THEWIDESCREEN review of season one of Arrested Development.
The season that started it all. Back in 2003. Fresh off last Friday’s debut of the 5th season part 2 on Netflix, we take a look at some stand out episodes from season one of Arrested.
“Bringing Up Buster” this episode features Buster going to work with Michael, after Buster’s mom pleads with Michael to let him go with him to work so he’ll stop being such a mamas boy. Then Buster ends up interfering with the Bluth company, his yawns getting in the way of major corporate decisions. One of the first intros to the weird character that is Buster, whose hook hand is the least weird thing about him. Fun episode. Quick. You only need to see half of it to get your rocks on.
“Key Decisions” also known as the episode where Gob pulls a promotional publicity stunt by willingly going into prison. Upstaged by his soap star girlfriend, Gob decides to go into the same prison his father is in to escape as a magic trick. Of course things don’t work out how he planned, when he can’t pass the key that he swallowed, and we get one of Gob’s first mutterings of “I’ve made a huge mistake.” Then he gets shanked and nearly dies, finally getting out of the prison because they take him to the hospital. The original Bojack. Will Arnett. Does great work in this episode.
“In God We Trust” features great work from Jeffrey Tambor, the patriarch of the Bluths. To me Arrested Development feels like a traditional sitcom family only fucked up version of it, not quite as dark as the Sunny in Philly gang, but with more psychological problems, they always mention the DSM, which is the diagnostics manual for mental disorders. In this episode, god we trust, it features great work from the Fonz. Henry Winkler who is still working in television 40 years later and is back with his buddy Ron Howard who is the narrator of the series. The episode features attorney Henry Winkler getting George Sr. out of prison for a pageant only for George Sr. to try to escape before being electrocuted by the cops.
“Pier Pressure” might be my favorite episode of the series. It features Michael thinking his son George Michael, Michael Cera, is smoking pot, so he enlists the help of Gob to teach his son a lesson. Staging fakes cops in the pier and then things go horribly wrong, when his dad tries to teach him a lesson about not teaching his sons lessons. Funny stuff. The pot was for Lucille 2 as Buster was getting it for her for her nausea.
“Public Relations” is the episode where they are sick of being the “Bluth family” degenerates always in the paper, Michael’s son cannot get into a good school because of the bad association the Bluth name brings, so Michael enlists the help of a public relations manager. A cute blonde, who Michael sleeps with only for her to quit and insult and get into a brawl after she fails to convert the family into role models.
“Best Man For The Gob” is another stand out, this season 1 is full of them, where Gob tries to quiet an accountant who can put the Bluth family into a lot of trouble, so GOB tries to get him drunk and blame the strippers death on him but you can’t count on a plan if you put GOB in charge, who fumbles the plan and fails to scare the accountant. A funny moment is Buster discovering the “juice” and drinking gallons of it, his mouth all red and high on sugar like a crazy maniac. It is in the new season of Arrested that we find out why Buster likes juice so much.
This show always leaves you with a feeling of wanting more, here’s to hoping for a sixth season on Netflix, maybe the movie they’ve been talking about for years. Can you imagine an Arrested Development movie in theaters? Wow.
Grade: Widescreen 16 X 9
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