Start watching Arrested Development!

[Reply #480 on:]

 

The narrator butts in, saying "He didn't mean it that way. How could he?" We all understood the joke and didn't need the extra explanation.

Perhaps its a last hour attempt to dumb the show down for most TV viewers to save it from cancellation.

[Reply #481 on:]

I'd rather it go out and not change than stay and... wait what am I saying? Do what you gotta do AD.

Thanks for explaining those things to me evan.

[Reply #482 on:]

I've had a problem this whole season with the show being "dumbed down" (insert Rita joke here) in a desperate attempt to convert new fans. Now, I liked a lot of the stand-alone episodes from season 2, but they were still smart and clever and all the nice things we like to say about AD. But this season....It seems like they went overboard on the Rita/mental retardation thing. Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but I learned about her condition only a few days after her first appearance. Now, I know not everyone picked up on it, but for those who did, the clues were waaay too prevelant. Almost everything Rita said hinted at her being retarded. You knew something was wrong with her, even if you didn't know what it was. The "Wee Brain" bit was obvious, as opposed to last year's "Arm Off." Since the writing's on the wall, AD shouldn't try to convert new fans because it's simply too late for them to get onboard for a lot of the jokes. Stick to the way it was and it'll be a much funnier show.

[Reply #483 on:]

As I said on The O.P. forums, I don't think Rita's retarded "hints" were supposed to be subtle. There were too many of them, and they were all so obvious. I think it was more like Oscar being Buster's father - they deliberately over-did it, and tried to let every viewer figure it out before it was revealed. The whole joke really seemed to be the fact that the Bluths were so self-obsessed, they didn't notice Rita was retarded...

However, I think the "Wee Brain" thing was only obvious BECAUSE of the "Arm off" thing. Had they not done that joke last year (and as clever as it was, it never really made sense - being that Buster just lost his hand, not his entire arm), we wouldn't be on the look-out for hidden words on benches.

I really wouldn't say they're dumbing down AD at all. They've expanded from the more subtle humour of Season 1 to include more obvious jokes, but the subtle stuff is still there - and the episodes are as tightly written as ever. Just look at Mr. F. Every tiny plot point came together perfectly... That might very well be my favourite episode ever. I've still yet to see The Ocean Walker, though.

[Reply #484 on:]

A bit late, and responding to some earlier stuff fom the thread, but imo it's not just that fox wants to cancel a show the minute it's ratings drop. Fox is concerned with cost-benefit. Futurama was expensive, and while we all (naturally) think it was worth every penny, fox didn't agree. Of course, you can make a good case that they never gave it a chance (commercial time during the old bump-slot was just as likely to be bumped as futurama, and so was nearly worthless) I think one of the things that drove fox execs crazy was that they didn't have ultimate control over futurama. Sure, they could kill it at any time, but they didn't control it. If 1/3 of the episodes got 3/4 of the viewers, they couldn't throw out the othe 2/3 of the episodes and make carbon-copies of the successful 1/3. If the show was a huge hit, they couldn't drag it on until even the most rabid fans cringed at the sound of the theme song. They gave Mr. Groening more control than they were confortable with because they wanted another simpsons. They didn't get it, and they were backpedaling from day one.

Back to the point at hand... they DID have controll over AD from the beginnning, and to their credit they didn't exercise it too much. As a result, there wasn't the angtagonistic relationship between the execs and the AD people that there was between them and Futurama, so it got more of a chance.

Ultimately AD has a vaiant the same problem that Futuama has, though. People tend to dismiss it before giving it a chance. With futurama it was because Futurama was a) a cartoon, and b) a Groening show that wasn't exactly like Simpsons. These two factors drove away a lot of potential fans before they had given the show a chance. With AD, it's the off-beat stories and the rather "documentary"-like visual feel of the series, which fans agree enhances the show but is so unusual in a sitcom that it turned many people off before they'd watched long enough to get the first joke. Of course, THIS is something fox executives understood - because producers can spin it as "It looks rough, unlike normal sitcoms, because we want it to feel more like a reality show." (I'm not saying this was the true intention, just that this statement could be made and would be powerful and persuasive to network execs). So AD got much more support from fox even though, while a WONDERFUL show and one of the greatest sitcoms of the past decade, it's ratings didn't reflect it's quality.

Just my $.02. Ok, maybe more like $.04. I'm not good at being concice.)

[Reply #485 on:]

Perhaps "dumbing down" was too strong of a word, but they did attempt to "mainstream" the show in the second season. I believe even Mitch Hurwitz admits to this. If you notice, a lot of the second season episodes are more self-contained than the first season, with a definite beginning, middle, and end to the plot. There were more minor resolutions to end the show. Whereas the first season it was more likely for a storyline to continue over several episodes with only one concrete resolution. Not that this is a bad thing, just that it's a change of pace.

