comin to town with the briefcase blues
Have I seriously not written about
Arrested Development? Oh man, I'm so sorry. First, it contains
David Cross in a smaller but still essential part. For Consumption Day, I got my Other the first three seasons of
Mr. Show, a sketch comedy show on HBO in the mid-'90s. Best gift ever, considering that I get to watch them, too. It makes SNL look like Sesame Street.
But anyhow, about
Arrested Development, this is one of the best shows I've ever seen. I was a big
Sports Night fan, although that show had some weird problems. Like
Sports Night,
Arrested Development has no laugh track and can therefore go much faster than a normal sitcom. The characters are quirky and interesting and with so many of them (there are at least 9 leads) remarkably well-developed. The show, I would argue, is primarily about family, and is often dead-on. Its humor isn't the lame setup-punchline crap of most sitcoms - gosh, men are crass, haha! Boy, do women like shoes!!! Ha! SEX! Hehe! The humor eminates rather from the situations and perspectives of each character, much like
Seinfeld. Also like
Seinfeld, the episodes often end up tying all the distinct and unrelated narrative elements together in a spectacularly coincidental yet somehow plausible way.
After Sports Night was yanked after two seasons, I vowed I would never view with passion again. Sure, I'd watch an episode of this here, of that there, but it would be for quick gratification only. No more committed relationships for me. But, when Other taped and had me watch the very first episode of Arrested Development, I was immediately hooked.
I won't go into plot details, but if you want some, go here: IMDB entry for Arrested Development.
Also! It airs Sundays at 9:30pm on Fox.
