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June 4, 2008 | 5:06 pm

The genius of ‘Arrested Development’—R.I.P.

Posted by Brad A. Greenberg

I don’t watch much TV, but I do watch a lot of TV on DVD. I periodically pull the first season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” or “South Park” or “Seinfeld” off the shelf and work through the whole series in lieu of watching primetime, and then move on to the next. Yesterday for the second time I finished “Arrested Development,” easily the best new sitcom in a decade and tragic victim of its own brilliance. What made the show so hilarious were the running, inside and occasionally hidden jokes.

Example: In the final episode, George Michael Bluth (Michael Cera) is trying to get back with his frumpy, pious old girlfriend Ann—“Her?”—and he stops by her uncle’s house. With Ron Howard’s narration, we learn that Uncle Paul believes we only have three weeks left on Earth and “that fossils were just something the Jews buried in 1924.”

When the word “Jew” is mentioned, the viewer very briefly sees Ann’s uncle stick both index fingers above his ears.

I couldn’t find that clip online, but, for fans, the above appreciation is good for quite a few laughs. Man, I am really hoping for that rumored movie.

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I’m still depressed over the end of AD. This was the funniest show ever on TV. The layers of comedy were so deep. I catch different things each time I watch it. Pure genius scripts with the absolute best casting. I’ll be first in line for the movie!

Comment by Maisie on 6/04/08 at 6:53 pm

I got into the show a year before it was cancelled and I could have cried when the last episode aired. It was the freshest, funniest, all-round greatest show we had seen for many many years. It was absolutely the victim of it’s own brilliance, plus shoddy marketing/placement. I hope and pray for a movie. In my deepest dreams they all get back together.

I can’t imagine any show ever knocking this from my top spot.

Comment by Georgias on 6/04/08 at 9:04 pm

Well, there’s always money in the bananna stand grin

Comment by Shoded Yam on 6/05/08 at 8:48 am

Wow! This was the best comedy ever, ever produced. It was a show that was pretty funny when you’d just see an episode, but when you watch the whole series from the start it becomes the funniest television show in the world. Grab the DVDs!

There’s a petition for it at http://www.arresteddevelopment2009.com

Comment by Jill on 6/05/08 at 11:29 am

brad thats great! i just started watching arrested development last week on hulu.com and im totally hooked. i had missed this show when it was actually running on fox, but its nicer to be able to watch the episodes back to back.

Comment by kenrick on 6/05/08 at 4:55 pm

So, so, so, so good.

Tobias

Ann Veal

Comment by Brad A. Greenberg on 6/05/08 at 5:52 pm

funniest show indeed.

Comment by den on 9/12/08 at 2:33 pm

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