As for the whole "Rita is obviously retarded" thing, we won't know whether it was supposed to be intentionally obvious or not until we hear from the writers on teh season 3 commentary. Perhaps it's arrogance from the net fans, but they all seemed pretty proud of themselves that they caught the clues before anyone else did.

[Reply #486 on:]

While I do agree that there has been a little too much Ron Howard lately, it doesn't bug me at all. I can't imagine Arrested Development without him. So if it's a choice between too much Ron Howard or no Ron Howard, I say let Opie yap as much as he wants.  His voice is just so perfect for the narration. When you hear Mitch or whoever do the narration on the deleted scenes, it just seems so wrong. So wrong.

Also, when Rita opens the door and Michael looks back, does he see her? I'd like to think that he doesn't. I'd like to think he isn't capable of those moments of stupidity. Or perhaps he was just so wrapped up in the possiblity of being a hero that he doesn't even notice Rita opening the door. *shrugs*

[Reply #487 on:]

 

Originally posted by evan:
Perhaps "dumbing down" was too strong of a word, but they did attempt to "mainstream" the show in the second season. I believe even Mitch Hurwitz admits to this. If you notice, a lot of the second season episodes are more self-contained than the first season, with a definite beginning, middle, and end to the plot. There were more minor resolutions to end the show. Whereas the first season it was more likely for a storyline to continue over several episodes with only one concrete resolution. Not that this is a bad thing, just that it's a change of pace.

I don't know why people say Season 2 is more self-contained than Season 1, I always thought it was the opposite way around. Granted, there is no truly self-contained episode (and even the fairly self-contained episodes like Top Banana and Bringing up Buster need to be seen, since things like the banana stand burning down, Gob's animals dying, and of course, The Cornballer, are referenced so often afterwards), but I felt that anyone could come in mid-season during Season 1 and still be able to pick up on what was going on. Whereas Season 2 has so many self-references and callbacks to old episodes, you NEED to have watched the show from the beginning to understand it.

[Reply #488 on:]

 

Originally posted by Beamer:
However, I think the "Wee Brain" thing...

I must have missed that joke, was it in Day Walker?

Also, the "Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee" joke was the Dum = dumb, right?

Must. Watch. Again.

[Reply #489 on:]

It's in "Forget Me Now," right after the Bluths drop her off on the bus bench. When Michael comes to her and she sits up, the "WEE BRITAIN" sign on the bench is obscured to read "WEE BR--AIN."

[Reply #490 on:]

I also don't like the over narration, or the obvious dubbing mostly done to Tobias' chracter, but this is still the greatest show I've ever seen. I'd sacrifice my own life if it meant the show would come back.

[Reply #491 on:]

I'm okay with that. If you got on the side of a building, got a media crew, police, negotiators, etc. together and threatened to jump if Arrested Development doesn't get a gurantee of however many seasons Mitch Hurwitz wants - you might be able to do something. I say go for it. 

 

Originally posted by evan:
It's in "Forget Me Now," right after the Bluths drop her off on the bus bench. When Michael comes to her and she sits up, the "WEE BRITAIN" sign on the bench is obscured to read "WEE BR--AIN."

Not to mention when Gob and Lindsay place her down on the bench earlier, they cover up the letters so it says "--- -RITA--." Put them both together, it says "RITA WEE BRAIN," which I personally think is MUCH more clever than the "ARM OFF" thing.

[Reply #492 on:]

 

Originally posted by Beamer:
I'm okay with that. If you got on the side of a building, got a media crew, police, negotiators, etc. together and threatened to jump if Arrested Development doesn't get a gurantee of however many seasons Mitch Hurwitz wants - you might be able to do something. I say go for it.   

Sounds like a plan, but what's one life to FOX? I think a bunch of us should do it, the more people to commit mass suicide the better. They can't ignore that.

 

[Reply #493 on:]

For those who don't know there will be two episodes on tommorow.  A new episode "Prison Break-In" at 8:00 and "Key Desisions" from season 1 at 8:30.

I've made a huge mistake.

[Reply #494 on:]

"Key Decisions" was in Season 1. It was the forth episode of the show (hell, that's where Lucille 2 was introduced and Michael met Marta).

[Reply #495 on:]

They're airing a season 1 ep? Sweet ass. They're clearly trying to fool the fans of Prison Break. Let's hope it works. 

[Reply #496 on:]

"Are you a convict trying to flee the Big House? Watch FOX on Monday night!"

[Reply #497 on:]

LOL, yeah.

It is a little late on FOX's part, but what the hell.

Is Arrested officially cancelled?

