted web of information.