No one seems able to explain why “Arrested Development,” the critically acclaimed but ratings-impaired Sunday sitcom on Fox, isn’t a “Seinfeld”-sized smash with viewers.
Happily for the show’s cast and creative team, however, that hasn’t stopped critics and members of the television industry from applauding this edgy but accessible series for its freshness and originality.
In July, the show received awards from the Television Critics Association as outstanding new program and outstanding achievement in comedy for the 2003-04 TV season. Just a few days earlier, “Development” pulled down an impressive seven Emmy nominations, including nods for best new series, supporting cast member Jeffrey Tambor, and comedy writing and direction.
“The critics … made everyone think twice about moving off this thing,” series creator Mitchell Hurwitz says. “Everybody was so united, saying, ‘Please networks, try something different.’ “
“(Critics) were the surrogate parents of this show,” agrees actor Jason Bateman, who anchors the ensemble comedy as young father Michael Bluth, who takes over the struggling family business after his father, George (Tambor), is imprisoned for tax evasion.
The cast also includes Jessica Walter as formidable family matriarch Lucille; the priceless Portia de Rossi as Michael’s shallow but oddly endearing twin, Lindsay; Will Arnett and Tony Hale as Gob and Buster, Michael’s older and younger brother, respectively; Michael Cera as Michael’s teenage son; David Cross as Lindsay’s husband, Tobias; and Alia Shawkat as “Maeby” Funke, Lindsay and Tobias’ teenage daughter.
This dysfunctional family feud, which also won a TVLand Award as a “future classic,” is struggling against a couple of perceptions on the part of the viewing public, chiefly the notion that “Development” is complicated and somehow difficult for mainstream viewers to get into at this late date. Not so, Hurwitz emphasizes.
“We’re working with (Fox) to make this show easier for people to come to,” he says, “but the truth of it is that it is not as ‘serialized’ as it seems to be. We want to make it clear that they can tune into this show and enjoy it just as much as if they had been following it from the beginning.”
As for the notion that the family bickering makes the characters somehow unpleasant, de Rossi responds, “We play every moment with sincerity, and we … believe all this as family members. I like the fact that (the show) is deeply rooted in love and caring and the family unit, and how crazy that can be.”
Buzz for “Arrested Development” has been building over the summer, especially since Fox moved it into the coveted post-“Simpsons” time slot, and the series is expected to get a nice bump as well from a slick DVD release of season one, due in stores Oct. 19.
The three-disc set includes all 22 episodes, as well as a previously unaired “creator’s cut” of the pilot; an introduction by executive producer Ron Howard; a behind-the-scenes featurette; several extended or previously deleted scenes; original songs by David Schwartz; commentary tracks by the cast and creative team; awards footage; and a sneak peak at season two.