[Reply #498 on:]

I'm looking for Season 2, where can I find it? I'm going to Best Buy tomorrow. I was hoping Costco would get it in but it didn't, it's usually cheaper there

 

Originally posted by Roy Bluth:
 Sounds like a plan, but what's one life to FOX? I think a bunch of us should do it, the more people to commit mass suicide the better. They can't ignore that.
   

mass suicide again?

[Reply #499 on:]

I was watching The Simpsons on the Fox feed this week (a rarity here, as Global is usually broadcast over the channel when they air the same thing), and they actually had commercials for the new Arrested Development episode. Is this a usual thing that Global doesn't match, or is it a last-ditch attempt by Fox to make it look like it cares about the show it's killing?

[Reply #500 on:]

From what I've heard at other AD discussion places, Fox OCCASSIONALLY advertise the show, though the commercials are short, crappy, and usually only air on Sundays (and even then, it's rare to catch them).

 

Originally posted by Roy Bluth:
Is Arrested officially cancelled?

Fox still haven't come out and said whether it is or not, but the mood on the set seems to be that it is - though the producers all seem very confident the show will be picked up by another network, so maybe there's some good news we don't know?

[Reply #501 on:]

How many hours until the next episode?

I mean, how many hours is 8pm on FOX, behind Ireland time?

[Reply #502 on:]

How dare you not know everything there is to know about America!

14 minutes from now.
Or 2 hours and 46 minutes ago on the east coast.

[Reply #503 on:]

I know enough to know that I know enough of it!
...OR SOMETHING!

Wait... so it's 8pm Los Angeles time it first airs at?

*works it out on his fingers*
"Carry the two.... if Jeremy leaves the station at 7pm.... Mr. Roper.... na nananana naa"

... 

[Reply #504 on:]

No, no. 5pm Los Angeles time.

So did we just find out that Michael's wife had ovarian cancer? Or did we already know that?
Creepy ep. But good. Always. good. Lucille's moisture comment made me say "eww" out loud. Well done. I hope they don't kill Tobias. 

[Reply #505 on:]

I did think it was a bit rusty on the edges but still a great episode. A lot better than last weeks and it's good to see it back on track because i was getting bored with the Rita thing. We finally found out what happened to Oscar though I thourght that stroyline with the turtle was hilarious. 4/5.

[Reply #506 on:]

I doubt they'll have to kill Tobias. However, I don't know how much longer they can carry this GvH disease will still making David Cross look "alive." It's a good idea, though. I even caught that he in the wheelchair looked surprisingly a lot like Surely Funke (with the dress/blanket over his knees and everything).

[Reply #507 on:]

 

Originally posted by Beamer:
"Key Decisions" was in Season 1. It was the forth episode of the show (hell, that's where Lucille 2 was introduced and Michael met Marta).

Even a rerun of Arrested Development is better than anything else currently on FOX.  I think rerunning the old episodes is a good thing, especially when a rerun is shown in addition to a new episode, not instead of one.

 

Originally posted by Faze:
How many hours until the next episode?

I mean, how many hours is 8pm on FOX, behind Ireland time?

I believe that the eastern timezone is five hours behind Ireland, so it's one a.m. tuesday morning for you when new episodes first air.

[Reply #508 on:]

Heh, the Hair rejecting Tobias, funny. 

Jeremy: Yep, "I need the moisture..." made me go "Awww mannn, just no..."

[Reply #509 on:]

Ha. Yeah, that's actually closer to what I said, but "eww" takes less time to write. 

I like how they're still able to throw in a few "Tobias is teh gay" jokes even while he's dyyyying! 
- Pointing the camera at Michael's crotch in Ocean Walker (Yeah, you could say it's 'cause he's weak, but..feh)
- calling himself Uncle Teabag. lolz
- "I’m afraid I’m with Michael on this. The guy runs a prison, he can have any piece of ass he wants." - That line was pretty gayrrific.
- and more! (probably)

Also, if you've seen Prison Break, Gob's drawing of the prison layout on his stomach is even more enjoyable. I. laughed. much. The main character on Prison Break has the blueprint of the prison hidden in his tattoos on his chest and arms. Much more elaborate than Gob's drawing, but not nearly as hilarious. 

[Reply #510 on:]

I saw another one on Monday night! If they're going by the naming traditions I saw, it was probably The One After The One Where They Build A House. This time I saw the whole thing - it rocked my kasbah! 

Best titty bitties:
- Buster bought a card for his dad (I might get that one for my dad when he's going through lung cancer chaemotherapy)
- The coffin magic trick (that's the way I want to die, humiliated at a funeral)
- The flashbacks to Buster's childhood ("he wrecked the kitchen, because as far as he knew that was where Rosa lived" )
- Bluth Snr's little comments during the eulogies
- "I found a cunning loophole in the Mexican judiciary system" (flashes to him giving the Mexican cops a couple of American dollars)

If I was a pirate I'd set sail for the DVD shop to buy the DVD shops but I'm not, so I'm just going to have to walk instead.

