Michael Bluth (Jason
Bateman), a widower with a 13-year-old son, named George-Michael
(Michael Cera), is forced to keep his large and dysfunctional
family together after his father (Jeffery Tambor) is arrested for
shifty accounting practices at the family-owned construction
business conglomerate. After the Bluth family assets are frozen,
each family member realizes the disadvantages of this situation,
which means they would actually have to go out and get jobs.
Michael's snobbish mother, Lucille (Jessica Walter), finds herself
living alone in a penthouse without the financial means to
maintain it, while Michael's two brothers, GOB (Will Arnett) and
Buster (Tony Hale), and his sister Lindsay (Portia De Rossi) with
her husband Tobias (David Cross) and her daughter Mae (Alia
Shawkat), also find themselves having to reevaluate their
lifestyles to fit their new financial status. Thanks to
IMDB.
CRITIQUE
Arrested
Development is a half-hour program of comic ingenuity. The
first season focuses on the relationships, and its accompanying
dysfunctions, of the Bluth family. Narrated by Executive Producer
Ron Howard, the show comes up with hilarious scenarios and
stories, simple yet complex dialogue, and curious if bizarre
flashbacks, which appear often to illustrate a point; such as the
times the viewer finds out why and how Michael's father teaches
his young kids important lessons like always leaving a note.
Created by Mitchell
Hurwitz, Arrested Development is funny because of the
material, the characters, and the situations presented in each
show. It kind of plays along the lines of Curb Your Enthusiasm,
but the major difference is that the former is scripted, while the
latter is improvised. Both shows, however, are shot with handheld
cameras, which adds a certain documentary-like feel to the
experience. Arrested Development is wholly enjoyable and funny,
there's no doubt about it. The writing is top notch nearly all the
way to the end, although viewers may not catch on to every joke,
and some scenes may seem pointless. Overall, I have hardly any
complaints to file about this show, and therefore I am highly
recommending it to everyone.
THE VIDEO
Fox presents Arrested
Development in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. Quality looks
very nice. Colors are clean, crisp, and bright. There is hardly
any interference, such as grain or specks. The show is shot with
HD cameras which gives it a nice feel. This is a very good
presentation.
THE AUDIO
Fox presents Arrested
Development in English 2.0 Dolby Surround. The show relies
generally on dialogue and the presentation offers clear audio
that's easy to understand in almost every case. There are a few
muffled lines, but the English, Spanish, and French subtitles
are there to help out. The music by David Schwartz is also
presented quite nicely. Overall, an adequate and perfectly good
sound mix.
THE EXTRAS
The first season
DVD arrives in three thin keepcases. FOX and the production team
have put together a fine array of special features.
There are
commentary tracks on selected episodes by cast and crew
members: The Extended Pilot by creator Mitchell Hurwitz,
directors Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, and actor Jason Bateman;
Beef Consommé and Let Them Eat Cake by Mitchell
Hurwitz and actors Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett,
Tony Hale, Michael Cera, Alia
Shawkat, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor and David Cross. These
three tracks are funny and informative with the cast joking
around and the creator revealing some tidbits.
There are
deleted/extended scenes on all three discs for almost every
other episode, accumulating twenty-one minutes worth of footage.
It's good, funny stuff.
Breaking Ground: Behind-The-Scenes of Arrested Development
(16:35) discusses the show in general, but also goes into more
detail about the cast, writing, editing, etc. A lot of people
are interviewed for this piece, including all the actors,
executive producer Ron Howard, the editors, and so on. Well
done!
Also on the first
disc is a menu listing 28 original songs by David Schwartz.
The music for the show is actually very good, and being able to
listen to it by itself makes for a cool extra. Song titles and
run time are displayed on the menu pages.
Disc two features
The Museum of Television & Radio: Cast and Creative Team
panel discussion (9:59). Not everyone talks here, it's
mostly the creative guys (Hurwitz and somebody else), and actors
Jason Bateman and David Cross, and I think Will Arnett and
Jeffrey Tambor had something to say as well. Some interesting
topics are covered.
Disc three has a
lot of stuff on it, starting with the "Arrested
Development: The Making of a Future Classic"TV Land
featurette (6:57). Cast members Jason Bateman, Will Arnett,
and Michael Cera are prominently featured in interviews. Some
crew members also share their opinion about the show's status as
a future "classic", and so on. The video with Bateman and Arnett
joking around in front of the trailers is funny.
Next is the TV
Land Awards: The Future Classic Award featurette (4:24) that
shows a video of Liza Minnelli presenting the award to the cast
and creative team of the show. I didn't get too much out of
this, but it's good to have.
Ron Howard
Sneak Peak at Season 2 (1:38) reveals a little bit of
information on what viewers can expect to see in the new season
that premiered November 7, 2004.
Finally, there is
Arrested Development Promo "Blind" (0:32), a brief
promo for the show, but you most likely figured it out before I
wrote it down.
The DVD press
release lists cast audition tapes and a blooper reel as extras,
but they're not included with the set. Too bad.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Funny, funny stuff. The
DVD offers good extras, and overall it's a solid DVD set. There's not
much else to say other than, go out and get "arrested".
