Arrested Development rewards loyal viewers after hiatus, but could be quicker on uptake
Cult hit “Arrested Development”is back.
The series’ run was cut short in 2006, after its third season on Fox. While collecting awards and accolades, the dysfunctional family comedy never got high ratings. It is the rare comedy series that demands to be watched in order, starting from the beginning.
Brilliantly realized with a fantastic cast, complex narrative structure, and a special blend of meta, slapstick and satirical comedy, the show deals with the Bluths, a wealthy family who siphoned from their company’s accounts for their own personal expenses too often. Patriarch George (Jeffrey Tambor), lands in jail, arrested by the Securities and Exchange Commission and facing charges of fraud and embezzlement. His wife (Jessica Walter) and their four adult children are faced with no longer having everything they want at their fingertips. Middle son Michael (Jason Bateman), the series’ straight man, tries his best to hold the family together and save the company, both of which he failed at frequently. The series left off there seven years ago.
For years, creator Mitchell Hurwitz tried to get an “Arrested Development” film off the ground, but getting funding to make a feature film based on a cult series that was canceled after only three seasons proved to be difficult. He decided that the best way to go about resurrecting the series was to make another season, proving how popular the series had become since its cancellation. The revival season also tells viewers where exactly their favorite characters have been for the past few years — other than broadcast limbo.
If you haven’t watched an episode of “Arrested Development” before, you will need to watch the first three seasons before diving into the fourth. Many of the jokes will not make sense without doing so, and the episodes are easy to access; all four seasons are available to be streamed instantly on Netflix. The half-hour episodes of the first three seasons were lightning quick, cutting back and forth between characters, plot-lines and locations. Part of what makes the series so watchable — even addictive — is that the more you watch, the more rich and dense the show gets. The series rewards loyal viewers, and the new season demands more from fans than ever before. Each episode is more focused on a particular character than those in the previous three seasons. Sometimes situations or jokes do not make sense until a few episodes later. It is not just setup, punchline, setup, punchline. It is setup, setup, five episodes later, punchline.
Part of the change in structure is connected to how the episodes were released. All 15 episodes of the fourth season were released exclusively to stream instantly on Netflix on one day, all at once. With streaming video, Netflix, DVR, and Hulu, the way people watch television has changed. In the past, people used to gather around the television at a certain time each week for their favorite show, and if they missed it, that was it, unless it was re-run in the future. Hurwitz and his other writers have made a season of television for this generation’s way of viewing.
The new season has laughs and jokes as funny as anything in the original three seasons. All of the characters are still as egotistical and full of themselves as before. The new seasons also boasts a great lineup of guest stars including ones from the previous seasons, such as Liza Minnelli, Henry Winkler, Ben Stiller and Martin Mull, along with new guest stars like the series executive producer and narrator Ron Howard playing “himself,” Seth Rogen and Kristen Wiig playing younger versions of George and wife, Lucille, Isla Fisher, John Slattery and Terry Crews.The downside of the new format is that the series is not as rapid fire as it was before. It does not zing as often as it should. Frankly, the show drags at times . The labyrinthine plot is a fun puzzle that keeps the audience putting the season together, but all that effort does not always pay off. Sometimes the show is needlessly complicated. Is two characters being in the same place at the same time but neither one realizing it really the height of hilarity? Sometimes the show is more clever and amusing than laugh out loud funny. It is also a show that is watched at arm’s length. In shows such as “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation,” the audience grows to care about the characters through their escapades. In “Arrested Development,” the audience really only cares about their escapades. In fact, the worse the characters and their situations are, the funnier it usually is. The new season is sometimes gaspingly funny, and the new episode structure creates an interesting viewing experience, but the episodes could have used some tightening and more cutting between characters and other plot-lines within single episodes.