eyeCandy: Arrested Development (Season 1 - 2003) 5/5
I just finished watching the first season of Arrested Development on DVD and I like it a lot. After hearing all the hype, I caught a couple of bits and pieces of episodes last year but, without knowing anything about the show, just couldn't get a fix on it. Well, watching the first season solved that and I'm ready for more! :-)
The show is centred around the eccentric, wealthy, and hilarious Bluth family whose patriarch (George Bluth Sr. played by Jeffrey Tambor) has been imprisoned (giving us the "arrested" in the "Arrested Development" double-entendre, the first of many) for defrauding investors and misusing company funds. Being the only responsible person in the family, middle son and recent widower Michael (played by Jason Bateman) is left to run the business, raise his son George Michael (who has a crush on his rebellious cousin Maeby), and try to keep the reigns on the rest of the family. Eldest son George Oscar Bluth (G.O.B.) is a failed magician, youngest son Buster nurses a bizarrely dependent relationship with his mother Lucille, and Maebe's parents Lindsay Bluth (played by the gorgeous Portia de Rossi) and Tobias Funke give her lots to rebel about. The series is guided along by the omniscient voice of executive producer Ron Howard, and Henry Winkler has a great recurring role as the family's incompetent lawyer.
It's hard to write a review that can in any way capture why this show is so funny, but suffice to say it is one of the most original comedies I have seen on TV for a long time. My difficulty in getting into it mid-stream (although I didn't try very hard) certainly revolved around the fact that the comedy is very character-based and you really need to get familiar with the family to understand why everything is so funny (though lots of it works without this too, thanks to the superb writing). The show is currently in the early parts of its third season on Fox and, having finally figured out what everyone has been raving about, I think I'll start watching it while I play catch up with the Season 2 DVD (which is now out).
If you enjoy humour then definitely take a look at this show - without relying on stale sit-com cliches, it is laugh out loud funny and deservedly won the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy its first year out. Here's hoping that seasons two and three continue to provide such top-rate entertainment!
The show is centred around the eccentric, wealthy, and hilarious Bluth family whose patriarch (George Bluth Sr. played by Jeffrey Tambor) has been imprisoned (giving us the "arrested" in the "Arrested Development" double-entendre, the first of many) for defrauding investors and misusing company funds. Being the only responsible person in the family, middle son and recent widower Michael (played by Jason Bateman) is left to run the business, raise his son George Michael (who has a crush on his rebellious cousin Maeby), and try to keep the reigns on the rest of the family. Eldest son George Oscar Bluth (G.O.B.) is a failed magician, youngest son Buster nurses a bizarrely dependent relationship with his mother Lucille, and Maebe's parents Lindsay Bluth (played by the gorgeous Portia de Rossi) and Tobias Funke give her lots to rebel about. The series is guided along by the omniscient voice of executive producer Ron Howard, and Henry Winkler has a great recurring role as the family's incompetent lawyer.
It's hard to write a review that can in any way capture why this show is so funny, but suffice to say it is one of the most original comedies I have seen on TV for a long time. My difficulty in getting into it mid-stream (although I didn't try very hard) certainly revolved around the fact that the comedy is very character-based and you really need to get familiar with the family to understand why everything is so funny (though lots of it works without this too, thanks to the superb writing). The show is currently in the early parts of its third season on Fox and, having finally figured out what everyone has been raving about, I think I'll start watching it while I play catch up with the Season 2 DVD (which is now out).
If you enjoy humour then definitely take a look at this show - without relying on stale sit-com cliches, it is laugh out loud funny and deservedly won the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy its first year out. Here's hoping that seasons two and three continue to provide such top-rate entertainment!
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Del.icio.us | 11/02/2005 10:32:00 p.m.
posted by Jeff MacArthur at 11/02/2005 10:32:00 p.m.
2 Comments:
Jeff,
Why do you call yourself co-host of CommandN when in fact what you are is a segment host?
Not quite sure how that relates to Arrested Development :-) but... I have the title of co-host b/c we're all co-hosts (and, in fact, we're all segment hosts as well). When Amber is in the Maritimes, I co-host the main segments with her, as I do when I am in Toronto. During those times Mike does segments (usually) and during the other times I do segments. So, given that we don't change our "titles" from show-to-show, we're all co-hosts (however, this is why I am listed third in the co-hosts, after Amber and Mike ;-) ).
PS: I suppose I also get some extra cred b/c Amber and I came up with the idea for the show together and I do a lot of the "business"-side work in the background - fun, fun, fun :-) .
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