"Arrested Development", Created by Mitchell Hurwitz

Perhaps you've all seen the Fox comedy Arrested Development which ran for three seasons from 2003 to 2005, picking up a boat load of Emmys along the way. Watching it then, I thought it was the smartest live-action comedy I'd ever seen on American network television. Well, seven years down the road, Danielle and I are re-watching it (all of the episodes are on Netflix, of course, and streaming no less), and I have to say that my initial assessment still stands (and I believe Danielle is in agreement on this (also, for the record, in case you were about to ask, we very much enjoy Parks and Recreation, yes; 2.5 Men not so much)).

First of all, the writing is amazing in general, from the outlandishly complex plots to the recurring jokes/gestures that are intricately woven into the stories and often times jump characters (Gob's "I've made a big mistake" being appropriated by both Marta and Michael in later episodes of Season 1, for example). Second, and I think this is key, the editing is dynamite. A comedic moment is never held too long; often, in fact, they are shorter than you might expect, and it's off to the next one. And, finally, the performances are uniformly fantastic, perfect in timing and delivery. I find myself torn as to my favorite character - as soon as I settle on Jason Bateman as Michael, the son trying to keep the family business afloat, Jeffrey Tambor shows up as his criminal, philandering father and I think, well, maybe ... and then Tony Hale shows up as Buster, Michael's younger brother who is pretty much afraid of everything and I think, well, maybe ... and then David Cross (Tobias, Michael's SO NOT GAY brother-in-law) or Wil Arnett (Gob, Michael's older, selfish and fairly untalented magician brother) do some great physical comedy and I think, well, maybe...

(Also, there is a character named Maebe, which may well have fueled my use of the word above...)

In any event, just a quick word to say that if you've never seen Arrested Development I couldn't recommend it highly enough. As the episodes clock in at no more than 22 minutes, you can gobble up quite a few in one sitting...

IBL:mm