I was clued into this show when it won so many Emmy awards for the first season's shows.
We've been watching that first season on DVD and I have found that I love this show. The ultimate dysfunctional family. It's directed by Ron Howard...one of my very favorites.
There is no laugh track about which I am very glad.
The acting and writing is brilliant IMO and some of the stuff is hilarious.
A lot of the humor is hidden and so funny when you catch it.
We are recording each show of the second season on Tivo as it airs so we can catch up season one via dear old netflix.

Reminds me of Christopher Guest humor.

Arrested Development

GREAT show. I've been hooked since the very beginning. It's one of the five shows I watch anymore.

I got all excited that it would be on after the simpsons....which is the only tv we ever remember to watch. I wanted to get the DVD's so we'd be caught up, but dan kept insisting you don't need backstories for sitcoms. Now that he's seen the first ep this season, we are, of course, going to rent the dvd's:)
yay!
~m

yeah, I had no idea is was so developed...

Interesting Will Arnett (plays GOB) quote:

"This is a business. The Coke commercials are not filling the gap between our segments. We are filling the gap between the Coke commercials."

He said this in a Time interview that I haven't read.

Ironically enough, I saw this leafing through my Grandma's uber-conservative Christian magazine WORLD. It was in their quotables section.

My dad gets that magazine. It's good for comic relief.

~fff

I started watching it this season. It's very funny IMO, although I think the show owes a lot to Larry David and Curb Your Enthusiasm. And Portia de Rossi is in it. Maybe I should drop a hint to Santa that the first season DVDs would look nice under the tree.

Did I mention Portia de Rossi is in it?

Or when you need a good cry.

nah, I've found it mostly to be ridiculously comical... in a fundamentalist, brainwashed kind of way...

~fff

Oh, Keith..you gotta at least rent the first season....it's hilarious and it lays the groundwork for season two. I just love this show.

Portia is gorgeous! Total eye candy.

But when you men are fantasizing, keep in mind the object of her affection is a woman.
Portia is a lesbian, her partner being the step-daughter of Ringo Starr.

Yay, Portia. Score one for honest living.

That's really no problem Trudes -- when we're fantasizing, the object of her affection is us.

Unfortunately the show got preempted here tonight.

Renewed!!!
Renewed!!!
Oh Joyous Day! It's off the bubble:)
~m

hey brother...

Huzzah!

yeah, this renewal news totally made my week ... I like that show more than a little bit. (In case that's not obvious)

If Fox had cancelled Arrested Development and aired one of their Who Wants An STD?-type reality shows in its place, I was going to have to ... I don't know, write them a strongly-worded letter ... Thank God it didn't come to that.

I am soooooo glad to find other people who love this show.

I am definitely going to be purchasing the dvd's very soon.

Who is your favorite AD character?

hmmm... they're all great... Michael, George Michael, Gob, Tobias, and Buster would be my top characters...

Michael: he's definitely the glue of the show's characters. He's the only sane one in the bunch, but he's also gets sucked into the ridiculousness sometimes...

George Michael: wow... the kid has comedic subtlety down. He's got that whole "awkward teenager" thing nailed.

Gob: I'd kill him if he were my brother. He's got that "idiot but doesn't realize it" thing going on (like Tobias's "gay but doesn't realize it" thing). He's so cocky, but soooo not in a position to be so.

Tobias: David Cross is a genius with what he brought to that character. I think he gets the most laughs...

Buster: My wife and I say "hey brother" a little bit too much...

If I could only pick one... hmmm... TOBIAS. But all of the actors (even the ones I didn't mention) are FANTASTIC.

Hilarity ensues...
~fff

I love them all too.
But the women...oh, the women.
Lindsay...so shallow!
Lucilles(1 and 2)...great acting. Liza Minelli was so funny.
Maeby...very cool...so much smarter than her parents.

But, still.... Buster is my favorite. He's adorable and clueless.

I was gonna post this in the "Things that Made Me Laugh" thread...

On Monday's episode, (David Cross's character) Tobias Fünke's dual certification in being an Analyst and Therapist... holy crap... HI-larious!!! Buster's reaction was almost as hilarious, too...

Click to view attachment

Plus, Scott Baio's character name, Bob Loblaw, is precious...

~fff - np: rush - roll the bones

"It wasn't really the pronunciation that bothered me."

Great episode. Bob Loblaw is the most genius character name ever . . . and bringing Scott Baio in to replace Henry Winkler was brilliant. "I tend to skew younger." heh.

too bad ratings are still so low. It's getting beaten by 7th Heaven. I just don't get it.

I only watch 2 or 3 network shows a week, and this is one of them. It's always funny.

Season 2 DVDs came out yesterday! Everybody buy 'em up so Fox sees how many fans Nielsen's missing.

Lots of deleted scenes on this season. And bloopers! Great stuff.

yup, this show is amazing. i don't understand the low ratings, either... a lot of people seem to watch it.
my sister got me hooked this summer--i watched season one episode after episode, like popping candy.
all the characters are unforgettable, really well-created, but i too have to confess that the character-of-my-heart is li'l buster. : )
the whole, "we didn't come here to talk nonsense with bob loblaw" made me cry with laughter.

