I first heard about Arrested Development through a promotional trailer sent to my TiVo. Arrested Development is a half-hour dark comedy on Fox which premiers this evening at 9:30/8:30c. Laurel Krahn, who writes for TVPicks.net, says this about the show:
Jason Bateman stars in this strange dark comedy. It’s received a lot of rave reviews and no wonder: it’s different than any other half-hour show on the air right now. Bateman and his son are the sanest members of a rich family. Quirky show with lots of voiceovers and I suspect it’s either so different that it’ll be cancelled real quick. Or else some of the schtick (like the voiceovers) and characters may just wear too thin too quickly. Jason Bateman and Portia de Rossi are very good in this. Well worth a look.
Fox doesn’t hesitate to emphasize that Jason Bateman plays the lead. And, though I’ve heard his name before, I don’t think I’ve seen any of his previous movies or shows that he’s been in. However, I think it’s a good sign that David Cross is in the show — he’s a 30-something comedian with a certain cynical view of the world. I wouldn’t say that he’s just another jaded comic, but he definitely looks at daily life with a grain of salt.
Ron Howard is one of the executive producers, if that means something to you — sure enough, Howard introduced the trailer. But, I’m still not sure about what role an executive producer has in a television show or a movie. In any case, perhaps this is a good sign for some people or a not-so-good sign for others — he was also the executive producer of Sports Night, Felicity, and The PJs (none of which were shows that I particularly liked).
But, Arrested Development looks interesting and I’ll give it a chance. It's on this evening (Sunday) at 9:30/8:30c.
How was it?
Oddly enough, the broadcast was delayed (perhaps due to football or another sporting event). So, my TiVo only recorded about 12 minutes of it. But, I really enjoyed what I saw and I look forward to next week’s episode.
This show is outrageous! I haven’t laughed out loud at a TV show since, maybe, Seinfeld. The writing, the actors, and their timing make this show wonderful. Probably what I like best are the “inside” jokes: A throw away line from beginning of an episode makes for hilarious repartee thru out the broadcast. If you miss the first few minutes you may wonder what the “joke” is about–delicious!