Upper West Side Story the next morning. The poem was ultimately included in a scene in which Neal is teaching an English class. Kenny Herzog of "The A.V. Club" pointed out that the episode contained various references to Shakespearian and Victorian-era literature, specifically mentioning "Romeo and Juliet". He stated that these metaphors helped move the plot forward. The initial broadcast of the episode drew 3.472 million viewers, and earned a 1.1 rating in the 18–49 demographic. "Upper West Side Story" ranked seventh place among cable series for the night in the 18–49 demographic and fourth in its timeslot, surpassed by "Teen Mom 2", "Storage
Kenton's West Side Story heavily relied upon to carry the day. In no way does the LP accomplish the same things the later Kenton Grammy winning LP "Adventures In Jazz" achieves. It is understandable why the general public (vs a hard core jazz audience) was willing to readily accept "Kenton's West Side Story" propelling it to such high ratings with Billboard during 1961 and 1962. As a jazz soloist on trumpet, Conte Candoli is a shining star on the sessions. He backed his way onto the "Kenton's West Side Story" LP due to the failure of Ernie Berhardt to fill the trumpet solo slots