# We, the undersigned, just weren't wowed by Arrested Development **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757 "2005-11-12T19:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/1 "2005-11-12T19:47:14Z")
First of all, I just want to say I’m sorry to all of AD’s big fans on this board. I know there are a lot of you on this board and it’s hard to lose a favorite show. But you have to realize that not everybody liked AD and it wasn’t because we didn’t get it. In fact, the first person that says the magic words is getting Pitted. That’s how much it bothers me. Now, for the record, I liked Arrested Development. I thought it was really funny and clever, but I never went out my way to watch it. Why? Because every episode was the same. Somebody does something wacky, Jason Bateman shakes his head, Buster is annoying, GOB is stupid, Ron Howard makes a pithy comment, I want to strangle Buster, George Michael lusts after Maebe… the end. And then Tobias does something really stupid and I really want to strangle him… the real end. I’m sad to see it go too, but I’ll console myself with 24, Lost, Scrubs, Survivor and Fox’s Sunday night lineup. Shows I just can’t miss, ever. So have at it. Who just liked AD a little? Who disliked it? Who absolutely HATED it? The floor is yours. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/2 "2005-11-12T20:11:11Z")
I will find this thread useful. As I will know that I can safely disregard any aesthetic opinions of any of the undersigned. It’s not that your opinions are necessarily unsophiticated or somehow inferior, it’s just that they are so entirely \*alien \*to my own that I doubt we could find common ground in any artistic discussion. Same goes for Firefly. If you don’t like it, well, in all respect, there’s not much to talk about. No offense. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/3 "2005-11-12T20:15:12Z")
See, I love Firefly and was absolutely crushed when it ended. Much like most the AD lovers are around here. But the way the AD lovers are brushing off any and all criticism about the show is maddening. I expect the torches, pitchforks and cries of “lynch them!” any minute now. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/4 "2005-11-12T20:24:36Z")
It’s supposed to be a comedy. I watched two episodes and did not laugh at all. It just wasn’t the type of humor I like. Same thing with Firefly. It was just not the kind of sci-fi (or science fiction, if you must) I like. Even successful shows like Friends or Seinfeld did not make me laugh. Ever. Both were filled with unlikeable characters. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/5 "2005-11-12T20:35:40Z")
I only watched it a couple of times. It’s not that I didn’t like it – it’s that it was midway threw the first season before I heard of it, and I wanted to wait for the DVD sets. I still haven’t bought the DVD sets, and now I feel irrationally guilty, as though my inaction helped to kill it. MUST PROACTIVELY WATCH _MORE_ TV! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/6 "2005-11-12T20:37:50Z")
I think the problem is that _most_ people who don’t find it funny (at least, in my personal experience) don’t “get it”. If you don’t find it funny, it’s more likely to be because you aren’t paying enough attention than because it’s genuinely not your cup of tea. I, at least, am likely to default to “oh, they just aren’t watching closely enough/thinking on the right level” when I hear someone say they don’t like _Arrested Development_. Which doesn’t negate you guys’ position, but it’s not a very common one. Hence the “damn those stupid Average American Viewers!” rhetoric over in the other threads. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/7 "2005-11-12T20:41:36Z")
> [@Justin Bailey](#): > > But you have to realize that not everybody liked AD and it wasn’t because we didn’t get it. In fact, the first person that says the magic words is getting Pitted. That’s how much it bothers me. > [@Tracy Lord](#): > > I think the problem is that most people who don’t find it funny (at least, in my personal experience) don’t “get it”. Okay, Justin, have at it. I watched it. I paid attention to it. It wasn’t funny. What’s to get? Your show got cancelled. Live with it. It happens to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/8 "2005-11-12T20:45:12Z")
[onion]My preferred form of enetertainment is superior to your preferred form of entertainment[/onion] My tastes aren’t superior to anybody else’s. Hell, I’m wasting time on a message board talking about a show I didn’t care for. Entertainment exists to fill the empty hours during our inevitable march towards oblivion. I was sad when Futurama was cancelled, but it’s just a TV show. Anybody that insults you because you don’t have the same tastes in television as them needs to get a friggin’ grip. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/9 "2005-11-12T20:52:11Z")
Already done. > **[Tracy Lord just doesn't get it](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=344489)** > > http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=6789963&postcount=6 We get Arrested Development. We just don’t think it’s the greatest show since sliced bread. I will not be insulted by a bunch of snobby television fans because my tastes... ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/10 "2005-11-12T21:03:40Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > I think the problem is that _most_ people who don’t find it funny (at least, in my personal experience) don’t “get it”. If you don’t find it funny, it’s more likely to be because you aren’t paying enough attention than because it’s genuinely not your cup of tea. Booshwah. I watched several episodes and found it to be annoying in its own smug certitude of its cleverness rather than funny. Or enjoyable. Or all that especially clever, for that matter. I have no problem with shows that only a small percentage of people like. I’ve been part of that small percentage myself at times. But I do know the difference between shows that have a narrow appeal and shows that are good and I’m not getting. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/11 "2005-11-12T21:39:20Z")
