# Arrested Development -- Do I have to watch it in order?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/41 "2010-05-18T05:20:35Z")

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This is probably the one sitcom (if it even counts as a sitcom and not it’s own category) that most needs to be watched in order. It’s just so dense with references and callbacks, I can’t imagine watching it out of order.

Which is probably part of the reason it failed to find an audience. I imagine a lot of people tuning in part way through had trouble getting a lot of jokes. Sure, some people pushed through it, and wound up loving it anyway, but even more didn’t.

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**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 18, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/42 "2010-05-18T05:38:38Z")

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It makes me wonder if it might’ve survived today where, if you see an episode but feel lost and want to catch up, you can go on the internet and watch it from the start, legally or otherwise. Might’ve helped it build an audience.

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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/43 "2010-05-18T13:05:03Z")

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> [@Ruby Sees](#):
>
> 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.

Hulu doesn’t work in Canada (maybe you could do some kind of proxy thing, I guess).

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**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/44 "2010-05-18T13:47:28Z")

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> [@tdn](#):
>
> 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.

More accurately, it’s the reverse of the pilot episode. There aren’t too many other call-back jokes.

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**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-do-i-have-to-watch-it-in-order/539321/45 "2010-05-18T14:09:32Z")

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> [@Munch](#):
>
> More accurately, it’s the reverse of the pilot episode. There aren’t too many other call-back jokes.

Oscar: Awww…he did it to me again! When will I learn that there’s no such thing as free shrimp?

-Joe

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