Arrested Development: Maybe it's better it wasn't renewed...

Cafe Society
1

Ever wonder what would have happened to Arrested Development had there been another season? Where could they have possibly gone?

Let’s get a few things straight, when season 3 was written, it was getting more and more evident that they wouldn’t actually get to make another one, so the fact that the company gets better would not necessarily have come true.

What if they had moved to Showtime? I think the only way for this thing to have made it would have been to have had seasons with fewer episodes. The quality of each individual episode was so high, that it seems that they couldn’t keep up for too many more seasons.

But on the other hand, the writers were ingenious. Each and every character added to the show. You had Michael, who was the good guy, although he wasn’t actually much better than the others. George Michael was also hilarious in many moments. I think he was much better when he wasn’t involved with Maeby.

Lucille Bluth was amazing, as well as Buster.

GOB “Macaroni…Let me finish…Salad!” Bluth couldn’t have been better.

What could they have possibly done? Let’s say the company actually made some money? I think it would be difficult, because they’d probably all move out of the model home. So whatever happens, they can’t make any money. How could they possibly keep that running for more seasons. Maybe you’d have an episode where they are all ready to move out, and surprisingly Michael screws it up, by doing something unethical, causing the company to go back down again.

What if GOB ran for some political office? The prospect of George being out of prison would certainly lead to some laughs. I could see him undermining Michael in his business also causing trouble.

Anyone have any ideas about which direction it could have taken?

It’s sad that I’ve seen them all now, but then again, maybe it’s a good thing.

2

They certainly milked the Henry Winkler/Scott Baio thing for everything they could. I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of Season 3 and it was already starting to suffer from cute self-referentialism, which is clever (sort of) the first time, but gets old quickly.

Part of the problem is that the characters were (intentionally) archtypes of sitcom characters; some managed exceed, or at least extend that (Lucille, George, Buster) and some remained stuck (Tobias, Lindsay, Gob), quickly growing tiresome. I mean, I like Gob for being such an unrepentant ass, but after seeing him burst into yet another magic routine with “The Final Countdown” in the background it was just…not that funny any more. The same thing with Ann/Bland; George Michael was already a little creepy even before they brought her onto the scene. And while Michael is supposed to be the constant standard about which everyone else whirls, he’s frankly too much of a passive-aggressive ninny to maintain sympathy for long; by the end of the Series 2 DVDs I was loathing him almost as much as Ron Howard’s narration.

The show did make some rather clever digs at sitcom conventions, like the rationale for having a group of contentious opposites living in the same house, or the “cute kid” who is adopted because the previous cute kid is now too old, and then conveniently disposed of when he’s no longer a ratings draw. The only way I could see it continuing is to extend that; perhaps have them marooned on a desert island, or have to star in a reality t.v. show that Maeby is producing, or Michael as a fugitive on the run searching for the One-Armed Man, or somesuch. And more Carl Weathers (even if it does mean more of Tobias); he and Liza Minnelli (who I otherwise can’t stand) were absolutely brilliant, as was Alia Shawkat.

Stranger

3

I think two more full 22 episode seasons would’ve tapped it out without significant quality decline.

4

I don’t think it would’ve necesarily declined. The second half of the third season was written knowing the show as likely cancelled, and so it was written differently than it would’ve been if it were going to go on indefinitely.

Even if the quality were to decline noticibly, it would still be vastly better than anything else on TV.