Arrested Development: The Movie

http://tv.yahoo.com/show/35099/news/urn ... 47UVyAo9EF

Let's hope.

I'd love to see it, but it'd be a box office failure. The writing is just too smart and over the average multiplex patron's head to translate into mainstream success.

That would be awesome. But I doubt it'll come true.

Nah, that's not the problem.

The problem is that the great bulk of the characters are pretty unlikeable, and that's often a tough sell to *any* market. I have great respect for the show for the simple fact that they acknowledged this failing during its final season, instead of attempting to set themselves up as being "too smart for the room".

I love the show, but it's easy to see how many people would look upon it with total incomprehension. And it's not like the jokes were *that* smart. The great bulk of them would be easily understood by even the dumbest of audiences (look, the Fonz is jumping a shark). The failing is more in terms of its tone failing to resonate with a wider audience.

I'd like to see them address the fact that at the end of the series,

As a n00B to this show, I thank you for spoilering whatever information the end of that last sentence contains, Hank. I am about 2/3 into the first season of this show, and I think it's incredibly well done. (Thanks as well to all of you who recommended it to me.) Top-notch acting, writing, and directing all around. The remaining (I think) two seasons have been ordered, and I look forward to watching the rest of this quiet little masterpiece.

Some thoughts:

a) This is a propos of nothing, but I'm seeing a pretty strong parallel between the dynamic of the Bluth brothers and the one seen among Jim, Michael, and Dwight on THE OFFICE (US), the only other half-hour comedy (except for RENO 911!) that I've enjoyed since LARRY SANDERS went off the air.

I mean, GOB and Dwight are practically the same guy, no? They both have that macho delivery even when they're throwing out ridiculous, geeky stuff. Michael Bluth and Jim Halpert each serve as the character who's actually smart and cool and level-headed about things, and gets to provide running (not to mention persuasive) commentary about what's wrong with all of the other characters. And while Michael Scott is the boss and Buster is the goat, their personality quirks and social failings are really quite similar if you think about it.

b) Portia de Rossi? OMFG, but she's hot.

c) I'm not crazy about Ron Howard's narration. Sometimes it punctuates the moment cleverly, but at other times I find it distracting. And it's not like he's the world's best actor, either.

d) I finally understand why you guys are always throwing STEVE HOLT! at Holt. Until now, I thought that was his full name, and you were just doing that for the hell of it.

e) I love the little meta business with the "On the next..." segments that are never actually seen in future episodes.

f) After the beating that David Cross gave to James Lipton in his "The Pride Is Back" special, the dude not only agrees to be on the show, but in scenes with the guy who skewered him? Excellent! (Man, I can't stand James Lipton.) See the clip here, and forgive some of the language:



g) I'm a tad surprised at the incest jokes. George Michael wanting to get with Maeby (is that right?) is kind of a morbidly frustrating subplot, but I just saw the episode in which GM also now thinks that Lindsay is offering to provide him with sexual favors when in fact she's talking about acting as a surrogate mother to him. Weird for a network show. Or maybe I'm old-fashioned all of a sudden?

So. Great show!

Like Frank, I only saw this show after it went off the air, thanks mostly to various people in this forum who swore by it. Thanks, gang! Truly a great series. Perhaps it's time for a rewatch.

a) Interesting point; I hadn't noticed that.

b) Hell yes. Rent Sirens, if you haven't seen it.

c) Never bothered me.

d)

e) Yeah. At some point in the commentaries they note that everything from those scenes is considered to be canon. Some plots are resolved only by those scenes, as I recall.

f) Interesting. I never knew the history with Lipton before. He never bothered me, but I've also seen very little of his show.

g) Man, what a prude, Frank.

I'm just glad they didn't call me Laura...

You should be so lucky to be as hot as Laura Holt.

All right, I have now seen the entirety of this series.

Are the people at FOX frickin' idiots?? This show should have run for ten more years! Brilliant, hilarious, edgy, goofy, unpretentious material all the way. Writing, acting, directing, and editing that was just off the charts, in my opinion.

I hope that the proposed movie comes to pass, and that the success of said movie gets the show put back on the air.

(Has that ever happened before?)

I think it has but also, with all the damn channels on cable, I'm surprised SOMEONE didn't throw a ton of money at the creator to pull the show together elsewhere. However low the ratings were on Fox, I gaurantee you that they would have been big rating for any number of cable stations out there. I own the entire series on DVD and it's easily one of the best comedies ever.

So...what went wrong?

Rather than hold them back a couple of weeks and air them during sweeps, they aired the final 4 episodes on a single night against the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Wow.

Just wow.

That's why I missed them.

I remember that night clearly. And how pissed i was at FOX.

Oh, and glad that the folks who trusted our recommendation enjoyed the show!

Mister F!

My favorite running jokes from the series:

-- "Yeah, but where did the [x] come from?"

-- "Her?"

-- "Don't call it that."

-- "Oh, that hair."

-- The Charlie Brown music!

-- "Annyong."

-- "Marry me!"

-- The use of "The Final Countdown" (I song I hate to pieces, but will now always find at least a little funny).


I never heard that bit about the scheduling of the final four episodes. I'll ask again: are the people at Fox just frickin' idiots??

And this clip, by the way, is awesome. I especially love the last moment of it.

Pretty much, yes. This was already established by their criminal treatment of Firefly, but this further confirms it. At least AD had several seasons though. Three seasons in, they must have figured it wasn't going to suddenly take off in the ratings.

"I was a professional twice over - an analyst and a therapist. The World's first analrapist, if you will!"

David Cross explains why an Arrested Development movie will never happen.


http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/20 ... an_ar.html

I love David Cross, but I hope he's wrong.