Season 1 - 22 episodes (2003-04)
Season 2 - 18 episodes (2004-05)
Season 3 - 13 episodes (2005-06)
Rent Arrested Development on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Mitchell Hurwitz
Starring: Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, Ron Howard (narrator)
Rated: TV-14
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Plot
Level-headed son Michael Bluth takes over family affairs after his father is imprisoned, but the rest of his spoiled, dysfunctional family make his job unbearable.
Verdict
This is the funniest series I've ever seen. I've watched it through multiple times, and I always notice something new; jokes in the background, background characters, double and triple meanings. That's in addition to the running gags and frequent cutaways. It's difficult to not just recite the funniest one liners and gags as a review. It's infinitely quotable, and the actors' delivery of the lines only adds to it. As a testament to this show, I still use lines from the show in conversation. The show does such a great job of creating dense comedy while also providing an ongoing narrative. Each of these characters offers unique humor, and when you get them together in one room this gets even better.
Watch It.
Review
The original series ran for three seasons before getting canceled. Netflix picked up the show for two additional seasons seven years later. I didn't enjoy the reboot seasons. Season four separated the characters into what was basically individual narratives as they couldn't get the actors to film simultaneously. A big part of the comedy is how these characters work together.
Season one introduces us to this ridiculous family that's coasting on the family business of building mcmansions. All of them are taking company money exccept for Michael (Jason Bateman), the only character grounded in reality. Oldest brother Gob (Will Arnett) is a want to be magician. When Michael dismisses his "tricks," Gob corrects him. "It's an illusion. A trick is something a whore does for money." This show has so many one liners. Michael is stuck trying to hold the family and business together when patriarch George (Jeffrey Tambor) is arrested for fraud.
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| S1E3: Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Tony Hale play Michael, Gob, Buster |
Much of the comedy derives from miscommunication as the characters are so self centered, ignoring what they don't like or don't want to hear. They're also very critical of each other. The diverse cast each offer their own brand of comedy. Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) is the vapid sister married to former therapist turned hopeful actor Tobias (David Cross). Tobias is closeted and seems to be the only one that doesn't realize it. Buster (Tony Hale) has been coddled to an extreme degree despite being an adult. At this point he's an accessory for his mother Lucille (Jessica Walter) who is the cruelest of the bunch though her barbs are quite funny.
Buster tries to distance himself from mother by dating one of her friends which as he admits is much like dating mother. Lucille adopts a boy to spite him. Michael falls for Gob's girlfriend. Michael's son George Michael (Michael Cera) falls for his cousin Maebe (Alia Shawkat). Tobias befriends Carl Weathers while trying to become an actor. George schemes to get out of jail, at one point garnering a cult following. Lucille endlessly pits the children against each other.
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| S1E6: Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, Jessica Walter, Will Arnett play George, Michael, Lucille, Gob |
There's no way to do this show justice in a review. This family is absolutely ridiculous and it's hilarious. I have to refrain from including blocks of quotes. The previews for the next episode at the end are just narrative shortcuts or jokes. The running jokes are funny on their own, but if you remember them it's all the better. That's what's so great about this show. It's funny on it's own, but once you see the many layers that make up a joke it becomes even better.
Season two begins with Michael wanting to leave but unable due to scrutiny from the companies illegal dealings. Gob is named president with Michael doing all the work. George attempted to escape at the end of last season after it was revealed he sold homes to Saddam Hussein. Oscar (Jeffrey Tambor) moves in with George away, and that begins the running joke that Oscar may be Buster's father. George ends up hiding out in the model house's attic and spying on the family. |
| S1E6: David Cross, Portia de Rossi play Tobias, Lindsay |
While Tobias admits an open relationship never works, he baselessly hopes it will for him and Lindsay. He unsuccessfully tries to join the Blue Man Group, initially mistaking it for a support group. Inspired by Mrs. Doubtfire, he poses as a maid for the family. While fooling no one, the family plays along as he's doing all the chores. Their daughter Maebe manages to become a studio executive.
Buster is forced to join the army by Lucille, but he manages to get out of it due to a confluence of events and a "loose seal." Then there's the "Motherboy" event where Buster rescues George-Michael.
To begin Season 3, Michael figures out that George has ensnared Oscar in prison. He didn't believe it until Oscar said something kind which confirmed that man isn't his father. George Sr is in Reno hiding as a member of the Blue Man Group.
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| S3E5: Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron play Michael, Rita Leeds |
Michael investigates claims that his father was a patsy. He's finds a love interest in Rita (Charlize Theron). She's odd but may be a British spy. They almost get married while Tobias and Lindsey seek a lawyer, Bob Loblaw (Scott Baio) who also runs a law blog.
Then there's the saga of Tobias's hair implants. He gets them for the meaty leading man parts, but they cause his health to deteriorate. Even that is not enough to convince him they should be removed.
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| S3E7: Portia de Rossi, David Cross play Lindsay, Tobias |
With the show in reality on the brink of cancellation, episode nine incorporates that by breaking the fourth wall and encouraging people to watch the show while referencing other networks and typical gimmicks used by desperate sitcoms. Unfortunately the clever episode didn't stop the impending cancellation.
This is the funniest show I've ever seen, not just the jokes and gags but the layers, the repetition, the running gags, the double meanings, and hidden background jokes. All of the characters play their characters so well with the delivery of their lines heightening the joke. Bateman's flat delivery and response is funny because of the contrast with how over the top Gob and Tobias can be. The show wouldn't be the same without these characters, it's the ensemble cast that makes this so fun as they compliment each other well. That's part of what made season four a letdown, it separated and isolated the characters. Despite that, the first three seasons remain stellar television.
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