Get Arrested...

Arrested Development...Sundays at 8:30 EST on Fox

For quite some time, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen to watch Fox’s acclaimed series, “Arrested Development”. 2004’s Emmy winner for Best Comedy Series, “Arrested Development” is an insanely funny show, mixing in-your-face comedy with sly innuendo. Despite unanimous critical acclaim, the show has had a hard time finding an audience, even though it has a strong lead-in from “The Simpsons”.

“Arrested Development” tells the story of the Bluth family, a crazy, eccentric, dysfunctional bunch whose only link to normality is second son Michael Bluth (perfectly played by Jason Bateman). After Michael's father, real-estate-development mogul George, Sr., is sent to prison for SEC violations, Michael is put in charge of running the family’s business. His older brother, Gob, is a failed magician who rides around on a scooter; spoiled twin sister Lindsay is in an “open marriage” with husband Tobias, a former psychiatrist with dreams of becoming an actor (his scenes with Carl Weathers, of Rocky fame, as his acting coach are priceless); younger brother Buster is a momma’s boy who, this season alone, “accidentally” joined the army and lost his hand to a seal (thanks in part to brother Gob’s botched magic act); and mother Lucille is the boozy, controlling matriarch carrying on an affair with her husband’s pot smoking twin brother. Michael’s son, George-Michael, is a high school student who works at the family’s banana stand (long story) and is dating a girl a little too obsessed with religion. Niece Maybe, Lindsay and Tobias’ teenage daughter, is a smart-ass, know-it-all who wants to emancipate herself from her crazy parents and somehow finagled her way into a job at a major movie studio. Amid all the chaos, each episode is narrated by executive-producer, Ron Howard, whose reassuring tone provides an interesting contrast to the quirky doings of the Bluth family.

Recently I was reading somewhere the “fate” of several TV shows and whether they would be renewed for the 2005-2006 season. To my dismay, “Arrested Development” was on the list, due to the low ratings. Like I said, the show has been praised everywhere, including Entertainment Weekly, which called it “the best ensemble on TV” and “smart, unruly, and very fast, Arrested is the ultimate TV series”. The thought of Sunday nights without the Bluths is too much for me too handle. When we live in a world where a show like “Hope & Faith” gets better ratings, I have to ask myself, “What’s wrong with you people?” So, I ask of you- no I BEG of you…check out “Arrested Development” at 8:30 EST Sunday nights on Fox. And if you like what you see (and I know you will), visit www.getarrested.com, the show’s website. There you can take the “Arrested Development Loyalty Oath” which is sort of a petition to keep it on the air. Hopefully enough people will sign and I won’t have to stand outside Fox studios with a sign that reads “S.A.D” (that’s Save Arrested Development and also refers to my mental state if the show gets the boot). I’m even willing to lend out my precious first season DVD set of the series, in case you’re the kind of person who needs a little more background information before jumping into a show mid-season. Call me; we’ll talk- no biggie.

So get on board with me, Opie and everyone else who is crazy about this brilliant show. You won’t be sorry…