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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 445
Released: October 19, 2004 |
| Our Price: $12.98 |
| Used Price: $8.98 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 08/05/2008
Description of Arrested Development - 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 shot 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 father (Jeffrey Tambor). The fact that he's passed over instead for his mother (Jessica Walter) is only a blip when compared to his father'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
Arrested Development - Season One Reviews:
Never should have been cancelled!! 
2009-10-19 - This TV is show is a treasure! I resisted watching it until a friend made me, and I was flabbergasted that I hadn't watched it all along. I honestly regret not watching this show while it was still on the air. I don't know how this show got poor ratings-- it is gut-busting hilarious. If you haven't seen this series yet, do yourself a favor and rent it or buy it. It's easily worth the $20 I paid for each season, and it has TONS of re-watchability.
A fantastic series, but considering getting the discounted set of all three seasons instead of just season 1 
2009-10-13 - I really do regret never seeing ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT during its three-season run from 2003-2006, as it is one of the few television comedy programmes I've enjoyed. Its documentary-like storytelling based around a quirky family, where executive George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor) goes to prison and his son Michael (Jason Bateman) must take over the company and shepherd his siblings, with frequent flashbacks makes for comedy that I can best compare to Wes Anderson's film The Royal Tenenbaums. While the writing is at a high level, with complex plotlines and jokes that play themselves out across episodes (or disappear only to return a season later), but the writers also had to work within the constraints of a FOX sitcom, and one of its successes is how cleverly they chafe at their situation. References to sitcom tropes abound, such as a character joining the military, the matriarch adopting a child only to have him quickly disposed of, and dramas of who someone's real father is.
The strong writing couldn't succeed without strong acting. Rarely have I seen a cast so believable as a family, with Bateman as the responsible middle son carrying on a convincing rapport with Will Arnett as his loser elder brother George Oscar "GOB" Bluth and Tony Hale as his neurotic younger brother Buster, as well as Portia Rossi as his airhead twin sister Lindsey. I first became familiar with Will Arnett's acting when he played a hyperbolic pervert soon killed by a sex machine on a Human Giant sketch. His part of GOB is considerably more tame, and elicits as much sympathy as laughter. Just as fine as the central parts, however, are the guest parts: Henry Winkler as a seedy lawyer, Amy Poehler as a manic seal trader whom GOB marries on a dare, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a blind attorney.
If you only know this programme from when it was broadcasted, the DVD is still worthwhile, as there's a lot of freeze-frame details that make it all even funnier. That said, the series was funny well beyond season one, and the DVD set of all three seasons goes in some places for little more than this set of season one only.
Genius!
2009-10-09 - Comedic Genius! This show should still be airing on television! With the quality of witful writing, I cannot believe it was cancelled!Truly masterful comedy! An essential part of your comedic library!
Nothing better!
2009-10-07 - This is the greatest television show of all time. In fact, I think it's the greatest work of American pop art of all time. There is simply nothing better. My wife and I watch it every day. It's our "after work" routine. It's unspeakably entertaining. I can not recommend it more.
AD: 1-3
2009-10-05 - Arrested Development is hilarious. So many inside jokes and hidden jokes... great writing and acting. If you haven't seen it. Pick these up.
