This series is not called "The Neighbors" because the emphasis is not on the neighbors themselves or on being neighborly. "The Neighborhood" is about a black neighborhood where a fish-out-of-water white couple, The Johnsons, move. Next door are Calvin and Tina, a black couple who are surprised when the Johnsons move into their neighborhood.
"All in the Family" had its Archie Bunker and "The Neighborhood" has its Calvin---like Archie, a man comfortable with his own racial stereotypes. When George Jefferson interacted with Archie, he gave as good as he got, but when Dave Johnson interacts with Calvin, Dave constantly feels the need to apologize. Is this how little we have progressed in the last 47 years?
Eventually there was a spin-off of "The Jeffersons". It is difficult to image a spin-off of "The Johnsons".
I think it helped that Archie lived in what seemed to be an ethnically diverse blue-collar neighborhood, where he was out of step with everyone else. Calvin lives in a neighborhood without diversity. Fortunately, Calvin has his own "Meathead", his son who, as a member of the younger generation, can maybe challenge some of Calvin's groundless assertions.
"All in the Family" had its Archie Bunker and "The Neighborhood" has its Calvin---like Archie, a man comfortable with his own racial stereotypes. When George Jefferson interacted with Archie, he gave as good as he got, but when Dave Johnson interacts with Calvin, Dave constantly feels the need to apologize. Is this how little we have progressed in the last 47 years?
Eventually there was a spin-off of "The Jeffersons". It is difficult to image a spin-off of "The Johnsons".
I think it helped that Archie lived in what seemed to be an ethnically diverse blue-collar neighborhood, where he was out of step with everyone else. Calvin lives in a neighborhood without diversity. Fortunately, Calvin has his own "Meathead", his son who, as a member of the younger generation, can maybe challenge some of Calvin's groundless assertions.