[Reply #511 on:]

 

Originally posted by Jeremy:

- and more! (probably)

I think he was the only one to call the event a "gay-la" instead of a gala, I thought that was pretty good.

Speaking of Tobias, the commercials that they aired on Sunday actually showed him hitting the floor (and crashing through the coffee table) in the living room instead of just hearing the sound and seeling reaction shots.  I wonder why they softened it up for the actual airing.

[Reply #512 on:]

After readin this thread, i watched arrested development the other day on BBC, it was bleedin hilarious!!!

[Reply #513 on:]

M0le, the episode you saw was Good Grief, the 4th episode of Season 2. It was actually TWO episodes after The One Where They Build a House (you obviously missed Amigos, the episode that aired on Sunday). Great episode, definitely a fan-favourite.   

"Buster threw what he thought was Rosa's favourite toy at what he thought was Rosa's car..."
*Buster throws a Dustbuster at a bus* 

   

Originally posted by Ranadok:
Speaking of Tobias, the commercials that they aired on Sunday actually showed him hitting the floor (and crashing through the coffee table) in the living room instead of just hearing the sound and seeling reaction shots.  I wonder why they softened it up for the actual airing.

I don't think it's a case of them softening it up for the show, it's just Fox deciding to air the other footage instead. Keep in mind that the people who make the show are NOT the people who advertise it. Who knows, maybe it's footage from a later episode that's a slightly more violent flashback to that one?

[Reply #514 on:]

Jeremy: I read on another forum that Teabag (T-Bag?) is also a character on Prison Break, if so heheh, double funniness, I was laughing at the possible "teabagging" joke!   

New news on the Showtime interest from here (15th Dec, that's today!):
   

Both ABC and Showtime are in talks with 20th Century Fox to rescue Arrested Development from the cold, clammy, hooked hand of the grim reaper. According to Variety, formal negotiations have not yet taken place, but sources still label the networks' interest as "serious," with Showtime being the more fervently interested of the two.

Oh please oh please oh please...   

Also, what episode did Lynsey, George Snr. and Lucille do the chicken dance in front of Michael?
I'm totally making an animated gif of it... and maybe add Gobs in too...

[Reply #515 on:]

It was from this season, I'm almost positive of it. I believe it was from "For British Eyes Only," because GOB runs in at the last minute wearing the ridiculously bad chicken costume, just to miss everyone.

As for the deal, I'm torn. While I appriciate any new AD episodes and would gladly lap them up, I don't know what to think. I don't know how much better AD would have on ABC compared to FOX. As for Showtime, that's pay cable and not many people watch Showtime (it's considered much weaker than HBO). Of course, they'll still be available for downloading the next day, but it won't be the same.

[Reply #516 on:]

Yeah, Faze, T-bag is the name of a rapist/pedophile on Prison Break.  He's awesome.
Apparently the Jamba Juice joke was also a reference to Prison Break.

[Reply #517 on:]

Well, makes no difference to me - as long as there are new AD episodes coming out, I'll be happy.   

And yeah, that was from For British Eyes Only. Here are the episodes with chicken dances, incase you're interested in making GIFs of them:
Staff Infection - Gob
Amigos - Gob, Mexican in old film
Switch Hitter - Gob
Burning Love - Gob
Ready, Aim, Marry Me - Gob & Lindsay
Spring Breakout - Lucille
For British Eyes Ony - Lindsay, Lucille & George Sr, Gob

There's also Michael doing a chicken impression over the phone in For British Eyes Only, but no dance. And the Godzilla impressions (Gob, Buster, Larry, George Sr, and Lucille - sorta) are in Mr. F.

Anyway, I just saw The Ocean Walker. Great episode - I loved the callbacks, especially Rita saying she wanted to have Pop-Pop, Lindsay doing a Lucille wink, George Michael's Star Wars video STILL being on the tape, and the British version of All You Need is Smiles. The montage with Michael helping Tobias into his wheelchair was great too, as was George Michael's immense knowledge of cousin-marriage laws.

Hopefully with the Rita storyline out of the way, they can focus more on the show's storyline now... I actually didn't mind the Rita storyline at all, I just think that the show needs to put focus back on the rest of the family and the Bluth company again. Hell, remembering that Rita and Uncle Trevor did NOT turn out to be involved with the British syndicate who set up George Sr, it seems like they really should go back and follow through with that storyline now.

[Reply #518 on:]

Found this over at the Arrested Development forums at fox.com.  http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Kristin/Archive2005/051216.html

Basically, send her an email with Arrested Development in the subject line, and if enough people do it she will write an article about the show and send copies to the networks to either keep it or pick it up.

[Reply #519 on:]

Done and done.