Arrested Development

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(S01E01) Some shows come out of the gate with such a power that you can't help but stand up and take notice. For the far too few of us who happened to catch Arrested Development when it premiered, it quickly established that it was going to be something a little different than the other comedy fare on the television. The trend at the time was moving toward the single camera format, that's almost become the norm for comedies nowadays (The Office, My Name is Earl, hell NBC's entire Thursday night lineup).

There was a time when audiences were less receptive to this kind of television. It was funny, but minus a laugh track. So while shows like The King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond and even According to Jim had this comfortable format with the basic house set and laughter to cue us into the funny bits, AD was something a bit more challenging. Perhaps it was just a few years ahead of its time, or perhaps it was on the wrong network (FOX), or perhaps it was just too smart for its own good.

There were plenty of choices for The Arrested Development Award, a.k.a. The Show Least Deserving of Cancellation Award. Among them, Las Vegas, New Amsterdam, Miss Guided, Aliens in America, and Women's Murder Club.

The Readers Choice Award goes to Moonlight, the vampire-themed crime-drama-romance that amassed an insane amount of fans during its short run. And it still might come back on another network, so we'll keep our collective fingers crossed on that.

The TV Squadders' pick is Journeyman. Here's why:

1. Time-traveling is cool. The idea of time-travel is always intriguing, as evidenced by other shows like Quantum Leap and Sliders. What's cool about Journeyman is that Dan Vasser, played by Kevin McKidd, is just a normal guy who could be any one of us. At first, he hates the time-traveling. It interrupts his life and causes undue stress, both at home and work. But later, when given the opportunity to make it stop, he chooses to keep time-traveling. He knows he's been chosen for a reason, and feels it's his calling to help people right the wrongs of history. Never mind that every episode made me wonder how much of history he changed by leaping into the past. I can only imagine that even the smallest of events might drastically alter the space-time continuum.

The "big" shows are over, and now the typically low-key summer TV schedule begins. Oh sure, there are some real gems in there that are still airing or will start soon, but overall the excitement is nothing like the September-through-May period. Maybe people are ... gasp ... going outside to enjoy the sun?

It's been two years since we first delved into the world of Retro Squad, so we're back now with what we believe is a better format. Rather than pick a few shows and only review one season from each throughout the summer, we're doing theme/show weeks. These weeks will not only have standout episode reviews from any past season, but we'll have themed lists, Vs., interviews and videos. There are only so many weeks in the summer, so we can't cover all of your favorites, but I think there's something for just about everyone here. Check out the schedule below, after the jump.

I love it when TV shows end and they hold auctions for props and clothing that were on the show. When Ed ended, I got a few things from an auction they held at the set in New Jersey.

Now, Arrested Development fans who are miss the show can at least grab a piece of the show so it will always be with them. If you're in L.A. this weekend, May 19 to the 21, FOX will hold a Bluth Family Estate Sale. Included will be one of GOB's magic casket, Lucille's parking sign, and furniture from Lucille's living room.

[via Gawker]

First FOX said the third season of the show was going to be released in June, then they canceled that release and said that they didn't know what day the set would be released. But now it looks almost certain that the show isn't coming back, to FOX or Showtime or ABC or the web or anyplace else, so FOX is going to release the third season set on August 29.

There were 20 episodes this season? I didn't even realize that.

I know how you feel. They took Arrested Development away from us too soon, which is bad enough, but you can't help but think that maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if once, just once, you could have seen the Bluth family depicted as characters from Star Wars. Well, thanks to artist Chase Black and this promotional poster, we can all enjoy our Bluths as they might have been in the Star Wars galaxy. Actually, Michael and Gob each had Luke-like and Han-like personalities, didn't they? Sort of? No? Anyway, you should also check his other work for Lewis Black and Stella.

[via Best Week Ever]

Arrested Development star Michael Cera will chat live at boston.com to promote his new indie flick Darling Darling. Cera is in town for The Independent Film Festival Of Boston.

Not sure if you have to be a member of boston.com or not, but it looks like you can just enter a name and chat away.

Jeffrey Tambor, who played George Bluth, Sr. on Arrested Development, has signed on to a comedy on NBC. He will co-star with John Lithgow in Twenty Good Years, a comedy about two men in their 50s who experience mid-life crises and decide to make the most of their next 20 years.

Despite all the rumors that Arrested Development was getting picked up by Showtime, 20th Century TV released a statement earlier this week that there was no future plans for production of the show. Plus, show creator Mitch Hurwitz moved on this week.

Hey, at least Tambor's moving on to something that sounds pretty good. Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow? Sounds like a match made in heaven to me.

[Via The Hollywood Reporter]

For those who were looking forward to an early release for the Arrested Development Season 3 DVD set, keep holding your breath. According to tvshowsondvd.com, the initial June release date for the 13 episode season has been pushed to an undetermined date later this year. Amazon seems to confirm this as no release date is listed. This on the heels of the news that Mitch Hurwitz has exited as AD's showrunner. What a crappy day.

