TV Review - Arrested Development Season One

SEASON ONE -- 2003-2004

starring Jason Bateman, Portia DeRossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter

Raves...nothing but raves...that's all I heard before I started watching this series. I would hear lines from it repeated at work. I would see dances from it re-enacted at work. I would be forced to listen to incessant humming of "The Final Countdown", having the tune get stuck in my head for hours after.

So, was it worth it to watch the 22 episodes of Season One of this critically acclaimed (though low-rated) tv series? Yes, it was worth it. Am I falling head over heels for it? Not in the slightest.

With the head of the Bluth household in jail for fraud, son Michael (Bateman) needs to take over the company from his incarcerated pop (Tambor). Meanwhile, Michael's mother (Walters), sister(DeRossi), and two brothers (Arnett and Hale) wreak havoc on his goal of getting the company fully operational again.

While it is certainly true that the episodes build off of each other and reference former episodes, I found that humor was surprisingly lacking. Yes, there were moments where I laughed out loud, but there were also seemingly whole episodes where I barely cracked a smile. I could say that it's too smart for me, but I think that's selling myself short. I'm not sure that there's laugh-out-loud comedy here.

There were certainly some hilarious moments -- guest star Julia Louis-Dreyfuss as a blind attorney had me laughing hysterically, Jessica Walter's biting line readings were a hoot (and when she paired with guest Liza Minelli, it's extra special), and the Annyong character makes me laugh just thinking about him -- but these moments off absolute hilarity were few and far between.

I don't know...I feel like I laugh more watching a rerun of Home Improvement than I did watching this. Maybe it is too sophisticated for me. That being said, I'm sure that a huge issue that I have with it is that this series could never live up to the expectations and accolades it received.

Still, I plan on watching Season Two for sure, because it was definitely a decent tv show...but at this point, not a great one.

Favorite Episodes

- Justice Is Blind -- Julia Louis-Dreyfuss as a blind attorney; her scene with brother-in-law Tobias (Cross) had me keeling over in laughter.

- Pier Pressure -- Michael's son, George Michael (Cera), tries to buy drugs for his uncle, unaware that his father is setting him up to teach him a lesson.

- Missing Kitty - Brother Gob performs his big magic trick of making the Bluth family yacht disappear, but may have also inadvertently killed the Bluth secretary in the process.

RyMickey's Season One Overall Rating: B-