Arrested Development Appreciation Thread

Cafe Society
1

Well, the season finale was last night, and of course it was great. The running “Bring Your Daughter to Work Day” thing was hilarious, especially the cops who lost their daughters. Buster had some great lines too, especially regarding his concern that the ban on organized sports in the house had been lifted.

A few of my favorite moments from the first season:

In the first episode, George Bluth passes the company off to his wife, instead of his son, reasoning that when the feds discover the wrongdoing they can’t arrest a husband and wife for the same crime. Michael points out that he doesn’t thing that’s actually true. George looks undone, and says “I have the worst [bleep!]in’ lawyers.” (We’d find that out later with Henry Winkler’s recurring character).

In the second episode George introduces his son to cellmate “T-Bone”, whom he says is a “flamer.” Michael is surprised at this until he realizes they’re talking about arson. Later, Michael’s mothers storage unit burns down, destroying some documents that he had asked her for. The police tell Michael that it’s definitely the work of a flamer.

In the third, there was the great scene where Michael and his brother Buster were about to go on a bike ride. Implying a race, Michael warned something to the effect of “I’m going to kick your butt, buddy!” Buster got a little over stimulated and unleashed a 30 second long expletive-laden reply. When he finally finishes Michael looks at him calmy and says “Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

In the fourth episode, Michael enlisted his brother Gob’s help in seducing information out of their father’s bitter and neurotic secretary. Gob attempted to have sex with her, but couldn’t get past her bizarre appearance. He had her remove her glasses, which didn’t work. Hair down? No… Glasses on, hair down? Eventually he just turned the light off, but he was still hampered by the sliver of light coming from underneath the door. :smiley:

Five. Two words: Stair car. Also, Gob willingly enters the prison where his dad is incarcerated so he can break out and get some publicity as a magician. He laboriously swallows a key before going in, and is then mortified to find out there is nowhere private to go to the bathroom.

I’ll post more when I have more time today. What are some of your favorite moments of the season? Also, does anyone know its status for next year? The Futon Critic (www.thefutoncritic.com) doesn’t have anything on it yet.

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Jason Bateman’s brilliant underplaying is the key to the show. I was smiling remembering your quote about “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

And yet, the joke that immediately springs to mind for me is when Henry Winkler’s character is about to comb his hair in the men’s room, checks out his reflection, and executes a perfect Fonzie “Who’m I kidding? I’m perfect!” shrug.

3

I love this show. The “Pier Pressure” episode might be my favorite episode of any show ever. The one-armed man, the hot cops, Buster and GOB “stop hitting yourself”, and finally, “That’s why we don’t teach lessons.”

I find it amusing that the more we see of Michael running the company, the worse he seems to be at it. Maybe there was a reason George Sr. passed him over.

AFAIK, there hasn’t been any word on next season yet. The critics love the show, but it hasn’t gotten ratings.

4

My favorite part is Liza Minnelli’s occasional appearances as the nutty socialite neighbor. She’s really terrific, and reminds us that she’s a damn good actress when she’s not making a public circus of herself. Let’s get that girl working again, and off the drugs and gay husbands!

5

I really like Mr. Wendell… it’s got a really catchy beat.

What? :smiley:

MeanJoe

6

I love the show, and knew from the start it was highly unlikely to be renewed (note the season finale in April – they didn’t want to show it during the May sweeps. Bad sign.). So I’m savoring it (the only ray of hope is that Fox has so many low-rated shows that it may decide to stick with this next year on the theory that they’ll take the critical applause as a loss leader).

It’s really the only show that can make me laugh out loud. There have been so many good moments: Kitty’s boob job (the world’s worst), Gob trying to be a magician, Buster looking at a map (after taking cartography) and announcing the blue parts are land, Mom’s manipulations, Michael’s attempts at romance, etc.

Michael really isn’t any smarter than the rest of the clan; he’s just the only one who’s a decent human being.

7

Does anyone else think Maebe is amazingly cute? I don’t care how young she is… :smiley:

That aside, the industry word is that the show is cancelled, shit-canned, bye bye. I’m not surprised; from the first episode, I knew it was too good to last. It’s not so much that it’s too smart, it’s just too subtle and understated. I really dig it, though, and hope that they release the whole run as a DVD set.

