Arrested Development

A friend turned me onto this show, Arrested Development, which has been off the air for a few years now. Although I had heard great things, I was skeptical a network comedy could live up to the quality of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Flight of the Conchords, or FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or Showtime's Weeds, etc., etc.

I'm here to tell you that, if you haven't seen it, it just may blow all of those other shows out of the water. And my inveterate readers, fear not; I'm not some cock tease. You can watch the whole thing over at Hulu. Here's the link to the Pilot. Start here, and watch them all, if you can find the time (and you should).

Here's what sets Arrested Development apart from the rest, in my opinion. First, the show builds on itself. It has just as many references to future episodes as it does to past ones. This makes the punchlines layered, like a delicious cake of funniness. And, as you can no doubt tell, it's almost too hard to explain. You just need to watch.

It also means you'll need to be a bit patient. Because it's so involved ... that's not the right word, but stick with me ... you'll need to watch at least half of the first season to start to "get" it. And you'll need to get into the third (and final) season before you can consider yourself a fan.

It also wouldn't hurt to gander at the Wikipedia page, which explains some of the references that, being current events, make a little less sense now.

(As an example, during one scene, Jason Bateman says to Jeffrey Tambor, who is lying, "You're a regular Brad Garrett." Garrett had recently beaten Tambor for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy. The entire cast, from David Cross to Alia Shawkat to, yes, the starting-to-annoy-me Michael Cera, is lifted by the brilliant writing and deserves awards. And, oh my God, Will Arnett as Gob...)

Another quick reason why AD is head and shoulders above the rest: every minute of every show is valuable. It adds something to the show. From the opening moments to the closing "epilogue" ("On the next Arrested Development...") you don't want to miss any part. A few times, like well into my sixth episode of the day, I'd get up to throw something away or go to the bathroom for a minute. It was too much to miss. I had to rewind that sucker.

I'll briefly describe the show so I can make one more quick example. The show is about a wealthy family whose patriarch has been put in jail for many, many crimes. It's basically an inside look at an Enron or Tyco family, those insanely rich crooks. (Needless to say, it's still quite timely.)

OK, so for a long time the family's attorney is Barry Zuckercorn, who is played hilariously by Henry Winkler. Then he is replaced (as the show's ratings continued to underperform, more on that later). By whom? By Scott Baio, who replaced Winkler (to much Hollywood drama, one presumes) on the set of Happy Days. It's just one of the many inside-Hollywood jokes you'll start to appreciate. And I haven't even told you Baio's character's name, which is such a perfect name for a lawyer. The show milks it for all it's worth. You'll just have to watch.

Am I preaching to the choir here? Am I just one of those way-too-late bandwagon jumpers that you just want to blow off the wagon with a cannon? Hey, at least I made it on before the movie.