Arrested Development

This show is evidence the the vast majority of TV-watchers are dumber than dirt. This is a near-perfect comedy that packs each episode with so many consecutive laughs that it is impossible to catch them all in a single viewing. Without the encumbrance of the laugh track (aka. comedy-cancer), this show bombards the viewer with rapid-fire comedic gold. Unfortunately, your typical sit-com watcher has a IQ of about 60 and can't keep up. And without being told explicitly when to laugh, they become confused and angry. Then they switch over to over to 'The Big Bang Theory' and pretend that they are intelligent because they laugh at the sciencey things that the laugh track tells them to and ignores the fact that every bit of canned laughter was immediately preceded by the same punchline ('look at how nerdy they are!'). (I know the timeline doesn't quite match up.)

It is a tragedy that this show was so far ahead of its time and that Joe Sit-com-watcher is an absolute dunce. Thanks to the writers and actors for providing a few of us with box-sets that never collect dust. Here's hoping that the return is just as memorable.

Maybe the greatest comedy of all time. If you haven't watched it yet, you've made a huge mistake. Go grab it now. You won't regret it. Superb cast, good acting, excellent writing, hilarious storylines, genius references. Easily the best show I've watched in along long time

I love this show, had to go out and buy Season 2 & 3. Hope they bring this show back. One of the best shows on TV!

Cannot wait for it to return after 3 amazing seasons.

But I'm nervous about the Netflix return after a so-so third season (by their standards).

I have seen some very funny shows in my 15 year old life, but none are as stupidly clever or downright hysterical as Arrested Development. Every character is a joy to watch, such as the oblivious Tobias (a candadate for the funniest television character ever), the put upon Michael, the charismatic GOB or the weird Buster.

Season 3 took a tiny dip in quality, but even a flawed episode of Arrested Development is better than a perfect episode of any sitcom on the air today. The funniest show of all time.

No. No, I'm sure you don't ;)

The hilariously odd mix of characters in this crazy family are so well played by all the actors and actresses in this show. I don't know what else to say about this show other than: Watch it. You will laugh your pants off.

I just finished watching the 3 seasons.Because i recently searched for shows i've never seen.And i can't believe there was only three seasons!What a brilliant "sitcom".All those people who didn't watch it ultimately caused it's low ratings and cancellation.I'm one,but only because i never knew how good it was.And it was never on when i was watching TV.But those who have seen it and decided to watch other shows instead.You should bang your head against the wall!Best show ever.Better then Seinfeld,Curb Your Enthusiasm,.....

...Unfortunately as usual, as it is a very common happening that a show of quality writing and acting gets ignored by the bigger audience, it ended too soon. Arrested Development is a witty, damn funny - hilarious, tbh - show built from these ridiculous plots and surreal characters that you just can't help but to love. Anyone with an insane family can somehow relate to the craziness of this fictional one. The acting is amazing. Jessica Walter, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi and the younger part of the cast Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat. All so incredible people. This show is constantly entertaining, near to perfection! Not once have I felt bored while watching the episodes. The jokes remain funny even after you've heard them countless times and know most of them by heart. One of my all time favorite shows.

Arrested Development was a miracle of a show.



The writing was dense and layered. Intellectual, but not afraid of slapstick. The show would foreshadow later story-lines in seemingly throwaway jokes. I started to wonder just how far ahead the writers had planned. It also makes it a show that is enjoyable to watch in multi-episode blocks on DVD.



It would also make references to itself as a show, make fun of advertisers even as it worked product placement in in the most outrageous way possible or mention its own future chances of being picked up by another network.



The ensemble cast was perfect and their chemistry was strong. Each of the characters contributed to the show, so that none of them was ever *the* breakout character. The various guest stars (Henry Winkler, Scott Baio, Charlize Theron and Liza Minelli) managed to fit in with the outrageous goings on and it even managed to make Julia Louis-Dreyfus funny to me.



They were also able to take what had to be a heavily scripted show and make it seem as spontaneous as a Christopher Guest mocumentary.



A lot of people will tell you that the show was cancelled ahead of time, but I disagree. Yes, Arrested Development should have gotten more support from Fox, but at least it went out while it was still in its prime. Also, everyone involved was savvy enough to see the writing on the wall and make sure that the various story-lines were wrapped up in a satisfactory manner.



A show where everything worked together in harmony. Should be seen by everyone.

I watched the first season and thought it was charming and interesting, but the second season was really, where the show's flaws just stuck out. This show tries way too hard to be smart, funny, and weird, and instead just looks ends up being incredibly pretentious and dry. It's like the Royal Tenenbaums.



