Arrested Development: A Sitcom Made 10 Years Too Soon
I’m a big fan of sitcoms. Like a big fan. I think it’s because sitcoms rely a lot more heavily on their characters than dramas do. Any good TV show has well-written, unique characters and the plot of the show only works because of these characters’ different personalities. But I think there are two important differences between good dramas and good comedies.
First, dramas use character development to add to the plot, while comedies base their entire plot on the characters themselves. While watching a drama like Lost, I care way more about what’s about to happen to Jack than I do about how Jack is going to react. Of course, characterization still matters in dramas. Jack’s background, told through flashbacks to life before the plane crash, provides crucial insight as to why he does the things he does. The flashbacks, revealed slowly over the course of several episodes, allow viewers to become invested in the character. However, while watching a comedy like New Girl, it doesn’t matter to me that Cece is getting married, it only matters how Schmidt is going to react. This is the secret to a good comedy — funny characters, each complete with their own “thing”.
Second, dramas are made to be watched every week, ending on cliffhangers and forcing the viewer to keep coming back. Sitcoms, on the other hand, are typically made to be watched more casually, perhaps in the background of other activities, or as a way to get a quick laugh during a short break in our daily activities. With a show like Seinfeld, you can watch any random episode and still laugh along.
But what happens when a sitcom isn’t written like this? When you can’t watch any random episode and still get the full joke? When the episodes all refer back to one another for a long, perhaps season-long, joke?
Arrested Development. The greatest comedy ever made.
Arrested Development follows the “huge mistakes” of the formerly rich Bluth family when their patriarch is arrested and their bank accounts are frozen. Every member of the family has their own amusing quirks, catchphrases, and painfully repetitive blunders. As I said before, this is what makes a good comedy. What sets this show apart, though, is the drama-typical format of season long storylines while still relying on the humor the characters provide to make the show that much more entertaining. Arrested Development has an unmatched ability to make a running joke funnier each time it’s used, and to foreshadow but still surprise audiences in a way other shows can’t. The situations that this family finds themselves in, time and time again, are so non obvious that there is no possible way the viewers can predict what’s coming. The jokes are clever, original, and I cannot stress this enough — hilariously unexpected.
The show first aired in 2003, a time when the internet was on the rise, rapidly becoming the essential tool that it is today. This was also just four short years after TiVo first came out. The way we watch television was quickly changing as technology advanced, but the way that advertisers and therefore networks rated shows stayed the same. This was the main reason that the show was cancelled after three seasons. Even though critics loved it, it wasn’t getting enough views to pay for itself. In fact, the show’s first three seasons won 30 awards, out of 62 total nominations, including six Emmy awards.
Changes in technology lead to the other reason that the show was under-appreciated in its time. Arrested Development almost requires binging. You can’t miss or forget an episode and fully understand the jokes because of how cleverly they build on each other. Often, the narrator recalls a previous event to help with this (which makes you laugh even harder if you have been binging it).
Lastly, this show wasn’t necessarily written to appeal to a wide audience. It wasn’t family friendly, the characters were unlikable, and some of the situations are straight up cringe-y. But I promise this just adds to the comedy. The show wasn’t as popular as it deserved to be because at the time it didn’t quite have the audience it needed. The jokes are almost too clever. You have to be paying attention all the time, and you have to have a specific comedic taste. It was way ahead of its time.
“What is it like to be a part of a cult series? It certainly didn’t feel like it at the time. Although, we thought we were doing something that was mildly amusing for us sickos that were making the show and fortunately there were enough people that were equally kind of bent that found it — obviously there weren’t enough people otherwise it would still be on the air, at least on fox. There are enough sickos at Netflix to want more and more of it, so there’s that.” // Jason Bateman on the show’s “sicko” humor, creators, and audience, from 2018 GQ interview
Then, in 2010, Netflix changed the whole game by introducing streaming services and as a direct result, binge culture was born. No longer did we have to wait a week to watch the next episode. No longer do we need to be reminded what happened in the last episode. This is a time when Arrested Development has all of the potential. In the 2010s, we don’t rely solely on viewership to determine a show’s popularity. We recognize online viewership and online fanbases. Not only that, but this new world of television gives a platform to niche shows with weird plots and unlikable characters. It has the ability to reach a super specific, weird audience through Netflix. It allows audiences to binge the show ad-free at their own convenience, appreciate the clever season-lead-up punchlines and pay close enough attention to understand the quick hard-to-catch jokes.
In a 2010s world, Arrested Development could and should thrive. Arrested Development was made a decade too early, long before a majority of households in the US subscribed to Netflix. But because of the internet, we can keep this show alive and allow it to be loved in the way that it deserved 10 years ago.
I discovered Arrested Development three years ago when Netflix was promoting its original-made 4th season* on their front page. Ever since then, I’ve rewatched the show several times and force anyone I can into watching it with me to show them how good it is. Why? I believe that not only is it the funniest TV show ever written, it is severely under-appreciated and even worse, unknown. I believe I am doing a service to the public. A service to this generation. Introducing them to a sitcom that was practically made for the presumably-impatient binge-addicted kids of 2019.
*I want to put as a side note that Netflix picked up the show in 2013 and made seasons 4 and 5. While I recognize that these seasons are severely lacking compared to seasons 1–3, I still enjoyed them. However, I didn’t want to spend too long commenting on that.
