S05.E01: Welcome Back to the Neighborhood

[DanaK]

Quote

When Dave decides to disconnect the Johnson home from the grid, he inadvertently causes a community-wide power outage, much to Calvin's frustration. Also, in the wake of Marty's engagement, Tina struggles with no longer being the primary woman in her son's life, on the fifth season premiere of THE NEIGHBORHOOD, Monday, Sept. 19 (8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+

 

[AnimeMania]

I guess Dave didn't move to a Black Neighborhood, just the Blackest part of the Neighborhood. I am guessing the new showrunners will play down the Dave being a fish out of water plot and make this a more traditional sitcom.

Andrew Brian Carter as Thad
Traci Belushi as Sherri
Kieu Chinh Nguyen as Mai/Tuyen
Hayden Lam as Quan
Mark Anthony Williams as Melvin

[jewel21]

I kept laughing at Malcolm accidentally ratting everyone out, heh. 

[Harvey]

I liked it when Gemma called  Tina out on her hipocrisy regarding "the order". Mothers who can't understand what it means when their children grow up do so much harm.

The part where Tina talked to Marty about innocent lies was really sweet though.

[highway61]

They certainly seemed to be making a point of the increased diversity of the Neighborhood! Dave might have to run for office again!

Do solar people really fully disconnect from their utilities? I though you stayed on to get paid for your power production (and have backup power at night!)

[HurricaneVal]

1 hour ago, highway61 said:

Do solar people really fully disconnect from their utilities? I though you stayed on to get paid for your power production (and have backup power at night!)

That's what I thought...  But then again Dave was so personally invested in getting off the grid that he may have cut it off entirely and is eschewing selling off his surplus.

[njbchlover]

20 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I guess Dave didn't move to a Black Neighborhood, just the Blackest part of the Neighborhood. I am guessing the new showrunners will play down the Dave being a fish out of water plot and make this a more traditional sitcom.

Andrew Brian Carter as Thad
Traci Belushi as Sherri
Kieu Chinh Nguyen as Mai/Tuyen
Hayden Lam as Quan
Mark Anthony Williams as Melvin

Can I just say that those shorts that Dave are wearing do him no favors?  I know that's shallow, but they looked terrible on him.  I don't know if he has put on weight or what, but I just couldn't figure out why he looked so "dumpy".

I wasn't so crazy about this first episode.  I felt it was more of the same, only kind of "amped up".  Tina being too involved in Marty's life, Calvin being a little salty but then, all sweet, Dave being, well, just too much Dave and Gemma being too much of an over-protective Mom to Grover. 

And, Grover - please!  I usually don't mind child actors in sitcoms, but he is really just NOT a good actor.  Can't they send him to boarding school or something? 

Malcolm and his accidentally spilling everyone's secrets was the best storyline of the show. 

I'm glad this show is back because I do enjoy it, just hoping that it will settle in and find what they do best. 

Edited September 20, 2022 by njbchlover

[AnimeMania]

30 minutes ago, njbchlover said:

I wasn't so crazy about this first episode. 

There was a lot of behind the scenes drama, around changing showrunners, I just hope the show doesn't become more generic due to it.

[MaryMitch]

I enjoyed seeing the other members of the neighborhood (especially the Vietnamese mama). Nothing as much fun as an impromptu neighborhood party! So I'll forgive everyone blaming Dave for the power going out; it wasn't his fault the power company screwed up!

[SanDiegoInExile]

I liked how Dave wore his shorts.

There did seem to be a *jolt* to the neighborhood.  A lesbian couple, a Vietnamese family, a trendy all-hours white female jogger.  Quite the change from the past few years.   There did seem to be a few carryover characters, but no Miss Kym?

Calvin did seem to lament the "changes" to the neighborhood, though he seemed to mostly focus on the neighbor across the street "selling out" to the Ring Doorbell Guy. Maybe if there had been some additional commentary about gentrification taking hold.  The lesbian neighbor mistaking Calvin as the Hired Landscaper was probably designed to reinforce that the neighborhood had flipped.  There's supposed to be a later episode this season where Calvin has to hire tech folks to service electric cars when his repair shop falls on hard times.

Evolution isn't really a bad thing for a sitcom.  The core cast seemed fine, although I would be OK if the pre-teen twerp stayed in his room for the next few seasons.  And if Marty would finally come out rather than the implausible engagement to a gorgeous athlete.

[Katy M]

On 9/20/2022 at 1:16 PM, highway61 said:

They certainly seemed to be making a point of the increased diversity of the Neighborhood! Dave might have to run for office again!

Do solar people really fully disconnect from their utilities? I though you stayed on to get paid for your power production (and have backup power at night!)

Probably depends on the area. I have friends with solar panels.  We're in the Northeast so it would never make sense to cut the electric completely. But, even in the summer when they have extra and the electric company takes it to use, there bill can't go below $0.  So, it will reduce the costs by what they use at night or on cloudy days, but they don't get paid for generating extra beyond that.

[possibilities]

MA has "net metering" which allows people to get paid for the excess power they generate. I had no idea that wasn't true everywhere. Sad.

I am trying not to react too much to the changed tone of this episode compared to last season, but I did worry about seeing Calvin once again acting like he hates Dave, and I really hope they aren't going to fundamentally change the neighborhood character and demographics. I thought the show was really finally working where they left off last season, and had improved so much since it first started. 

[joanne3482]

Where I am, Texas, we stay on the grid and just sell our power to the power plant which offsets our costs. It's possible Dave has batteries so he could be completely off grid. The people across the street from me have them and if I wanted I can add them in the future.