Few comedies, other than when I first saw the better episodes of Simpsons and Family Guy, have made me laugh out loud, but I can say that this has made me laugh (I think possibly) out loud or at least find something really funny, but there isn't enough to justify the dryness and pretention that bogs down the show.



The problem is just that that the way the show is presented it becomes so absorbed in itself that it really doesn't feel like it's there to entertain you. It feel like it's something some guy has written to feel smart.



And I want to be entertained.

Can't believe there won't be any more episodes of Arrested Development. Fox aired something special when A.D. first came on television, yet it wasn't widely received. Apparently people don't wish to think during a comedy show, but that's a shame. In A.D., the jokes and punchlines are delivered in a way that rewards you for figuring it out, it isn't just thrown at you like an obvious joke to laugh at. Watching this show is a pleasure, i wish it didn't get cancelled. I hope the movie comes out and stays true to the original formula.

This is definately the cleverest, smartest and wittiest television show to ever be aired. There has never been anything like it, and in my opinion, its the best sitcom since Married with Children.



~Des

This is a great comedy. Sadly for almost everyone in the UK that is not something that they might know. Being aired at odd times and on different days it never exactly gained a steady audience much like in the US. The cast is absolutely excellent, with Will Arnett and David Cross being obvious standouts. The throwback references throughout the entire run really do require a level of dedication to the series to get the most out of it, but it is absolutely worth it. I have no personal favourite episodes, as it really isn't possible to pick one. There is no weak point in any of the seasons and the few guest stars that are involved all deliver deserving performances of the excellent show. It really is a shame that this show wasn't appreciated for the genius that it is at the time that it aired. Some silver lining can be found in the respect it has gained from its audience in the years since. I would highly recommend this great show to anyone, and I really mean anyone. Every one out there will be able to get something from this show, with the layers and variations in the comedy and the excellent performances of the cast.

This show was absolutely incredible. The writing, the timing, the jokes are all perfectly synchronized and wonderfully delivered. Jason Bateman is impeccable as Michael Bluth, providing a wonderful commanding character struggling against his love for his family and his overwhelming desire to get as far away from them as possible. His family is played by an array of insanely funny, and sometimes just insane, characters who the viewer can't help but fall in love with. The crazy sexual twin sister, the bossy ignorant older brother, and the mama's boy, effeminate younger brother. The show offers so much to the viewer, I could watch this show for days, it is absolutely hilarious. It is such a pity that it was canceled, however there are rumors of a movie in the works!!!

I really don't know how I feel about this show. Somes shows, this is just my OP., but some shows are too much of one thing, and not enough of something else. I think it was too dysfunctional for anyobody to really take it seriously. Even the most outrageous comedies have a soul, or a common thread, this show didn't. I'm sure in some way the characters did love each other-but the heinous things they said and did to one another made me doubt that.The critics loved this show, me, not so much. I'm glad they're getting rid of it.

The show started as very fast-paced humor that was making me laugh time and time again. However, with each season, the jokes became less and less funny to the point of simply being strange and offensive.



I was particularly pleased with the way the creators were able to put together a group of characters who were each more eccentric than the other but still making it ALMOST believable for each of the viewers. It was one of those situations where you knew someone who was ALMOST like each of the characters. A great mix.



The situations in which they were placed only made the show more funny with each episode...but then came the second season followed by the simply TRASHY third season. The show only became offensive with period humor that no one will even understand in two years.



It is good the show ended, but it ended two seasons too late.

The Emmy Award-winning comedy series ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT revolves around MICHAEL BLUTH (Jason Bateman), the “normal” one in a family of crazies, who is forced to stay in Orange County and run the family real estate business after his father, GEORGE BLUTH SR. (Jeffrey Tambor), is sent to prison for shifty accounting practices. While George Sr. spent the last year in the slammer discovering his newfound Judaism and recording inspirational tapes, Michael spent it picking up the pieces and trying to teach his offbeat family how to live without an endless expense account. All the while, Michael has also been trying to do right by his 14-year-old son, GEORGE MICHAEL (Michael Cera), an earnest kid who works diligently at the family’s frozen banana stand.



The Bluths are led by manipulative matriarch LUCILLE BLUTH (Jessica Walter), a socialite who is as icy as her martinis. Then there’s the oldest son, GOB (Will Arnett), a womanizer and struggling magician (sorry, “illusionist”) whose biggest trick will be to make a real job appear. The youngest brother is BUSTER (Tony Hale), a neurotic professional grad student and glorified mama’s boy (he spent 11 months in the womb).