I agree... I can honestly say that of the 9 or so main characters, they're all EXCELLENT... we got Season 2 in the mail yesterday... yay!

~fff - np: secret chiefs 3 - first constitution and bylaws: the enemy of my enemy is my friend

Hey, it's Britt! <waves furiously> Welcome back!!!!

It's very tough to call. I think my favorite character changes with each episode. But . . . I do think George Michael might be my FAVORITE-favorite. That actor is so brilliant. I love the season 2 storyline of his girlfriend Ann ("Her?") and how Michael hates her so much.

Also, I just have to say that the episode "Motherboy XXX" is worth the entire cost of the season 2 DVD's . . .

MANDY!!! <waves furiously back>
thanks for the welcome! very good to be back, if dangerously addictive. : )
the people here are so fun.
LOVE your avitar. amazing.
can't wait for next monday's viewing... hijinks and hi-larity.
there are moments of this show that my sister and i rewind and replay over and over... yeah, that might be a little pathetic, but the show is just that funny.
i'm sure you all understand. ; )

A friend got us hooked on this show- we rented the first disk of Season 2 last night for movie night!! I loves it sooo much. I am always torn between loving Tobias (hwo is just so...catlike) and Gob (who has made a huge mistake)

Did anyone tape last night's episode that might be persuaded to send me a copy?

Damn this thing called "hanging out with friends and forgetting to tape the bestest show on TV"...

Damn it!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
stupid stupid fox!
~m

maybe HBO or Comedy Central can swoop in and save the day...


~fff

Yeah, its really sad!

so i take it some of you have also heard about the impending cancellation...
its sickening.
things like this make me seriously question the good taste of the general public in this country we call home...

Oh crap!! Well, that gets me down to 2 network shows a week.

I think I'm going to put Arrested Development on my Christmas list...never have seen it but trust ya'll's opinions.

I don't even have cable, but I'd get it if this goes through . . .

Showtime may rescue Arrested Development

(crossing my fingers and hoping mightily)

ps- I don't know you, Carrie, but you should definitely ask for A.D. for Christmas!

What was that!?
Live feed??? Celebrating?! Does anyone know what just happened?!
Do I date hope to wonder?!

It might get picked up again?!? Hooray!

I got Jessyka hooked on A.D. over the holidays... such a good show! (though I am guilty of loving it on dvd, and not watching it as a regularly scheduled program......)

I perused an AD forum after the show and found that it was just a gag making fun of all the shows that went live during sweeps. I don't watch much other TV, thus, did not get it. Showtime sure is taking it's sweet time deciding on whether or not they'll pick it up:/ Keep those fingers crossed!
~m

If they were having a "Save our show" show, it does seem to imply that all is not lost. Let us continue in our hopes and dreams!
Also, I got the 1st season for Christmas!!! Yay!!!!!

so, I realize I'm really late coming to this, but my brother insisted we rent the first DVD over the weekend, and I have to say I haven't laughed at a tv sitcom like that in a looong time. Great show!!

I can easily understand why this didn't do well among the general public. for one, there's no laugh track (thank god) to tell people when to laugh. the confusion as to what is supposed to be funny or not was probably too much for some viewers. also, this is fairly intelligent humor, and it's dry - I can see a lot of this just flying right over the average veiwer's head. add to all that the fact that (imo) you can't just jump into it at any old point, but sort of have to follow from the beginning. kind of like Buffy The Vampire Slayer in that way.

so what's the latest scoop on this thing? is it officially dead, or did someone pick it up again?

It's dead, Showtime never picked it up.

One of the cable channels here was running an Arrested Development marathon Friday, we watched several episodes and laughed all over again.

So, thinking that we were going to be snow/iced in for the weekend, Brandon and I headed to Blockbuster on Friday. The line was so long that it went to the back of the store. I think it took me over 20 minutes to get checked out.

We added to Arrested Development, Season One Disc 2 an 3 (they didn't have one), to our collection. Neither one of us had ever seen it before.

In the brief time that we've watched it, I now consider myself an addict. I think Brandon's loving it too.

So last night I purchased all three seasons on ebay. Can't wait to get them here.

I just started watching the show last month. finished season 1 but haven't started season 2 yet. reading about Bob Loblaw has me giggling uncontrolblably.

I know prices tend to vary location to location, but I spotted one of the local Costco's carrying Arrested Development DVD sets for only 16.99 per season.

thanks for the heads up! I may have to venture to Costco tomorrow.

Thanks for the info!! I am going to have to head over there this weekend.

the one Costco I went to had seasons 2 and 3, which I got. went to another Costco to see if they had season 1 but they only had season 2. oh well. they also had Buffy the Vampire Slayer for $16.99 too, which I thought about getting but didn't. but I did get Veronica Mars seasons 1 and 2 for $23 each.

lots of stuff to watch this weekend!

Costco can be a tricky store to work around. They tend to keep certain items for a month or so before rotating. I tend to have better luck on a weekday, when there are fewer mob scenes.

And yes, many other shows from Fox are also at that 16.99 range, except for The Simpsons (of course).

last month I picked up seasons 1-3 of Gilmore Girls for $14.99 at Costco. I wouldn't depend on them to have the dvds I want for a great price, but I love the unexpected deals!

They had all three seasons at my Costco! I am so excited to have them!