It just wasn’t funny (to me). It’s not that I hated it, it’s not that I found it stupid, it’s simply that I didn’t find it funny. It’s rare that I can watch a comedy for an entire half hour and not even crack a smile, which has happened for every episode of AD I’ve watched (all three of them). All in all, a _meh_. Hopefully, Fox will replace it with something better. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/12 "2005-11-12T21:45:09Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > I will find this thread useful. As I will know that I can safely disregard any aesthetic opinions of any of the undersigned. > > It’s not that your opinions are necessarily unsophiticated or somehow inferior, it’s just that they are so entirely \*alien \*to my own that I doubt we could find common ground in any artistic discussion. > > Same goes for Firefly. If you don’t like it, well, in all respect, there’s not much to talk about. No offense. Wow. All that from a person’s opinion of \*one \*show? That by itself says a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/13 "2005-11-12T21:55:30Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Okay, Justin, have at it. > > I watched it. I paid attention to it. It wasn’t funny. What’s to get? Your show got cancelled. Live with it. It happens to everyone. > [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Booshwah. I watched several episodes and found it to be annoying in its own smug certitude of its cleverness rather than funny. Or enjoyable. Or all that especially clever, for that matter. > > I have no problem with shows that only a small percentage of people like. I’ve been part of that small percentage myself at times. But I do know the difference between shows that have a narrow appeal and shows that are good and I’m not getting. Sorry, obviously I wasn’t clear. The reason so many AD fans are saying “well, you probably just don’t get it” is that MOST people who don’t like it weren’t paying enough attention to it. The people in this thread are not the most common type of AD non-fans. I’m not making a judgement on you guys, but explaining why so many people’s reaction to “I don’t like AD” is “Well, you probably weren’t watching closely enough.” That’s the pattern with MOST non-fans. Not the people in this thread, who obviously watched it, paid attention, and didn’t care for it. You guys are outliers on the AD fan spectrum, which is why you’re misunderstood so frequently in the other threads. Does that make sense? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Shroud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Shroud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shroud)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/14 "2005-11-12T22:03:00Z")
This reminds me of one of those [Fark.com](http://Fark.com) threads about Homestar Runner, where every fifth person takes a strange pride in pointing out that they don’t find joy in certain things that other people do. I think that deserves a big “no duh.” We all like different things. If it’s because you’re envious that we were wildly entertained, stop it. I’m sure you’re wildly entertained by something that I’m not (_According to Jim_, maybe? 😉 ), but I’m not going to spout a haughty Internet “meh” about it or celebrate its demise. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/15 "2005-11-12T22:04:37Z")
I didn’t like it. I just found it terribly uninteresting and full of itself. “LOOK! We’re so funny!” was the vibe I got from it. meh. I sympathize with those who did love and lose, though. I’d be torn up if they cancelled BSG. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/16 "2005-11-12T22:34:44Z")
I liked it, it made me laugh. But I’d be lying if I said really care that it got cancelled. Even the best TV show is, well, just a TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/17 "2005-11-12T22:36:25Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > If you don’t find it funny, it’s more likely to be because you aren’t paying enough attention than because it’s genuinely not your cup of tea. I, at least, am likely to default to “oh, they just aren’t watching closely enough/thinking on the right level” when I hear someone say they don’t like _Arrested Development_. I have watched a couple of episodes and decided, “Meh, this just isn’t for me.” I have read through more than a couple of the _Arrested Development_ threads here on the SDMB, and they have convinced me that this is a really high-quality, well-done show, which is indeed very funny and clever if you like that sort of thing; but they haven’t convinced me that _I_ am among the people who do like that sort of thing. Maybe at some point I’ll borrow the DVDs and give the show another chance. But I have long since come to terms with the fact that, in all genres of art and entertainment, there are some things that are really good that, nevertheless, I don’t personally enjoy or get much out of. And that’s okay; I don’t have enough time for everything I do enjoy as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/18 "2005-11-12T22:47:47Z")
> [@Menocchio](#): > > I will find this thread useful. As I will know that I can safely disregard any aesthetic opinions of any of the undersigned. > > It’s not that your opinions are necessarily unsophiticated or somehow inferior, it’s just that they are so entirely \*alien \*to my own that I doubt we could find common ground in any artistic discussion. > > Same goes for Firefly. If you don’t like it, well, in all respect, there’s not much to talk about. No offense. Man, now I’m gonna be up nights wondering whether I rock because I love Firefly or I suck because I didn’t like AD. Dammit! I watched the first couple of episodes and didn’t think they were funny. It’s been however many years so I don’t really even remember the details at all, so I couldn’t tell you why I didn’t think it was funny. I got the impression that the show hit a stride but by the time I got that impression I didn’t feel like investing the time and effort to catch up. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/19 "2005-11-12T23:12:44Z")
I just never got it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757/20 "2005-11-12T23:20:05Z")
Count me in with the “it’s not funny” camp (though I’ve only ever watched one episode–not having cable might have something to do with that). There is some small shadow of humour in there, which is crying to get out. Or maybe just crying. But the show isn’t funny. My reaction to it being cancelled? One of joy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-the-undersigned-just-werent-wowed-by-arrested-development/330757.md?page=2)