Arrested Development

I have to admit that I was a little leery about Charlize Theron being on the show and how she would be. However, she was fantastic. I really didn’t think she would be able to pull it off, but she did. In my opinion, Dave Thomas stole the show as the British guy that it turned out at the end that she was working with, which was something I didn’t see coming. Another brilliantly written episode for this series. I could see this being a writing episode nominee come Emmy time as could Charlize Theron.



Possible Emmy Nominations: Writing, Guest Actress in a Comedy (Charlize Theron)



FINAL GRADE: A-

Finally, we have a sinister villain that seems to be out to hurt the Bluth family. He's nasty, has bad breath and, best of all, he's British. Also, he seems to have a connection to Michael's new lady friend. What's their game? What is he after? Meanwhile, it seems perfectly clear what Steve Holt is after - his daddy. I kind of wish that we had gotten to see Steve Holt's reaction upon discovering that Gob is his father. Yeah, there was that scene last season, but that wasn't in continuity, so I choose not to count it. It was nice to see that Gob's betrayal of his father in favor of his son at least led to him successfully completing a trick (illusion). And no Andy Griffith? I feel robbed.



And those hair plugs...those awful, awful hair plugs. I thought the hook was uncomfortable to look at, but that hair...ugghh.

While it’s definitely not one of my favourite episodes, the foreshadowing for episodes up to Ocean Walker is incredibly well plotted and shows the creative minds behind Arrested Development are at it again.



The best scene in this episode, like most reviewers, is the chicken dance scene, this time done as the whole family, Gob missing out on his big finish as the family leaves.



It is not a very memorable episode though the entertainment is there, mainly from Gob avoiding Steve Holt and Michael’s confusion about Rita and the Wee British crowd.



Overall, if you’re a fan of absurd chicken dances and illegitimate children, you’re bound to enjoy this instalment.

I'm writing this review cuz this episode is rated 8.9, the only one under 9.0, and I want them all to be rated over 9.0. "You know it's all the same, it's just a shame, That's all" A quote from the Genesis song That's All. For no reason! Led Zeppelin is God.

One of the things I love about this show is the writers' ability to tie the storyline together over so many episodes. This episode is so full of foreshadowing and setup jokes, that when you watch it again knowing the twist at the end of "Mr F", you kick yourself for not seeing it before. From Michael's very first line to practically every conversation about and with the Brits sets up the big finish three episodes later. Superbly done!

Okay if you watched this episode you can forgive the spelling errors in my summary. That scene was my favorite in the episode. Michael is getting harrased by members of his family (George Sr., Lucille, GOB, and Lindsay) because they feel that he is too "chicken" to get a girlfriend. They start with their chicken imitations and Michael asks if they even know what a chicken sounds like. GOB comes in and says he has the perfect thing.. He runs to put a chicken mask on but returns to find the harrassment of Michael has already stopped. I found the whole episode entertaining but to me this scene TOOK THE CAKE!!! It was so darn funny that I find myself going back to it over and over again (thanks to TIVO!!). Anyway this episode is worth watching just for that scene!!! If you don't watch Arrested Development, you are missing out!!

This was not a very good episode. It only consisted of one storyline (admitably, with a nice twist at the end) and some things were quite silly. Especially the chicken dance of the whole family. I just think its out of character for George Sr., and to a lesser extend for Lindsey. So was the behaviour of Lucille towards George (for instance the use of the stun-gun on him). And Tobias Hair was just gross to look at.

For the first time in 41 episodes we see a \"Previously on Arrested Development\" at the beginning of the show. Normally, Ron Howard would make a comment or two during the current episode on pertinent pervious plot points. Sorry for the tongue twister. Who knows the reason why for this new format, some speculate it was a suggestion/threat from FOX to ease new viewers into the story. However, I think it was more of a “Oh……shoot, the previous episode did not really have an ending to it, and we cant really pick up from nothing.” How can a current and former fugitive, be it a white or blue collar criminal, just go from on the lam to house arrest? They don’t factor in flight risk when they hand out the ankle bracelets? Well the most likely scenario is that Oscar behaved so well in prison; he was allowed to go under house arrest during the remainder of the trail (he must have been really good considering George did spend a whole year as a fugitive). However this will require George to pull a miraculous switch-a-roo with Oscar in custody, worthy of an entire episode of itself. However, we really have no idea what happened. But don’t worry, it seems the writers don’t either hence the “Previously on AD”.



The Funny: Michael. His awkward Shakespeare-The-Ripper way of talking to Rita was funny mostly because of his performance. Acting in a sitcom, that’s what really set AD apart from all the other sitcoms.



The enough already:

I admit it, I laughed a couple of times when I saw Gob and Lindsay do the chicken dance last season. I giggled when I saw George Sr.’s spastic chicken thrusts. But when Lucile and Lindsay jumped in with George, as Gob would say, “Come on!”. First thing that popped in my mind, new and infrequent viewers would say: “Now, who said Two and a Half Men wasn’t a smart comedy?”



