As this is the second series of the programme, I am writing this review under the premise that you have watched the first one. The plot is sequential so you will need to watch series one first. Though that certainly won't be a chore.
Little has changed in the world of the Bluths. Asides from it turning out that George Sr. was not joking when he suggested he may have been involved in some "light treason". He is now on the run from the police and spends a great deal of time in the attic of the Bluth model home. He keeps himself entertained by wearing Michael's dead wife's maternity clothes and spying on his identical twin Oscar having a tumultuous pot-fuelled affair with his wife. We see a lot more of George snr/Oscar in this series, which is always a good thing.
As a result of the "light treason" Michael has to officially step down from being the company president, giving GOB the chance to wow the board with his skewed leadership skills, magic tricks and his father's "SIX THOUSAND DOLLAR SUIT!!- COME ON!!" This does become somewhat of a catch phrase for Gob, which does get a little irritating after a while, but fortunately isn't too overused. Gob develops a lot more as a character in this series, his escapades as company president are just as funny as his failed magic career.
Tobias Funke becomes an understudy for the Blue Man Group, which provides him with further hope for his acting career as well as plenty of chances to spy on Lindsey as she tries to pursue extramarital relations with a homeless guy and a bounty hunter called 'Ice'.
Oh and I almost forgot Ann. So does everybody else. Ann is George Michael's new girlfriend who his father certainly doesn't approve of. If he could only remember what she looks like...She gets accidentally left in Mexico.
Oh, and Buster joins the Army.
The quality and originality of the plot and script have not faltered one bit since the first series. In fact I actually find the second series much funnier and pehaps more compelling viewing.
It wasn't doing as well in the States as the TV company hoped, so they may have been told to spice up the series with a few more laugh out loud jokes. Ususally with TV shows, this only happens to the detriment of the dialogue, characters get assigned catch phrases and the plot gets increasingly ridiculous in an attempt to be off the wall. Unfortunately this does happen in the third series of this programme which i would avoid unless you are a hardcore fan.
There is a slight decline in quality towards the end of the series and the plot does start to get a little ridiculous but it is still entertaining viewing.
If you enjoyed the first series, then you will definitely love series two. You may even prefer it in terms of laugh out loud humour if not for plot. I would call it a day after this and avoid the third series, it's not awful but certainly not up to scratch compared to the first two.
Pictures of Arrested Development - Series 2 (DVD)
Arrested Development
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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
Re-rated based on Ciao's insistence that such reviews are no longer considered "Off Topic"
Soho_Black 06.10.2008 12:19
Good review of the series itself, although I see you've posted this as a DVD review, but you've not mentioned the DVD features. Are there any extras? If so, what are they and are they any good? If you add to this, or if you change it to be posted as a "Film Only" review, which can be done by accessing "edit review" above the review and changing the drop down menu under the "Which format are you reviewing?" question at the bottom, please let me know and I'll re-rate.
Seresecros 10.09.2008 12:19
I think you're totally right. Be sure to rate midpikyrozziy back, or you're a BAD BAD CIAOER! Erm, anyway. There's definitely a slip in quality towards the end of this series, and series three does slip off the far end for the first half - I'd argue that the ending arc of episodes in series 3 is as strong as anything, though - but I think the performances more than make up for the silliness. You can watch AD over and over, and you'll always spot new jokes going on. It's amazing.
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Sep 9th, 2008
(Aug 22nd, 2008)
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