DVD/TV Series: Arrested Development: The Complete Series

 

There is a lot of subjectivity in liking any TV show, especially comedies. If you are a fan of irreverent, inappropriate, and at times uncomfortable humor you will love this series. By now most of the people reading this review will have at least some idea of what the show is about. An ultra-dysfunctional family trying to hold on to their riches when the patriarch (played perfectly by Jeffrey Tambor) is thrown in jail for SEC violations. While the only "normal" one in the bunch, Michael, played by Jason Bateman, tries to keep the business going and the family together. The series also starred Jessica Walters, Will Arnet, Portia de Rossi, Jeffrey Cross, Alia Shawkat, and Tony Hale. The guest cast was also great and included Carl Weathers, Liza Minelli, Charlize Theron, Ben Stiller, and a slew of others.

Of course, now, this is not the complete series of the show. This set has the three seasons that aired on FOX from 2003-2006 and were, in my opinion, the best seasons of the show. Of course, the show was revived by Netflix for two final seasons that were not nearly as good as the first three. 

What I loved about the show is that it would make fun of anything and everything. No topic was off limits, and they definitely pushed the boundaries of what could be put on TV. It did not rely on a laugh track to tell people when something was funny. It presumed the audience was smart enough to figure that out on its own. Ron Howard's narration was one of the best parts of the show. His quips were always perfectly timed, and set up and/or punctuated the jokes better than any laugh track ever could.

As I said, the humor is not for everyone. If you like shows like Family Guy, The Office, American Dad, and South Park, chances are you will love this show. Even if you are not a fan of all those shows but are a fan of comedies, then this is definitely one worth giving a try. I think it says a lot about the show that even after being off the air for years the entire cast is coming back to do the 10-episode season and the movie. Hopefully, those will be popular enough to give the show new life and keep it around even longer.

DVD/TV Series Review: Arrested Development: Season 4

 

The first three seasons of Arrested Development which aired on Fox were comedy gold. Those seasons made the show one of the best comedies ever. Season four was a revival of the series that aired on Netflix. In some ways, it extended the original story and in some ways, it told a new story, and it is hard to tell which of those the writers wanted to do. What also complicated the season is that the story was told out of order. Basically, each episode was devoted to a specific character to bring you up to speed on what happened to that character from the time the original show ended up to the present. And essentially you would see one character's version of events in one episode and another character's version of events in a different episode. So, jokes would be set up in one episode and paid off one or two episodes down the line. Once we get caught up with each character, then the remaining episodes are devoted to just a couple of storylines that bring every character together.

The main story involves the lead-up to Newport Beach's Cinco de Cuatro and the events that lead each of the characters there. The jokes are updated to the present day to include references to building a wall (which goes about as well as it did in real life) and spoofing the superhero movie craze. Of course, Ron Howard's great narration is also included. All of the main cast members return to the show, and several of the recurring cast members from the show's original run, including Henry Winkler, Ed Beagly Jr., Judy Greer, and Liza Minnelli (among others), and new guest stars including Isla Fisher, John Krasinski, and Seth Rogen make appearances during the season.

The DVD set has just the episodes. No extras (which is definitely disappointing). Overall, the season gets shit on a lot, but I think that is unfair. It had a lot of funny moments, but they were definitely more spaced apart than they were during the original run of the series when I found myself laughing pretty much the entire half hour during every episode. I think they would have been better off just doing a time jump and writing the series more like how the original episodes were written. And, I think they should have used the fact that they could actually swear on Netflix instead of bleeping out the swear words like they did when the show was on Fox. That said, it is still worth watching.