Also, In the first five minutes we see a series of allusions to first and second seasons:

1. “More touching!” 2. “You certainly have a type” 3. Lucile’s wink 4.“Momma Horney Michael” 5. “How’d the look-a-like get up there”

AD fans would have laughed or smirked at all of the lines, new and infrequent viewers would maybe laugh at scene numbers 2 and 4. The rest they probably have no idea if it was suppose to be funny or not.

These allusions are inside jokes, problem with inside jokes is that they suffer from the “Well, you had to be there” factor. Why pay 25 bucks on 6 hours worth of DVDs to catch up when you can watch 22 minutes of throw-away jokes each Everyone Loves Raymond episode.

Season one and two where great, but please move on Hurwitz.



The almost enough already:

Tobias a.k.a. Mr.Garrison. I don’t know how long they can keep up the ambiguous gay jokes, but keep them coming if they’re fresh.





Final note: From the other reviews, I am please to see that AD fans are willing to admit shoddy workmanship when they see it. Every episode can’t be expected to be Emmy worthy, but the fans should let the writers know when they’re writing material suitable for “Yes, Dear!”

I'm a little confused by the bashing this episode is currently taking. While it is true that this episode is not one of the best (Righteous Brothers), it was still funny as hell. The chicken dance scene was hilarious, and brilliaintly preformed. I personally love these aspects of the show which display the bizarre ties this family has with one another.



Also I feel that I have watched enough AD to know when they are setting the audience up for a big twist. That seems to be precisely the intent of this second episode. The primary purpose for this episode was to lay the groundwork for the rest of the season. While a set-up episode may be slower than most, it is also vital to the success of subsequent episodes. Consider how much time the pilot takes to truly develop. The end result was sheer brilliance, and I expect nothing less for the rest of season three.



P.S. Tobias' head shot was amazing.

I was coming into this episode preparing for the worst. Why? Because of Charlize Theron. I did not like the news of her joining the cast awhile back. It seemed like they just wanted a ratings boost for the show just like with Martin Short, except she's gonna be starring for a whole five episodes.



Although this episode did have some quotable moments, some things missed the mark, the quadruple chicken dancing scene was overblown and totally sucked the comedy of the routine now.



The whole idea of "Wee Britain" seemed wayyy to fictional and took away the feeling of a believable plot. And the whole 'poppins' thing was a little too weird as well.



But at least I can look on the bright side, 1 episode with her down, 4 to go. and then 16 episodes that are back on track.

I did not enjoy it. Many people have described the things that were different for this episode but have been very forgiving. To me they are taking away the things that make Arrested Development what it is. If season 3 is going to be bad I would rather not have it at all. Everything in this episode was cartoony to an extent that is NOT Arrested Development. Little England (I think that is what it was called), The British eyes only bit, the supposed secret agents, even the thing about being set up by the Brits was trash direction for the show to go in. We know George Sr. is a patsy but they could have set up something better than the Brits! Or even just presented it in a better way! And the magic trick, and Tobias getting hair plugs and then getting head shots right away! WTF? There were a few funny jokes sure and I really enjoyed the whole family doing the chicken dance but I sat unimpressed for most of the episode.



Other things that dissapointed me were the lack of our traditional opening title sequence in exchange for a "previously on Arrested Development" segment and a complete loss of "On the next Arrested Development" segment.



I hope the chicken dance is dead now btw. They have slowly and greatly built the joke up to the peak of the whole family doing it and I fear it would get old now if they kept trying to go further with it.



-Josh Parker

This is the best episode of Arrested Development that I've ever seen. The randomness and obscurity of this episode adds greatly to it's charm and humor.



Michael visits Little Britain, where he meets guest star Charlize Theron. Little Britain is a small area in Orange County that is just like Britain, where the people speak with accents and drive on the other side of the road. Michael's interactions with the people and the environment of Little Britain are hilarious and are worth watching the episode just to see them.



There are also great performances by the rest of the cast, with very few dry moments and several laugh-out-loud ones. This is definitly not an episode to be missed!

Let me just say that I love this series even when its not at its best. The whole show tends to bounce on a tricky line from funny to just plain weird. This episode contained a little more of the weirdness than i would of liked. The positives were that Charlize Theron is awsome as a guest star and the court room antics were hysterical as usual. The use of irony has really taken some hysterical turns. Everything in the show lately has been so literal which has been my favorite thing. For example Michael bluth gets "hit" by something from his childhood. Normally that would mean mentally hit, but with this show they actually put a doll on a string and hit him in the face with it. That is the brilliance that makes the show great, however they need to work on the shows oddities, particuarly tobias, its getting old.

One of the weaker Arrested Development episodes in recent memory. I laughed out loud only a few times, which is rare when I watch this show. Still, if the rating was based on how this episode stacks up against other T.V. shows it would be a ten. Clearly these first few episodes are just establishing characters and plot and I believe it will get better from here on out.