Product Description
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Season two
In this five-time Emmy®-winning comedy's hilarious second
season, Michael Bluth, once again determined to be free of his
dysfunctional family, packs up the car and his son George-Michael
and heads for Arizona. But he's soon pulled over by the
who tell him that his her, George Sr., has broken out of
prison. Due to the company's shady business deal with Iraq,
Michael could face prison time, so he returns home to clear his
name even as George Sr. secretly flees to Mexico, Tobias decides
to be an understudy for the Blue Man Group, and Lucille begins a
torrid affair with her husband's twin brother, O.
Season three
In this Emmy®-winning comedy's hilarious third season, Michael
Bluth finally realizes that it's his Uncle O serving time in
prison, not his her. Reluctant to spring O due to the
effect it may have on the family business, Michael decides that
the only fair thing to do is to find his her and place him
under house arrest. Yet once found, George Sr. insists he was
tricked into working with the Iraqis, leaving Michael no choice
but to investigate his her's outrageous cl. But it isn't
until Michael and Buster go to Iraq on a rescue mission to save
Gob that the depth of the devious plot is revealed...and Michael
learns which family member is the real brains behind all the
madness.
.com
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Season One: Winner of the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy its
first year out, Arrested Development is the kind of sitcom that
gives you hope for television. A mockumentary-style exploration
of the beleaguered Bluth family, it's one of those idiosyncratic
shows that doesn't rely on a laugh track or a studio audience;
it's more like a TV drama, albeit with an omniscient
narrator (executive producer Ron Howard) overseeing the
proceedings. Holding the Bluths together just barely is son
Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), the only normal guy in a family
that's chock full of nuts. Hardworking and sensible, Michael's
certain he's going to be given control of his family's
Enron-style corporation upon the retirement of his her
(Jeffrey Tambor). The fact that he's passed over instead for his
mother (Jessica Walter) is only a blip when compared to his
her's immediate arrest for dubious accounting practices, and
the resulting freeze on the family's previously limitless wealth.
Bereft of money, and even less family love, the Bluths have to
band together in their moment of need--not easy when everyone's
looking out for number 1. In addition to his scabrous parents,
Michael has to contend with his lothario older brother (Will
Arnett), his basically useless younger brother (Tony Hale), his
greedy twin sister (Portia DeRossi), and her sexually ambiguous
husband (David Cross). Michael's only comrade in sanity is his
son George Michael (Michael Cera), but then again, the teenage
boy harbors a secret crush on his cousin (Alia Shawkat). A
peerless ensemble led by the brilliant Bateman (who ever knew he
could be this good?), all the actors are pitch-perfect in their
roles, delivering the dryly funny, sometimes absurdist dialogue
with the speed and flair of classic farce. The unusual tone of
Arrested Development takes a bit of getting used to--it's far
different from anything you'll see on TV, even HBO--but once you
buy in to the Bluths' innumerable dysfunctions, you'll be
laughing your head off for hours.--Mark Englehart
Season Two: The axe of cancellation dangled perilously over
Arrested Development during its second season, but the
award-winning comedy fought against e to deliver a hilarious
if scatter 18 episodes (reduced from the original show order
of 22), and stayed alive for the beginning of a third season.
Most likely, the creators and actors knew the clock was ticking
down, so they didn't hesitate to throw their all into these
manic, hilarious episodes, which have only the thinnest of plot
arcs but an electrifying energy that makes them hard to resist.
Some of the story antics were more of the same: good son Michael
(Jason Bateman) tries to keep his company afloat, but is often
foiled by older brother Gob (Will Arnett); the precarious
marriage of Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) and Tobias (David Cross)
undergoes a trial separation; and young George-Michael (Michael
Cera) fights his attraction to his cousin Maeby (Alia Shawkat).
Other show developments, though, were new and stunningly,
uproariously bizarre: Buster (Tony Hale) joins the army, but
later finds his hand bitten off by a seal (yes, a real seal), and
O (Jeffrey Tambor), the hippie brother of jailed George Sr.
(also Tambor), rekindles an affair with sister-in-law Lucille
(Jessica Walter), which may have resulted in Buster's conception
years ago.
Jokes flew fast and furious, as did guest stars--Ben Stiller,
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Christine Taylor, Thomas Jane, Ed Begley
Jr., Ione Skye, and Zach Braff among them--making it hard to keep
straight who was doing what and why. No matter, as each of the
episodes was in and of itself was a perfect gem of comedy, strung
together by sharp writing and fantastic performances. In addition
to the regular cast, both Liza Minnelli, reprising her role as
"Lucille Two," and Martin Short, as an, um, eccentric family
friend, deserve special mention, with the episode both appeared
in, "Ready, , Marry Me," a frenetic exercise in slapstick
farce. Typical examples of the show's offbeat humor were found in
"Afternoon Delight," in which various members of the Bluth family
discover the true meaning of the '70s ballad, "Meet the Veals,"
wherein the Bluths encounter the conservative parents of George
Michael's girlfriend, and "Motoy XXX," surrounding an
unsettling mother-son traditional dance. The entire cast cohered
perfectly through this season, and their give and take provided a
perfect balance among the actors, all of whom were even better
than the previous year. However, it's Bateman who should be
singled out as the show's anchor, mixing dry sarcasm with
impeccable comic timing. Despite plummeting ratings, Arrested
Development didn't just keep its head above water, it swam with
grace and hilarity. --Mark Englehart
Season Three:Arrested Development--one of the greatest comedies
in the history of television--went out in a blaze of glory. The
truncated final season packed more biting humor per minute than
ever before. In only 13 episodes, dozens of intertwining
storylines spun in all directions: In addition to the overarching
story about the fractious infighting of the Bluth family and the
family's housing development company being investigated for
treason in Iraq (a plot arc that comes to a dazzlingly surreal
conclusion), the put-upon "good son" Michael Bluth (Jason
Bateman, Teen Wolf Too) pursues romance with a lovely British
woman (Charlize Theron, Monster) who turns out to be woefully
inappropriate; swaggering magician Gob (Will Arnett,
Monster-In-Law) flees from his newly-discovered teenage son while
still pandering for the affection of his self-absorbed her
(Jeffrey Tambor, The Larry Sanders Show); flighty Lindsay (Portia
de Rossi, Ally McBeal) and her sexually blurry husband Tobias
(David Cross, Mr. Show) both get the hots for the family's new
lawyer, Bob Loblaw (Scott Baio, Charles in Charge); and much,
much more. It's difficult to describe what makes Arrested
Development so brilliant. The ensemble is uniformly superb
(Jessica Walter, as the family's boozing, scheming matriarch, is
particularly devastating this season) and the surprising guest
stars (including Andy Richter, James Lipton, Justine Bateman, and
many others) are perfectly cast; the characters' abominable
behavior defies conventional television notions of "likability",
yet they only grow more endearing the more you watch; the humor
embraces wild slapstick and sharp satire, often within a single
scene; and the nimble documentary style allows for sly glancing
references to jokes and scenes from long-past episodes, rewarding
devoted fans. But the key is that, no matter how screwball
Arrested Development becomes, the show offers a rich, textured,
and wonderfully coherent world in which these characters feel
genuine, a world completely unlike the flat, plastic simulacrum
offered by the average sitcom. Arrested Development was true to
itself to the end. Its followers will cherish it forever. --Bret
Fetzer