My only complaint is that David Cross is really under-utilized.

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a) Agreed - she’s way too cute.

b) Same here. I’m (ahem) obtaining all the episodes I can on the internet now just in case they don’t put it out on DVD.

c) I would have said the same thing about Cross originally, but I think he’s in there just the right amount. It’s the same thing with Buster - I was disappointed that he didn’t appear at all in a few episodes, but using him all the time could get a little old. I think they found a good balance.

Why can’t Fox keep a decent show on the air these days? And is there any hope if AD gets cancelled? What about (gasp) the WB or something?

And by the way - AD was pre-empted last week thanks to the Bush-preempted episode of 24 in its place. Fox better at least show us that episode. I see next week we’re getting extra reruns of The Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle in the open slots. :mad:

9

A) Last night wasn’t actually the season finale. Promoted by FOX, yes. But it was ep 21, 22 is Let Em Eat Cake and features George’s escape from prison, to be shown(maybe) on June 6th.

B)It’s actually looking quite good for renewal at this point. It’s one of the only shows FOX hasn’t canceled yet, and has already been scheduled for repeats in the summer, which is a really good sign.

C) DVD’s are forthcoming. Scheduled sometime in September to boost the ratings for season two.

D) This is my last post or I would like to go into more detail regarding the season as a whole. I don’t have time for this subscription crap.

10

Maybe, but my favorite running gag is Tobias’s insistence that he’s not gay. :smiley:

11

*Arrested Development * makes jeevwoman feel crocodile.

God I love that show!

12

I love this show. Especially any scene with David Cross.

Incidentally, in the last episode Cross’s character says “douche-chill” mockingly, twice.

I checked closed captioning and yes, indeed, he did say “douche-chill”.

Anyone have any idea where this expression came from? I did some urban dictionary searches and came up with nothing. I found some other references to it on the net but no definitions. Is this some hip new lingo the kids are using?

13

“You shoulda seen the look on my twin brother’s face when I forced him out of the company. What am I saying, he’s my twin brother. I can show you!”

14

Augh - only 14 replies for this magnificent show!

Please, please, please, everybody go buy the DVD that’s coming out later this year! Sales will definately impact the likelihood of renewal. Buy the DVD or someone’s arm will get torn off - and that’s why we buy DVDs!

My next cat is so going to be named Annyong!

15

I love this show! It’s my fave. Since the Sorpranos has returned, I usually record AD and watch it Monday evenings. I’ll watch this week’s ep again this evening because it was so damn funny!

Go Fatty!

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My favorite sitcom currently running. The only show guaranteed to make me laugh out loud. The casting on this show is brilliant. David Cross is hilarious, Jason Bateman is wonderfullly understated, and the rest of the cast play their parts to perfection.

The guest stars are very impressive for such a young series (narrated by Ron Howard, Henry Winkler as an inept lawyer, James Lipton as a prison warden, Carl Weathers as himself, Amy Poehler from SNL as Gob’s wife (she is his wife “in real life”), Liza Minelli as the vertigo-prone Lucille Ostero, and Heather Graham as a teacher (“No ring.”)

The show has a great deal of continuity and in-jokes as well. Funny on so many levels…what more can I say?

I will be sorely disappointed if this show is not renewed. With all the other crap that’s currently on the air (I’m looking at you, Yes Dear), Arrested Development deserves to stay on the air.

17

I wish it was on at 8:30. As it is, it’s on vs. Alias and I forget to watch a good amount of time.

The latest one, with the daughters, was brilliant. When did Anyan start to speak English?

18

I love this show.

My wife and I have a theory that it was originally developed for cable, hence the big name attachement and overall goodness of the show.

If it is cancelled, I am going to open a Frozen Banana Shack in it’s honor.

19

I do just the opposite of Juanita- I watch AD on Sunday night, and then On Demand the Sopranos on Monday.

God, I love this show. One of the funniest gags early on was Liza Minnelli’s bouts of vertigo. I cackle at those bits.

20

I love this show also. I almost always crack up on the scenes with Gob. I don’t know what it is. David Cross is hilarious too. The whole thing is just wonderful. I think Arrested Development and Scrubs are my top two picks right now.