# Arrested Development -- Do I have to watch it in order? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321 "2010-05-13T17:26:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/21 "2010-05-13T23:11:17Z")
I opened this thread because just today I started watching it through Netflix’s streaming thing. If you could log into someone’s Netflix account you could watch them that way…? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/22 "2010-05-13T23:12:26Z")
Get rid of the Seaward. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/23 "2010-05-14T01:17:45Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Get rid of the Seaward. Hey, she’s still in the room. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/24 "2010-05-14T01:44:55Z")
Just a heads-up. If you get IFC (Independent Film Channel – 559 on DirecTV), they’ve been airing a couple of episodes on Sunday nights. This Sunday, the series starts over with the Pilot at 9 PM CT. ETA: Since nobody else has come out and said it…the show is somewhat serial and needs to be watched in order. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/25 "2010-05-14T02:13:46Z")
Steve Holt!! ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/26 "2010-05-14T03:58:59Z")
I’m going to go out on a limb and recommend you watch any tv series in order. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/27 "2010-05-14T04:12:16Z")
> [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](#): > > I’m going to go out on a limb and recommend you watch any tv series in order. There are some shows where it matters a lot, and some shows where it matters very little. Law & Order for example, rarely matters – I barely have any idea who the cast of L&O even is anymore, yet I periodically watch an episode and other than being surprised that Jack McCoy had been booted upstairs to the big boy chair, never found it at all hard to follow.. CSI, as well, other than a few vague season long arcs like the Miniature Killers. Mystery of the Week procedurals in general can be watched in almost any order without missing much. Most sitcoms are easy to watch out of order, as well, since they tend to play fast and loose with character growth. Some random guest actor shows up this week, plays a really important role in the family, is never heard from again, and whatever heartwarming lessons the family learned that week immediately get forgotten, so they can go back to playing the same tropes over and over again. Would those shows, perhaps, be a little bit better watched in order? Yeah. But they don’t lose much being viewed out of order. I wasn’t sure which camp Arrested Development would fall into. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/28 "2010-05-14T08:35:09Z")
> [@jacquilynne](#): > > I believe you may have just won the thread. Does that mean he gets to keep it? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/29 "2010-05-14T10:37:19Z")
Don’t fool with the library stuff. Just go out and buy the whole series on DVD. If it turns out you don’t like it then you deserve to be penniless and broken anyway. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/30 "2010-05-14T11:26:04Z")
Definitely in order, probably moreso than any other sitcom. I have watched all episodes at least twice, and I am now watching random episodes. And it still sometimes confuses me what is going on, and where we are in the narrative. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/31 "2010-05-14T14:18:34Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Don’t fool with the library stuff. Just go out and buy the whole series on DVD. If it turns out you don’t like it then you deserve to be penniless and broken anyway. “I’ve made a huge mistake.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/32 "2010-05-14T14:55:57Z")
> [@Mikemike2](#): > > Hey, she’s still in the room. Who’d want to go into that musty old claptrap? ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/33 "2010-05-14T15:10:35Z")
I blue myself early, so I’d be nice and rested by showtime. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/34 "2010-05-14T15:24:39Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > I blue myself early, so I’d be nice and rested by showtime. You know, you should really try taping yourself sometime… ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/35 "2010-05-14T15:50:59Z")
> **[ROFLSpiders](http://roflspiders.blogspot.com/2010/04/blue.html)** > > All the pictures are taken from this thread: > http://www.cracked.com/forums/topic/66377/lmaobabies-vs-roflspiders-throw-down . Thanks to the contributers ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/36 "2010-05-14T15:53:53Z")
My apparently unpopular opinion is to watch them all in order. There’s not only story arcs but tons of references to jokes in past episodes and by watching them out of order you’re likely going to miss out on some of the genius that was AD. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/37 "2010-05-14T15:58:33Z")
I first discovered Arrested Development about five episodes into the second season. I managed to, um, find a resource that had all the aired episodes to the current one and watched them from the beginning to episode five season two. I meant to do it over the period of a few days or weeks, but I just couldn’t stop and watched all 26 episodes I needed to catch up on back-to-back. The series is _thick_ with callbacks, many of which I would have missed even if I watched them sequentially the normal way, one episode a week. The density of the comedic writing in that show is _incredible_. It may not be for everyone, but I’ve never seen a sitcom with writing that tight. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/38 "2010-05-14T16:05:57Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Get rid of the Seaward. In the last episode or two, did you see what the name of GOB’s boat is? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/39 "2010-05-14T16:35:30Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > In the last episode or two, did you see what the name of GOB’s boat is? > > -Joe That was the last episode, called Development, Arrested. It was largely just a “best of” collection of previous jokes, but twisted, turned, or flipped upside down. “What have I always siad is the most important thing?” “Family?” “I was going to say breakfast, but family is important too.” ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/40 "2010-05-14T23:31:42Z")
They put episodes up on Hulu too. I think season 3 is up there now, but all three have been available at one point or another. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321.md?page=3)