Neighbors From Hell: "Snorfindesdrillsalgoho" Review

Ever lived next to a truly awful neighbor? Someone who does nothing but drive you crazy and make your life a living hell? Well, as it turns out, some people from Hell have the same problem. I liked Neighbors From Hell quite a bit, probably because the show makes no bones about being influenced by classic family sitcoms like Growing Pains, The Cosby Show and ALF, and at its core, it's the same thing, except that there's, you know, demons involved.

The premise is simple, but promising: A huge energy company called Petromundo has invented a gigantic drill that can burrow all the way down to Hell. Naturally, Satan doesn't want anyone messing with his domain, so he sends working stiff Balthazor Hellman and his reluctant family up to Earth to try and stop it. In order to accomplish the mission and return home successfully, the Hellmans must hide their demonic nature and try to fit in with the neighbors. Thus the weird title, "Snorfindesdrillsalgoho", or spelled out: Seem Normal, Fit In, Destroy Drill, Save Hell, Go Home. The irony is that the Hellmans soon discover people on Earth are far more evil than anyone they know down in Hell.

There's a lot to like in this pilot episode because the jokes range from over-the-top sight gags to subtle "blink-and-you-missed-it" quips and the cast is very strong. It's almost unfair to compare Neighbors From Hell to The Simpsons or Family Guy because those shows have had years of history, but there are some similarities as far as character types go. Balthazor Hellman (Will Sasso), like Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin, is kind of a dolt, but he has a good heart, even though he works for Satan. His martini-drinking wife Tina (Molly Shannon) is more posh than Marge Simpson or Lois Griffin, but like those characters, she seems to have loads of patience and understanding.

As for the rest of the family - daughter Mandy (Tracey Fairaway), son Josh (David Soren) and Uncle Vlaartark (Kyle McCulloch) - we don't learn too much about them in this episode, but that will change over the course of the season. Like Apu on The Simpsons, Neighbors From Hell has a resident Indian man, Chevdet Tevetoglu (also voiced by Kyle McCulloch), who is the engineer responsible for the Petromundo drill. And there is a nice scene where Pazuzu (Patton Oswalt), a demon who must pose as the Hellmans' dog, stakes his claim as the family's voice of reason, like Brian on Family Guy.

Much of the comedy in this episode comes from the supporting cast. We've seen dozens of interpretations of Satan in mass media and in a sense, it's one of the easier parts to play because there's so much you can do with the character. That said, Steve Coogan (Night at the Museum) does a great job putting his own particular spin on the infamous role. Kurtwood Smith (That 70's Show) plays Don Killbride, the CEO of Petromundo and perhaps the wickedest guy on the show. I'm sure that months ago when creator Pam Brady was writing the character, portraying an energy company's CEO as a vile human being was a fun little joke. However, as the BP oil spill continues in the Gulf of Mexico, the irony isn't so subtle anymore. My personal favorite character on the show is Marjoe Saint Sparks (Dina Waters), the Hellmans' bubbly neighbor who's kind of like Ned Flanders, if Ned were also a racist gossip with a suicidal pet poodle. She is, in fact, the neighbor from Hell.

I suspect that if you're a fan of animated family sitcoms, this show will work for you. Because it's the first episode, they had to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time, but the characters are well defined and they still get in plenty of jokes. Plus, they managed the difficult feat of poking fun at the lovey-doveyness that creeped into the later seasons of The Simpsons, while also showing that a family of demons aren't completely demonic.

Neighbors From Hell premieres Monday, June 7th at 10pm on TBS.