"Arrested Development" is a character-driven American comedy television series. And it's good. REALLY good.
I first caught this programme by chance, here in the UK on BBC Two in the early hours one morning. The show was given minimal promotion when it first started airing here, and as in the United States - remained firmly cult throughout it's three year run. The lack of mainstream success for this programme is somewhat baffling to me, but it's quite progressive in every which way so perhaps it never had much cross-over potential.
"Arrested Development" fits into that recent sub-genre of television, Spoof-Documentary. But it brings many new elements to the genre, and it's hard to really categorise this show since it's pretty much one of a kind.
One of the elements of the show that never fails to make me laugh is the way in which the camera is used. Shot using a single-camera set-up, the producers of "Arrested Development" have used the camera as a tool in ways we've never seen before. Every jerky move, every shake, every reaction shot are used with incredible precision (and restraint) in order to heighten the comedy at every moment.
The script, of course, is superb. The repartee between the characters is the best you'll ever hear. The Bluth family is a complete and utter mess - 10 times more dysfunctional than the Simpsons - but you'll never tire of the characters or the ridiculous circumstances they find themselves in. This is one of the most bizarre programmes ever, some of the events that take place can only be described as outlandish - but the writing is so sharp, witty and precise that everything just works, you accept everything for what it is.
As you can probably tell, I'm pretty enamoured with the Bluth family (weird, right?). This is the most consistently hilarious, original and easily the smartest comedy programmes to come out of the past decade - and I'm tempted to say the best comedy programme ever to come out of America. If you've any self-respect, you'll rent out all three seasons of "Arrested Development" immediately, if not sooner.
I first caught this programme by chance, here in the UK on BBC Two in the early hours one morning. The show was given minimal promotion when it first started airing here, and as in the United States - remained firmly cult throughout it's three year run. The lack of mainstream success for this programme is somewhat baffling to me, but it's quite progressive in every which way so perhaps it never had much cross-over potential.
"Arrested Development" fits into that recent sub-genre of television, Spoof-Documentary. But it brings many new elements to the genre, and it's hard to really categorise this show since it's pretty much one of a kind.
One of the elements of the show that never fails to make me laugh is the way in which the camera is used. Shot using a single-camera set-up, the producers of "Arrested Development" have used the camera as a tool in ways we've never seen before. Every jerky move, every shake, every reaction shot are used with incredible precision (and restraint) in order to heighten the comedy at every moment.
The script, of course, is superb. The repartee between the characters is the best you'll ever hear. The Bluth family is a complete and utter mess - 10 times more dysfunctional than the Simpsons - but you'll never tire of the characters or the ridiculous circumstances they find themselves in. This is one of the most bizarre programmes ever, some of the events that take place can only be described as outlandish - but the writing is so sharp, witty and precise that everything just works, you accept everything for what it is.
As you can probably tell, I'm pretty enamoured with the Bluth family (weird, right?). This is the most consistently hilarious, original and easily the smartest comedy programmes to come out of the past decade - and I'm tempted to say the best comedy programme ever to come out of America. If you've any self-respect, you'll rent out all three seasons of "Arrested Development" immediately, if not sooner.