Spacey sitcom with earthbound humor

ABC’s BIZARRE new sitcom “The Neighbors” is amusing. Once. Unfortunately, ABC has scheduled it to run every week.

“The Neighbors” starts with Marty Weaver (Lenny Venito) moving his wife, Debbie (Jami Gertz), and three kids to a gated community in Hidden Hills, N.J.

Imagine their surprise to learn everyone else in Hidden Hills is from the planet Zabvron and has been stranded in this suburb for 10 years, awaiting further instructions from home.

The aliens look like Earthlings, so to blend better while they’re killing time here, they’ve named their children after Earth athletes: Reggie Jackson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, etc.

But there are differences. Zabvronian men, like group leader Larry Bird (Simon Templeman), bear the children. When Zabvronians finish a meal, they apparently throw the dirty dishes out the kitchen window.

You get the idea. You also don’t need extra-sensory perception to see where it’s heading.

First, there will be a stream of zany cultural contrasts, where the Weavers do things one way and the Zabvronians do it another.

Second, we probably will see that all people, whether from Earth or Zabvron, have the same desire to find love, family and happiness. Kumbaya. Droll and amusing though the jokes and characters in the first episode often are, “The Neighbors” depends on what is a one-line gag.

Oh, and the question of what happens to the dishes.

Katherine Tokarz, as “Mary Lou Retton,” and pal go for a walk on “The Neighbors.”