Arrested Development: Season 3 Premiere
By: Mark Runyon | Category: Show Review | 09/20/05 | 12:20 AM
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Grade: B- | Genre: Comedy
Summary: So my first impression of Arrested Development is of a slyly, clever comedy, juggling a family hemorrhaging in chaos. Each character is a festival of neurosis and a certifiable breeding ground for rich comedy.
Last month, two of my favorite series folded to a close (Six Feet Under and Queer as Folk) so instead of dressing up in Goth while spiraling into a prolonged state of depression, I've decided to spruce up my addictions with a few new drugs. After quickly dispensing with 5-disks of the bulky season one set of Lost, I can definitely say that gem will be a can't-miss (look for the review next week on this feverously compelling DVD set) so I'm now interviewing for another date to fill my evenings. The only way you could have missed the shower of acclaim for Arrested Development is if you have been living amongst the Amish for the last several years. The quirky, ratings challenged comedy seems to always find their head fastened to the chopping block yet pulls a Houdini to squirrel itself back onto Fox's schedule each season. Tonight, I see if these pounding waves of praise are really worth the lip service or if it's just sand in your shoes. |
Now I can't claim to be a complete novice of the show as I caught about a half of an episode near the tail end of last season. I wasn't really sitting down to check it out. It just happened to be on when I was looking for background noise. Tobias in blue face was all I can recall. Ok so I am a complete newbie, you outed me. With Charlize Theron joining the cast for a five-episode arc starting next week, what better time to pass myself off as part of the ranks of the faithful.
So Arrested Development is the story of one severely dysfunctional family that uses their wacky pot shots at one another as shrewd comedy. Michael (Jason Bateman) is the glue that holds them all together with his frail grip on sanity, surrounded by quacking yahoos. He runs the family business, Bluth Enterprises, while his father, George Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), is in the slammer for defrauding investors. We can fill in the rest of the Mad Libs as we find our way through this week's episode.
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| Arrested Development: Season 3 |
| Starring: Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor & Jessica Walter |
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| View the Episode Clip |
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Tonight brought quite a shock to the Bluths as Jim Cramer, stock guru extraordinaire, upgraded Bluth from a sell to a don't buy based on the fact that big daddy Bluth was doing his best to hold onto the soap in the big house. Christmas came early for the Bluth's, and Michael couldn't resist the opportunity to race to the can to gloat to his father on his latest success as head dog of the family fortune. Along the way, he sees the chance to right a wrong by promising to take his son George-Michael (seriously that's his name) camping in the family cabin as Michael's father always failing said he would. I mean what fun is disappointment if you can't make it a family tradition? Leech George Oscar, Michael's brother, is busy pouting over why dad never promised to take him camping then never took him. Confused yet?
Well darling mom (Jessica Walter) has finally stopped taking her postpartum depression medication, umm...32 years after the birth of her last child, and the eating her young impulse is starting to show as Buster's snoring (yet another of Michael's brothers) threatens to force her hand, beating him senseless with a pogo stick. Young George-Michael has his own worries as he isn't looking for bonding time with dad as much as trying to avoid his cousin Maeby (Alia Shawkat) who he halfway made out with. Everywhere he turns they are lip to lip. The lovely Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) is a ball of confusion after losing her sad sack husband, Tobias (David Cross), to the Blue Man Group. She wants him to come back as long as he doesn't want to return. And people say love is complicated.
Michael finds out dad has flown the coop and left his poor identical uncle, Oscar, in his place, which calls on a very humorous iamoscar.com sequence. Finally, we close out on our crazy lot for the week with Michael getting to spend some quality one-on-one time with George-Michael only to have jailbird dad stick the cabin on the end of an 18-wheeler, peeling them away from tranquility.
So my first impression of Arrested Development is of a slyly, clever comedy, juggling a family hemorrhaging in chaos. Each character is a festival of neurosis and a certifiable breeding ground for rich comedy. The laughs are very smooth off the character's tongues yet carry a lot of bite. They will slip right past you if you aren't paying close attention. All around it didn't grab me like Scrubs barrage of humor, though admittedly, Scrubs was a bit of an acquired taste as well in the early goings. So I'm going to stick with Arrested at least until Charlize finishes her one shy of a 6-pack then we'll see how hooked I am on these loony bin rejects. The skies are sunny so far.
Original Airdate: September 19, Monday 8/7c
Season Premiere: Episode #310 "The Cabin Show"
Checkout Arrested Development Monday nights at 8pm on Fox
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