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. |