There’s something about watching or listening to something for the first time and knowing that it’s going to have some form of impact on your life. The minute it ends, you’re not only sad that it’s over but also that you’ll never experience that feeling you just felt again.
It’s a unique feeling that is only replicated by finding something with a similar impact. But there are certain things that, no matter how many times you watch or listen to them, they still feel extraordinarily fresh, even if you can predict when the jokes will hit, when the twist will be or what’s coming up next. For me, that list is quite short, mainly containing Monty Python’s Life of Brian, LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver and Arrested Development.
I discovered Arrested Development in my first year of university. Recently in clover, or so I thought, thanks to discovering the joys of the student loan, I popped over to HMV for a regular browse with no intentions of buying anything (OK I lie, I was definitely going to buy something….) and spotted a wonderful boxset in the sale section. I’d heard about Arrested Development from a few people but just never bothered to get around to watching it. Sacrificing money that should really have gone towards that week’s food shop, I took it straight to the counter and rushed home to put it on. First episode over, I felt OK that I was going to having 20p instant noodles for tea instead of a salmon pasta. Second episode over, third episode, fourth episode, fifth episode; I quickly began to lose track of time. But as I watched more, that sense of dread that I’d never have this much fun watching this show again began to creep.
Alas, I was terrifically wrong. Thinking about certain episodes, a smile cracks on my face making things a tad awkward when walking around thinking about George Bluth Sr’s lessons to his children with the assistance of his one armed friend J. Walter Weatherman or GOB’s short lived honey business. Revisiting some of my favourite episodes is one of the easiest ways to lift my spirits. It has an infectious quality to it. Seeing other people enjoy it, listening to other people talk about it or just seeing something about it in a paper or on the internet is exciting in itself.
The appeal of it seems to be that the show is atypically eccentric. It’s very difficult to think of another show anywhere within its radius. Sure, it’s base plot is very simple: George Bluth tries to keep his dysfunctional family together which includes an opulent, frequently drunk mother, a brother in law with a tendencies to slip innuendos in wherever he can without meaning to and a father who spends most of the show in jail for fraud. Yet it’s these eccentric characters and their eccentric adventures that make Arrested Development what it is. From Tobias Funke attempting to become a member of the Blue Man Group, to Steve Holt who shouts his own name often and loud, to Bob Loblaw, proprietor of Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog (say that 5 times after a few drinks), the show is so loaded with characters that the only show it really resembles is The Simpsons.
The jokes are equally ridiculous and attention to detail even moreso. Spotting little recurring jokes makes every viewing of an episode of Arrested Development (references to Charlie Brown, anything to do with Ann Veal, foreshadowing of an incident with Buster Bluth and a seal) with the show even ostensibly breaking the fourth wall, such as when Scott Baio’s Bob Loblaw is brought in to replace Henry Winkler’s Barry Zuckercorn as the family lawyer (Baio’s Chachi replaced Winkler’s Fonz in Happy Days) or when Barry Zuckercorn literally jumps over a shark, a reference to the now infamous Happy Days scene.
It’s very easy to go on and on about this show. For what seems like a simple sitcom, it is ridiculously layered which is what makes it a treat every time you watch it and it’s insanely quotable to boot. Luckily for us, Netflix are set to release 15 new episodes on May 26th, similar to how they released House of Cards, so we can experience new episodes 7 years after it was cancelled by Fox (which the show did end up referencing a lot in its final few episodes). They’ve definitely not made a huge mistake here.
