johng Blog

Following up on last week’s post about Firefly here is the other show I discovered recently, of course since I wrote that it has been recommissioned by Fox, yay! Arrested Development is a cross between Malcolm in the Middle, The Office and Family Guy, taking the zany humour, shooting style and plentiful flashback scenes from each and creating something very different. Michael Bluth becomes the President of his family’s building company after his father is sent to prison following a federal investigation. The Bluth family, used to leeching from the company, must make it without the handouts now and most of the episodes focus around this central theme.

The first few episodes provide so many genuinely funny moments that it’s hard not to want more. Michael’s father producing his self help videos in prison, Jobe’s ridiculously over the top magic tricks and Tobias’ ‘no-nude’ condition dish out laugh after laugh. Once you get over the crazy ride of the first few episodes and are more accustomed to these insane characters the gag factor certainly goes down but it is kept fresh by interesting twists and unusual story lines.

It may have seemed strange for me to compare it to Family Guy but the similarity is there. Family Guy’s humour relies heavily on flashback sequences and most of the gags on that show come from these scenes. Arrested Development is quite unusual for a live action comedy in that is does these frequent flashback scenes. Whether it is archive footage, CCTV images or just a dream sequences, they are inserted without remorse and give each episode quite an unrivalled pace.

A few weeks ago it was all set and this excellent show was going to be another victim of the premature axing process that the execs at Fox seem to love so much. I don’t know what they pulled out of where but it has been recommissioned and it’s third season will begin this year. It has probably had success on DVD like so many these recently revived shows (Family Guy, Firefly, etc.) to the extent that ratings do not matter so much if they can make a profit from the box sets. The Bluth Company surviving another year intact seems to be another matter entirely.