Arrested Development

The downfall of the Fox sitcom, Arrested Development, remains one of the most perplexing occurrences in recent television history. The critically acclaimed show received five Emmy awards after its first season, one in its second, and four in its third and final season. Arrested Development also holds a spot in Time Magazine’s 100 Greatest Shows of All-Time. The critical success and lack of ratings leaves me wondering, what happened?

The opening credits reveal the entire basis of the show, the concept of which is fairly simple: "Now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. It's Arrested Development.” The show chronicles Michael Bluth and his excessively wealthy family as they fall on hard times when their father is imprisoned due to a lengthy past of ‘creative accounting’ while running the family owned, Bluth Company. Sound familiar? It should. Arrested Development premiered a mere 2 years after the infamous Enron scandal in 2001. This clever commentary on current events and popular culture was just the beginning.

Throughout the show, the incredibly dysfunctional family must deal with the hardships of having their assets frozen, a father in prison who has a twin brother – the two of which are constantly mistaken for one another, two cousins in love, a theatrical magician, a former psychiatrist trying to make it in the movie industry, and a slow witted sibling who has a hand bitten off by a seal and replaced by a hook, plus much more. Who wouldn’t want to watch that on a weekly basis? Well apparently people didn’t.

In reality the show is actually very funny, clever, and well put together. Arbitrarily listing characters and crazy situations, which was the basis of Fox’s marketing campaign and a main reason for the shows downfall, makes the show sound ridiculous and difficult to follow. Arrested Development is an acquired taste that should be viewed from the beginning – which naturally created problems when trying to bring in new fans mid-season. If watched from the beginning, the characters and situations are developed, better understood, and even seem much more relatable – although hopefully a very exaggerated version of anything we may experience with our own families.

Potential fans were left unsure of what the show was even about. It was marketed in the same way as previous comedies such as the Simpsons, That 70’s Show and Malcolm in the Middle; which all had exceedingly simple plots and could be watched sporadically without confusion. There was no Hulu and fans could not view episodes on a whim. Even the list of famous stars that routinely made cameos (Zach Braff, Scott Baio, Henry Winkler, Liza Minnelli, Ron Howard, Amy Poehler, Ben Stiller, Charlize Theron…) couldn’t help the show survive.

For the third season, Fox positioned the show directly opposite Monday Night Football and aired the last four episodes against the Olympics. They had basically given up all hope. Despite the tragic cancellation of Arrested Development, its three seasons provided a great deal of laughter, awards, and a handful of, now, famous actors. To me, its cancellation is still a sad mystery. Thankfully others agree with me and it’s recently been confirmed that the show is set to be revived on the big screen.