Despite an uphill battle for renewal, critical favorite, The Neighbors has returned for a second season. We’ve moved to a new night, Friday, with hopes for more eyeballs to follow. The new season picks up at the end of summer, with Marty and Debbie Weaver about to learn that their sulky teen daughter Amber has been dating the boy next door, Reggie Jackson. Oh and did we mention, Reggie is a space alien? When he tells his own parents, Larry Bird and Jackie Joyner-Kersee about his relationship with Amber, they’re horrified. Inter-galactic no-no. Jackie proposes an immediate conference between the two families, and together they vote on whether the couple can remain a couple. That’s not Cold War controlling or anything. Although the first season started off slowly, fans came once Amber and Reggie’s relationship – initial hatred and skepticism, followed by a stubborn tolerance, then slowly a tentative friendship and finally budding romance – really began to bloom and bring with it some of the most touching moments of comedy on all primetime last season. With the unexpected announcement, the tone is set for the rest of the season (as is comedy that comes with teen dating and the necessary acceptance of the paramours parents –think of it as two romantic relationships, only one voluntary!

Coming up, the two mothers will forge a closer bond and tell each other their most intimate secrets, despite their initial misgivings. Or will they? The Neighbors is on ABC on Friday nights. Check local listings for times.