Disclaimer – I’ll set out my stall from the start here and admit that I absolutely adore this show. I could wax lyrical for hours about favourite characters and quotes etc., but that just wouldn’t make for the fair and objective review that I set out to write. So please forgive me if my bias creeps in at any point.
This is the second series of the now sadly cancelled Arrested Development, a comedy based around the wealthy and dysfunctional Bluth family, who have been thrown into turmoil by the arrest of George Sr. (Jeffery Tambor), the head of the family, on the suspicion that the family business is involved with building properties illegally in Iraq. Our all too human hero, Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), is left in charge of the business and the family while his father is in custody or, as he is for the majority of this series, on the run.
Comedies based around dysfunctional families are nothing new in modern television, but this set of rogues, spoilt brats and ultimately quite loveable fools combined with the novel, documentary style camera work and Ron Howard’s deadpan narration manage to if not quite break the mould then at least put a big dent in it.
Series 1 ended with George Sr. escaping from the authorities in an elaborate ruse and this series loosely follows his attempts to evade the law as a base on which to develop other storylines involving the rest of the family. With subject matter ranging from incest to Christian fundamentalists it quickly becomes apparent that this is not your average straightforward family comedy.
This series manages for the most part to remain on the correct side of the line between the almost believable and farcical. However, once again it is the shear density of the jokes that makes the show truly special. I must have watched this series through 5 times and each time I pick up on new things that I’ve missed before. There are everything from slapstick falls to witty putdowns and a level of attention to detail that I’ve never seen in a show like this before. There are also a few more poignant moments as well, but here they are underplayed, whereas in the show’s contemporaries such as Scrubs they would be cheesed up, and I believe that this makes Arrested Development all the more affecting.
There is a high quality of guest star this season too. Cameo appearances from Zach Braff, Ben Stiller and Heather Graham to name a few are all excellent. Henry Winkler is also back as the wonderfully inept family lawyer and Liza Minnelli returns to continue her battle of the socialites with Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter).
Special features in this boxset are comprehensive if fairly standard. There are a selection of audio commentaries from crew and cast, deleted/extended scences and a blooper reel. There is also David Cross’ (who plays Tobias Funke in the show) now infamous impassioned rant directed at the executives of Fox TV for their failure to market the show that won them more television awards than any other in their history.
In all honesty the following (and final) series did show a slight decline in quality, whether that was due to a lack of support from the TV executives or just the inability to maintain the exceptionally high standards of the first 2 seasons, but here throughout all of these 18 episodes the writing and the jokes are razor sharp, the cast are quite simply on fire, and everything just comes together to make this to my mind the best comedy that has been on TV for a generation.
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Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Director: Gareth Carrivick - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Kathryn Drysdale, Sheridan Smith, Natalie Casey, Will Mellor, Ralf Little
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Jul 30th, 2007
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