So one of my friends told me about this show called Arrested Development. I'm a fervent Netflix user, so I looked it up. Turns out Netflix has all three seasons instantly, crazy-awesome! So yeah, I just watched all of seasons 2 and 3 in the span of a week. The first thing I noticed as particularly hilarious was Buster. His mannerisms are refreshingly odd in a world of tv-comedy that depends on vulgar humor to feed my vulgar generation. Mannn, I was SO relieved to find a tv show with intellectual, witty humor! I love his weird obsession with his mother. Also how, for some reason, elderly women really take to him. The romantic relationship between George Michael and Maeby is so cute in it's awkwardness. Job's puppet Franklin was hard to get at first, but after hearing their cd dedicated to Michael, I saw the beauty in the political incorrectness of it all. It's hard to be white...haha. At times the show presents Christians as dumb, ignorant people; that's kind of ignorant in of itself. But I can't deny that I love the show!

One of the funniest Television shows that I have ever seen. The show revolves around Michael Bluth who has to stay and help his family through hard times as their father goes to jail, and the family business is going down hill. One of televisions good character based comedies. The shows characters GOB and Tobias make the show worth watching by them selves. With GOB trying to compete with his younger brother Michael and failing every time and his black puppet Franklin. Tobias who is a failed psychiatrist, and sometimes seeming to be a closeted homosexual, and an inspiring actor, and blue man group member even though failing at both. All the characters in this show are hilarious in their own way. And is a show everyone should give a chance, and i don't think you would be disappointed with it.

Simply put: Greatest Comedy (maybe even greatest show?) ever made. Quick, witty dialogue. Perfectly acted quirky roles. If you only watched the series once you will have missed 50% of the jokes; it's THAT well written. If you watch it multiple times,, you can catch the amount of foresight these writers put into the show. Jokes in the first episodes relate to story events that happens seasons much later.



It's also nice to see a starting point for the now incredibly popular Micheal Cera and see Will Arnett at his relative beginning, albeit his future roles are pretty similar to his character, G.O.B, from this show. If you have any appreciation for comedy, watch this show.

Not to be labeled as inconsistent, Fox set up another great TV show for failure on its network. We can only hope, that Arrested Development will go the way of Family Guy, and return to us soon!



Arrested Development is the story of the Bluth's-a spoiled rich upper-class Californian family. The entire troupe is completely aloof to reality save one member, Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman). Michael struggles to keep the family business afloat after their father, George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor), is arrested for his shady business practices.



Each family member adds their own stockpile of burdens onto Michael as he deals with the crippled company. His alcoholic mother, Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter) is always spending money. His jealous brother, Gob-pronounced Job-Bluth (Will Arnett), is always asking for money or a place to live. His lazy sister Lindsay (Portia De Rossi) will never do an honest day's work or be a proper mother to her daughter Maeby (Alia Shawkat). His brother-in-law, Tobias (David Cross), resists his old profession as a psychiatrist in vain attempts to become an actor. His momma's boy of a brother, Buster Bluth (Tony Hale), just creeps everyone out. His son harbors a secret love for his cousin Maeby. And his dad undermines him at every turn as he tries to steer the family business back to calm waters.



The delivery of "the funny" is spot-on with Arrested Development. The show has a great fan-base who would all relish the opportunity to sit in front of their TV's once more to watch this great show. The humor is fast-paced and hits on several levels. The cast of the show are continually mentioning a possible movie in the works. This would be a welcome addition to a show that is ever increasing in popularity despite its cancellation.

This show is extremely unique and clever, I have been watching it for about 3 years now and I'm still noticing jokes that i never noticed before. Hilarious jokes! Great cast as well, all of them fresh new actors who have now made a name of themselves and proven themselves to be excellent. I'm surprised that the show was cancelled, maybe the jokes were simply too clever for people to understand. I've heard that there is a movie in the making, SUPER EXCITED! I hope these rumors aren't bullcrap like a lot of the information on the internet. In any case, WATCH THE SHOW!!!

What can I say about this TV show, It still stands out as one of this decades best sitcom. Now that I have seen both Arrested Development and 30 Rock it is hard to compare the two. They are both equally as good, maybe 30 Rock edges it but that is obviously lending the comedy used in Arrested Development. One thing I loved about this series was that each episode is so fast at storytelling that you can watch the show again and again and notice and laugh at things you never noticed before. The cast is brilliant my personal favourite performances in the show is fro Will Arnett who plays GOB, the character just cracks me up everytime he's on screen.

