IBC

looking for some TV to get into while the Strike continues? pick up this show on DVD from your local blockbuster or DVD store.

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

I'm not exaggerating when I say that this could quite possibly be the funniest show to ever be on television. When someone first said that to me, I laughed, and quickly dismissed it. I had seen a scene or two here and there and for me that was enough to know that it was most definitely not the funniest show ever.

I was wrong.

After you move past the less than amazing pilot episode, the series quickly turns into comedic gold. The series plays like a long movie, of which you get 22 minute segments each week. It constantly references itself, flashing back to events that happened before, and forces you to remember everything. Because, quite frankly, everything is a joke. They might not all be funny the first time you see/hear them, but six episodes later when something causes them to reference or flash back to it, its hilarious and you once again find yourself admiring just how brilliant these people are.

The story? The opening credits say this: "Now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. It's Arrested Development." George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor), the father of the family, has been arrested by the SEC and remains in prison awaiting trial. The family's middle son Michael, the show's lead (Jason Bateman), takes over the company and does his best to do the right things and keep his family together, while also trying to figure out exactly what it is his father is hiding.

Keeping the family together is easier said then done though, as they are all a little bit crazy in their own individual ways. The oldest brother, Gob (Wil Arnett), is a black-listed magician who spends his time cruising on his scooter and sleeping with women. The youngest brother, Buster (Tony Hale), is a socially awkward outcast who still lives with his stuck-up alcoholic mother Lucille (Jessica Walter), despite being in his thirties. The family's only daughter Lindsay (Portia De Rossi) is married to former Analrapist (analyzer slash therapist) and NeverNude (its exactly what it sounds like) Tobias, who is masterfully played by David Cross. Michael's son George Michael (Michael Cera, star of Superbad) is hopelessly in love with their daughter, his cousin, Maebe (Alia Shawkat).

Ron Howard narrates every episode. Henry Winkler plays the family's moronic lawyer, who's constantly picking up hookers and getting into trouble, before he's replaced in the third season by Scott Baio. Just think about that for a moment. Henry Winkler replaced by Scott Baio. It's hilarious.

The show ran three seasons before being struck down in its prime by a Fox network who cancels everything, good or not. It's one of the best reviewed shows of all time and is almost universally accepted in the film geek community as one of the greatest shows to ever air on television. The hour long series finale, where the writers throw everything at you, they show you everything they were ever planning on doing for the show in one hours time, is nothing short of brilliant.

Do yourself a favor. I know it might not seem like your thing. I felt the same way. Pick up the first disc of the first season from blockbuster. Power through the pilot. And then be amazed as you get hooked.

Good pick Gabe.
This is NOT a show you can pick up in the middle... there are too many inside jokes and twists to the story, you need to start from the beginning. That was the doom of this series on television. I tuned in a couple episodes and quickly tuned out, thinking it was not only unfunny, but possibly the stupidest show I'd ever seen. Honestly, the show being cancelled is perfectly understandable, it was completely inaccessible to the casual viewer.
Once I started watching from the beginning on DVD's borrowed from a classmate, I began to appreciate it as one of the best shows I'd ever seen on television.

That was the flaw of the show. You have to start from the beginning, or almost nothing is funny. That being said, Fox didn't help. Then again, they never help their shows succeed. They put them on strictly to fail. A show on Fox has to become a runaway hit for it to survive more than two seasons. They change time slots constantly, their arrangement of new episodes and repeats is unlike any other network and can change at the drop of a hat. They are a network without patience, and the powers that be there are terrible judges of quality.

Just this season they aired the debut of Drive, which was reviewed very positively and was gaining a lot of steam, but because its initial numbers were low, they re-aired the pilot once and then broadcast the other four episodes that were finished all on one night. Then that was it. No more Drive.

That's why I don't bother with Fox. An episode of Family Guy here or there, but overall, I ignore it. Nothing stays on the air there for very long unless it's far and away a top ten show (24, American Idol) or an icon of the network (The Simpsons, King of the Hill.) And how King of the Hill is still on amazes me. Literally one person in all of America, Aaron, watches the show.

I admit to occasionally watching King of the Hill.. what can i say, I like laughing at rednecks...

Yes yes, write King of the Hill of as just a show about rednecks watched by a bunch of rednecks. Lets ignore the fact it is one of the better written shows, one of the most consistently funny shows on television. They don't add characters just to add characters, everyone has a purpose. Tom Petty's character Lucky fits in perfect, you'd think he'd been there since the first season.

The show Fox needs to bring back is The Winner, because that was the funniest show I'd seen in forever in its 6 episode run last year

Arrested Development - definitely a candidate for funniest show ever. I own all the episodes on DVD.

I SUNK IT! I SUNK THE BOAT! Hahaha. Gob was pure genius, especially cruising around on the Segway thing. Great stuff.

I saw a few episodes of Drive, and I thought it was a decent show. Interesting premise. I would have kept watching had they not yanked it, though I can't say I was heartbroken. They didn't even air enough episodes to really get anyone hooked.

There are so many quotes from that show that crack me up. It was three seasons full of hilarious moments.

"Why should you go to jail for a crime somebody else noticed?"

"Cornballer!"

"Sister's my new mother, mother."

"There are dozens of us!"

"Return from whence you came!"

"You got yourself a stew."

"SWING ME!"

The Stair Car
A guy named GOB
A boat called The Seaward (think about it)
MR F
A train set housing development...

All great stuff.

This seems to be the one thing the entire IBC might agree upon...

Good pick Gabe.

It's the Final Countdown!!!

That's currently my cellphone ring.

I'm watching Wolfgang Peterson's director's cut of "Das Boot." Great stuff. If you haven't seen this flick, definitely worth checking out.

Great show, just picked up all 3 seasons for my pops for xmas, as he loves it. If you get G4 on cable/dish, they show mini marathons of this show about every weekend.

Also, my new fav. in the mold of Arrested Development, but a bit more edgy and raw:

ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILLY