Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - War Next Door: Cast Photo

The War Next Door aired from July until September 2000 on the USA Cable Network.

Kennedy Smith ( Linden Ashby) was a mild-mannered dad who used to be a secret agent for the C.I.A. in this nutty sitcom. Despite the fact that he knew 29 ways to kill a man with a spoon, he had promised his loving wife , Lili ( Susan Walters), he would give up his violent occupation and settle down in the nice quiet suburbs. Unfortunately, his diabolical archenemy Kriegman ( Damian Young), a dapper evil genius dressed all in black, refused to give up their "eternal dance of death" and moved in next door so that he could continue to torment him. Automatic gunfire and explosions rattled the neatly trimmed lawns, but Lili, a perfect Donna Reed-type mom, was oblivious as were the Smith kids, Lucas and Ellis ( Mark Rendall, Nicole Dicker). Kriegman ruined a Smith family barbecue by blowing things up with his laser, and Kennedy retaliated by turning the laser back on Kriegman with a spoon, incinerating him. Despite the mayhem, everybody was back again next week to start over. Barbara ( Tara Rosling) was Kriegman's slinky, dominatrix partner who had been trying to seduce Kennedy for years without success.

USA "spooned" the series after eight weeks, with five remaining episodes unaired.

A Review from Variety

The War Next Door
(Sitcom -- USA; Sun. July 23; 9 p.m.)
By RAMIN ZAHED

Filmed in Toronto by USA Network. Co-executive producers and writers, Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi; director, Damon Santostefano.

Kennedy Smith - Linden Ashby
Kreigman - Damian Young
Lily Smith - Susan Walters
Barbara Bush - Tara Rosling

USA's whacked-out sitcom "The War Next Door" -- which owes a nod to Mad magazine's "Spy Vs. Spy" strip and '60s cult hit "Get Smart" -- may be just what the script doctor ordered to fight this summer's glut of reality programming. Although the premise of two goofy secret agents trying to destroy each other on a weekly basis may sound dated, creators Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi have affectionately upped the ante with ironic hyperbole and their quirky brand of humor.

When we first meet our battling bozos, straight-arrow Kennedy Smith (Linden Ashby) and his arch-enemy Kreigman (Damian Young), are "locked in an eternal dance of death." But soon after, Smith decides to give up saving the world from evil geniuses to settle down in the suburbs with his wife (Susan Walters). The hyperactive Kreigman will not let his enemy settle for a desperately dull life as a car salesman, and rents the house next door. Soon, the two thirtysomething enemies are at each other's throats like Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

Thanks to Damon Santostefano's crisp direction and the zippy script by McRobb and Viscardi, the ongoing rivalry between Smith and Kreigman creates opportunities for numerous cartoonish setups. And you can count on the scribes (who penned last year's feature "Snow Day") to take each plot point and amp it up to satisfy the series' target 14-to-35-year-old male audience.

Acting is uniformly good, but Young's menacing energy steals the show. In fact, one of the undeniable pleasures of "War" is seeing how over the top Young can get as he cooks up new methods to torment his quieter nemesis. Viewers can also expect Tara Rosling, who plays Kleigman's supervixen partner, to spice things up in future episodes. After all, they don't call her Barbara Bush for nothing.

Although the Toronto locations look a bit bland, overall tech credits are above average. F/x supervisor Brock Jolliffe visual effects are efficient. Some international conspiracy caused USA's review tape to lack final music and polishes, but hey, that's the spy biz.

A Review from the LA Daily News

Two new comedies about gallant, stalwart crime fighters show up on — where else? — good ol' USA

David Kronke
TV Critic

Fighting crime takes it on the chin tonight, as the USA Network introduces two new single-camera comedies that delight in mocking the genre’s conventions.

"The War Next Door" is, for the time being, the more inspired of the two — inspired by countless bad movies and Mad Magazine’s "Spy vs. Spy" comic, that is. It concerns two men inextricably linked by fate both cruel and clueless. There’s the upright secret-agent hero Kennedy Smith (Linden Ashby) and evil genius Kreigman (Damian Young) — sorry, "evil super-genius" (he just got promoted), who keeps his day’s plans (guitar lessons, steal plutonium, kill Kennedy Smith) on his Palm Pilot. Their antagonism is so passionately virulent that it has virtually transformed itself into a sublimely dysfunctional friendship.

Kennedy, believing he has finally killed his sworn enemy, returns to his family in the suburbs, starts seeing a shrink and takes a job selling vintage cars. Kreigman, however, turns up, moving next door to Kennedy with an evil super-vixen named Barbara Bush (Tara Rosling), and he proceeds to make life miserable for his do-gooder opponent (by playing basketball really loudly really early in the morning).

Each episode will feature yet another clash to the death, whereupon, like "South Park" ’s Kenny, the mortally defeated combatant will arise to fight again in the next episode. It’s a concept both cheesy and morbid and, as executed in tonight’s premiere, terrifically funny.
Young essays self-satisfied diabolism with deliriously suave aplomb, while Ashby is a wonderfully stolid straight man. The series comes courtesy Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi, writers of the wan movie "Snow Day," but don’t hold that against them. They’ve made amends with this silly but entertaining parody.

Meanwhile, in "Manhattan, AZ," a former Los Angeles undercover vice-squad cop seeks a life change after his wife is killed helping Greenpeace cut dolphins from tuna nets (she’s buried in cartons of tuna cans).

New sheriff David Henderson (Brian McNamara) and rebellious son Atticus Finch Henderson (Vincent Berry) turn up in the title town. It’s an arid backwater populated by militia nuts, run by a corrupt mayor (Chad Everett) and located perilously close to "Area 61," a mysterious governmental landscape for unspecified experimentation.

Tonight’s episode finds Henderson investigating how the town’s dogs all ended up with only three legs. (McNamara, in a priceless disclaimer at the end of the episode, explains that no animals were injured in the making of this show, although "we had offers").

"The War Next Door" ’s pilot and performers are funnier, but "Manhattan, AZ" ’s idea, which looks to have been cribbed from the "Bakersfield, P.D." template and mixed with a dustier "Northern Exposure," may have a more sustainable concept. As is, they’re both smartly dopey shows. The USA Network, in one evening, offers up as many amusing new comedy series as the networks were able to uncork all of last season.

The facts
The show: "The War Next Door."
What: Comedy about longtime deadly foes taking their grudge match to the suburbs.
The stars: Linden Ashby, Damian Young, Susan Walters, Tara Rosling.
Where: USA Network.
When: 9 p.m. Sundays
Our rating: *** The show: "Manhattan, AZ."
What: Comedy about an LAPD vice-squad officer relocating to a tiny Arizona town.
The stars: Brian McNamara, Chad Everett, Vincent Berry.
Where: USA Network.
When: 9:30 p.m. Sundays.
Our rating: ***

For a Website dedicated to Linden Ashby go to http://www.lindenashby.org/

For the Linden Ashby Fansite go to http://www.lindenashby.com/

For a Website dedicated to Mark Rendall go to http://markr.extra.hu/news.php