The Question, Friday 9/20/13: Will Friday Be Neighborly for The Neighbors?

ABC begins its 2013-14 season in scripted programming with the premiere of Friday night comedies Last Man Standing and The Neighbors. Last Man Standing returns to a timeslot where it got a very consistent 1.5ish for most of last season, but its 8:30 teammate The Neighbors is more of a wild card. Critically reviled out of the gate, it ended up hanging on just well enough for a renewal, but it'll be hard-pressed to show improvement on the similarly marginal previous occupant of this slot Malibu Country, which seemed more compatible with Last Man. Will Friday be neighborly for The Neighbors? That's The Question for Friday, September 20, 2013.

The Neighbors Last Season	Friday Comedies Last Season
3.2 (premiere, 9/26/12, 5.5 Modern) 1.9 (8:30 premiere, 10/3/12, 2.2 Middle) 1.86 (average) 1.5 (finale, 3/27/13, 1.8 Middle)	2.0 (Last Man Standing premiere, 11/2/12) 1.49 (Last Man Standing average) 1.6 (Last Man Standing finale, 3/22/13) 2.3 (Malibu Country premiere, 11/2/12) 1.39 (Malibu Country average) 1.4 (Malibu Country finale, 3/22/13)

The moral of this week: never underestimate what shows can do with no competition. Tonight's competition in the 8/7c hour is laughable: repeats of Off Their Rockers, Undercover Boss and Bones. So I expect Last Man Standing to at least hit its March finale number, and maybe even higher if the relatively high-promoted Duck Dynasty guys make an impact. There should be some erosion for The Neighbors at 8:30, but it's not like there's anything else for people to flip to.

Over/Under: 1.45.
 
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