Watching Arrested Development on DVD

Cafe Society
1

Due to recommendations on this board and a few friends, I put Arrested Development Season 1 on my BlockbusterOL queue. I’m hooked. But I have a question. Should I watch the ones currently being broadcasted on TV or wait until I catch up with the DVDs. Would I be lost if I just jumped in?

Thanks
Turd

2

Because the show is built so heavily on continuity and subtle running gags, you’ll appreciate the current episodes so much more if you see the first season first.

3

I think this is one show where it’s best to start at the beginning. The storylines are a lot more complicated and interwoven than most sitcoms, and many of the events and jokes refer back to earlier episodes. The best thing about watching the later shows is the running jokes that carry through from earlier shows.

I highly recommend beginning with episode 1 and going in order. Also, give it a few episodes before giving up. It might take a while to get into it.

4

I agree with everyone else, because they’re right. I did come in in the middle (early this season) and liked the show, but there’s a lot of stuff that’s funnier after you’ve seen the rest. I actually watched the entire first season in one day I was so hooked.

5

Allow me to break with the crowd, Turd. (Cliffy lets the user name pass without comment.) If you’ve got a TiVo or other means of saving new episodes until you’re caught up, by all means use it. But if not, then you’ll be happier in the long run having seen the current eps., even if you do miss a few gags. Although the show works better when you know the purposefully arcane backstory, even if you don’t, it still works.

The second season got its order cut and ratings are still low. While it’s perhaps slightly too strong to say the writing’s on the wall, the smart money says the last handful of episodes are going to be the last ever, and I very much doubt FOX is going to spend much time airing reruns of a cancelled poor performer. I assume the 2d season will come out on DVD, but it’s by no means a sure thing; the S1 DVD was fast-tracked to lure in new viewers before S2. If the show is cancelled, there’s little need for a similar product.

–Cliffy

6

Not me.

Welcome, Turd! That’s a name I’ve used myself, in jest. Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds on Celebrity Jeopardy!. Good choice.

7

Thanks, I’ll probably watch Season 1 on DVD for now and cross my fingers that Season 2 will come out on DVD

Turd