This was one of those show's where nothing could go wrong. Actually everything could and did, that's what the show was about, but as far as storylines and episodes went, they could fit just about any non-sense in there and it would work. Gene Parmesan PI, the Blue Man Group storyline, well... anything.



Every single character was drop-dead funny and the whole concept of comedy narrated with a familiar voice worked pretty well.



Also, it made way for some pretty good actors to make a name for themselves.



Can't wait for the movie. I'm sure it'll be one of my favorite comedies ever.

I don't know if I'll ever get over this show being cancelled. It was the funniest show on television over the past decade and the cancellation of it still remains one of the greatest fluck-ups ever. The lack of promotion led to lack of viewers which is both sad and shameful. I've been hoping over the past few years that they would somehow restore the show and get it back on the air but I've come to realize that won't be happening. I'm excited for the movie but I'm fearful that it might just make me even more depressed at the prospect that the Bluths are no longer a part of my world.

This show is the king of awkward comedy. Each character has their own quirk. Whether is Buster's unconditional love for his mother, or the "questionably" gay jokes about Tobias, or GOB's complete lack of respect for anyone; this show is one of the best comedy shows ever. Every episode is packed with witty one-liners, but the funniest part of the show are the continuous jokes. Jokes that are repeated, or that span from episode to episode. This is why the show will addict fans and keep them coming back for more. I have seen every episode at least 10 times, and I still laugh just as hard as I did the first time I saw it. This show is a must see show for everyone! The quotable lines will make you a hit at any party!

Watching this show multiple times reveals some new hidden joke each time you watch an episode. Not only do its visual details contribute to the hilarity, but the witty lines and inside jokes, political satire, and colorful characters make this one of the most genius shows ever made. The comedy is subtle, the characters dysfunctionally lovable, and the comedic timing spot-on. It's quotable, it's intelligent, but it's not for those who like their comedy force-fed with a laugh-track. A show like this only comes around once in a blue moon, and was apparently, but not surprisingly, overlooked by the average American audience for what a gem it was. Fear not, however! The show has gained in popularity through DVD's and online streaming and will be coming soon to theaters in movie form. Hooray!

"Arrested Development" is one of those few shows that you can't stop watching. In it's three season run. It manage to create a fan base so devoted, that there were many coalitions created in effort to save the show, during then-rumors of it's premature cancellation. Even after it's cancellation, there have been much merchandise created from it, including T-shirts bearing quotes from the shows, DVDs of the entire season have flourished, and the feature film, continuing the story of the Bluth family has been greatly anticipated by fans. This show is perfect for everyone, because it's dumb humor masked in intellectual dialogue. The overall story line keeps you interested in what comes next, because you know it won't just be a "crazy scheme" on every episode. It has a plot with various steps. I recommend this show to adults (18+), but I can see teenagers enjoying the show, as well.

i found this show out because my brother was watching it on hulu and when i saw it, amazing show it was funny and i like how it got canceled cause if it didn't fox or some other channel would make it suck by time it would hit 2008 or something. i like it's genius! whoever made this show are smartical people because the jokes make sense and how the banana shop was burned down and it actually had money inside and the dad was chocking his son cause he burned it HA HA! this show in my opinion deserves a 10 and if you don't argee well you SUCK!

Arrested Development is about a rich yet disfunctional family that loses all their money.

Now there have been MANY, MANY, MANY shows about disfunctional families, but there are a couple things that set Arrested Development apart from the rest: 1-Its clever humor that makes it funnier than the rest of the shows. 2-Its directing that is that of documentaries. 3-Its unique and halarious characters. 4-Its unique plots.

This show has an all-star cast. Jason Bateman, Will Arentt, Portia de Rossi, Tony Hale, David Cross, Michael Cera, Alicia Swatcat, Jessica Walter, and Jeffery Tambor (as well as Ron Howard as the narrator) are all halarious in this show. Even the guest stars, such as Henry Winkler, Liza Minelli, Justin Lee as Annyong, Charlize Theron, Judy Greer, Justin Wade Grant as Steve Holt!, Ed Begley Jr., Scott Baio, and Carl Weathers.

The characters are so original and funny. Even most of them seem evil, you can't help but love them. My favorite character is Tobias, who makes a lot of inintentional, gay innuendos. The writing is the best there is, the directing is unique and cool. I just love this show.