11 Annoying ‘90s Sitcom Neighbors, Ranked

It’s a story that is as old as time: You move into a new place, expecting domestic bliss, and it is… until you meet your neighbor. At least that’s the story if you live in a sitcom. Because for as long as there have been sitcoms, there have been annoying neighbors on sitcoms. Name a TV family who didn’t have a neighbor who stopped over whenever they wanted to, stole food on the regular, and were often involved in the family’s biggest hijinks. And the ‘90s were chock full of annoying neighbors. You couldn’t open the front door of any sitcom house without worrying that some loud and obnoxious peeping tom would be tracking your every move, because the neighbors in ‘90s sitcoms were super annoying.

But it wasn’t just the ‘90s that take the neighborly cake. Think of all the old shows that your parents probably watched and loved. They have annoying neighbors too: Fonz on Happy Days, Fred and Ethel on I Love Lucy. The list is endless. For as long as there have been sitcoms on TV, there have been neighbors that prove the old adage true: good fences make good neighbors.

Just look at this list of neighbors from the 1990s alone. I’ve ranked them by the level of their annoyingness (because a few of them did have a redeeming quality or two), so dive in and enjoy this walk down memory lane.

11. Winnie Cooper (The Wonder Years)

This neighbor was far from annoying for one neighbor in particular. Kevin Arnold has a major crush on Winnie from the first episode of the series, and their relationship grew as they aged from 12 to 17.

10. Wilson W. Wilson (Home Improvement)

Not only was Wilson Tim’s neighbor, he was also his confidant. On this show, the main characters turned to Wilson during times of trouble in their own family and in their professional lives. In other words, this guy was one of the least annoying neighbors ever. If anything, he was the opposite of annoying in just how helpful he was.

9. Mr. Feeny (Boy Meets World)

Having your teacher as a neighbor seems like the most awkward thing to me, but, for Cory, having Mr. Feeny as his next door neighbor wasn’t all that terrible — except when Feeny got him in trouble with the 'rents. Still, even then, Feeny shed his strict role as their teacher in favor of close relationships with Cory, Shawn, Topanga, and Eric later in the show.

8. Joey Tribbiani (Friends)

Sure, he may have stolen food from Monica and Rachel, used their bathroom when his was broken, and walked in on them any time he felt like it, but he was one of their best friends. And it’s not like they ever complained about it.

7. Cody Lambert (Step By Step)

At least he lived in a van in the backyard, but this cousin of the Lambert family was known for annoying the hell out of the people who lived there with his surfer dude accent and bonehead way of thinking. Especially his uncle, Frank Lambert.

6. Sam Anders (Clarissa Explains It All)

Sam was Clarissa’s close friend and therefore hardly ever annoying to her. But the fact that the dude showed up at her window on the regular without being invited is pretty troubling for her parents. I mean, really, they have a door.

5. Kimmy Gibler (Full House)

She was D.J.’s best friend, so that earned her a few notches up on this list, but otherwise Kimmy drove Danny, Jesse, and Uncle Joey absolutely nuts on this hit sitcom.

4. Steve Urkel (Family Matters)

Steve was a nuisance from the time this series started. Falling in love with Laura Winslow and always coming over at the worst of times, there was very little for the family to like about this guy. But, then again, there was that time that Carl let him move in with the Winslow’s when his parents moved to Russia. Clearly there is some level of neighborly love there.

3. The D’Arcys (Married With Children)

Peg may have tolerated Marcy D’Arcy on occasion, but the couple drove Al Bundy absolutely nuts. There wasn’t an episode where the D’Arcys’ presence wasn’t actively hated by Al Bundy.

2. Ned Flanders (The Simpsons)

There’s little to like about this ultraconservative neighbor of The Simpsons: Not his annoyingly perfect family, his annoyingly friendly ways, or the fact that he is considered a pillar of the Springfield community. Definitely chalk him up as one of the most annoying neighbors in television history.

1. Newman (Seinfeld)

As Jerry Seinfeld’s absolute nemesis, Newman made TV Guide’s “60 Nastiest Villains of All Time” list. Probably because he regularly schemed against Jerry and greeted him with absolute disdain. Newman takes the annoying neighbor to an entirely new level.

See? Even Memory Lane is lined with annoying neighbors. These nearby residents just can’t help themselves.

Image: Giphy; Warner Bros. Television