[Thanks to Jeff for the tip.]

Well this just sucks. I wake up, drink some coffee with a smile on my face, and then I read this. Variety is reporting that Mitch Hurwitz, the creator of Arrested Development, has decided to cut ties and walk away as showrunner should the program return for a fourth season. Unfortunately, that seems highly unlikely now because Hurwitz's involvement was apparently key to Showtime (the most interested party) reviving the series.

However, should the show return Hurwitz reportedly told executive producer (and narrator) Ron Howard that he would be willing to assist as a consultant. That's not so bad... but the show still needs to be picked up. So once again, it's all up in the air. It makes me wonder though. Would the show be as good without Hurwitz running it all?

Guest stars. Think of them as spiking the punch. Sure, it's bright red, tasty, and fun to drink already. But dump in that flask of rum and it gets even better. Of course, the type of rum makes all the difference. You start playing around with the cheap stuff that comes in the non-descript plastic container and costs less than a gallon of milk, then you're begging for a headache and hangover. But if you suck it up, mortgage the house a second time, and fork over the newly acquired funds for a juice-box sized bottle of the spiced stuff from an unpronounceable coastal Puerto Rican village... well, you're gonna have a good night.

That being said, five guest stars who didn't give me a headache and a hangover:

1.) Bob Saget [Himself, Entourage] - Saget guested as one of Vince's new neighbors midway through the second season. If we're to believe that Saget's part as himself was true to life, then he's a woman-loving, sex-crazed, brothel addict. As Turtle so wisely put it, nothing is more embarrassing than being "cock-blocked by Bob Saget".

Rumors are rampant that Arrested Development has been picked up by Showtime for a 26-episode order. Page Six in the New York Post floated that story this morning, in fact (which was replayed on Salon.com).

However, that's all they are right now: rumors. Fellow Squadder Ryan j Budke found out from his source at Showtime, who is close to the negotiations, that they are still in talks about the show and nothing is official yet. There may be an official announcement later in the week, but that's about the only information we've been given.

Don't worry: if word comes out that AD has been officially picked up, we'll have it for you.

It might be time to just nail shut Arrested Development's coffin and bury the sucker.

It pains me to write that, but I just get the feeling that, given all the talk that Friday's episodes were considered the "series finale" instead of the "season finale", that we might just want to let the show go for good.

Once again, the viewing public seems to agree, as the AD mini-marathon attracted only 3.3 million viewers, a little more than half its season average of 6.5 million. And, according to this article by Joal Ryan of E! Online, Mitchell Hurwitz has told Ryan's colleague Kristin Veitch that he is "hesitant" about continuing, despite the offers he's considering from ABC and Showtime.

3.3 million isn't a lot of people, folks (although it would be the highest-rated cable show, ironically enough).  It didn't help, of course, that the last four episodes of Arrested Development were shown against the opening ceremonies of the Turin Olympics. And Friday nights aren't exactly big ratings nights; heck, I taped the shows because I was out that night myself. So AD goes out with a bit of a whimper. Let's just be glad we got 2.5 seasons of high quality comedy and turn our sights somewhere else, shall we?

Here's the deal, if you missed the finale of Arrested Development Friday on FOX, well, you just aren't a true fan. Not only that, but you missed probably two of the finest hours of TV comedy that have ever aired. I'm not sure that there was a plotline that didn't get some kind of mention or wrap-up. Hilarious, funny, crazy, witty, comical, side-splitting, and uproarious are all terms I, and many many others, have used to describe Arrested Development in the past, but there was one word that wasn't mentioned enough: perfection. Arrested Development was treated like garbage by FOX. People can say what they want about FOX giving it more time than most shows to "find its audience," but that's bull and we all know it. Unless it's an immediate hit (with immediate gratification) networks just don't care about anything anymore (ABC's handling of Emily's Reasons Why Not was criminal), and FOX jumped AD all over the place, putting it on hiatus left and right, advertising showings that then disappeared, or just flat-out not advertising it at all. On with the show!

As we all know by now, Friday is 99.9999999% more than likely the last time any new episodes of Arrested Development will ever air on Fox. Whether or not Showtime picks it up, I've relegated myself to the fact that this is a good thing. Fox has treated this brilliant show like garbage. Hopefully though, we'll get an announcement sometime within the next week or two officially canceling the show, which will then lead to an official announcement from Showtime. Well, one can hope. So to celebrate Friday's swan song, we here at TV Squad will be having a Live Arrested Development Chat.  Will George Michael and Maebe maybe hook up? Will Lucille 2 make her triumphant return? What will become of the banana stand? I honestly don't know, but I can't wait to see, and I hope you all join me. Check back here on Friday at 8pm EST, it's gonna be one wild ride off into the sunset.

UPDATE:
Come one, come all;  here is the secret location for our Arrested Development Chat! See you inside.

Disclaimer: All or parts of the discussion in this chatroom may be posted in a later column on this site.