The Bluth clan lives a life of excess, funded by the family credit card and paid for by the fortune patriarch George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor) made in the tract home development business. Oldest son George Oscar Bluth II, nicknamed Gob, is an "illusionist" of minor importance who has anger management issues, while the youngest son Buster whiles away his days taking obscure graduate school courses. Daughter Lindsay (Portia de Rossi) is a vain socialite who throws parties with her sexually ambiguous husband (David Cross, MR. SHOW). The only sane member of the family is Linsay's twin brother Michael (Jason Bateman), a widower who stands to inherit the reins to the family corporation when his father retires. However, at the retirement party some unexpected obstacles are thrown into the mix: Michael, having informed the family that his first task as head of the company will be to confiscate everyone's credit cards, is passed over in favor of his snobby alcoholic mother, Lucille (Jessica Walter). Just when Michael decides to wash his hands of the family and move to Arizona with his 13-year-old son George Michael, George is arrested on fraud charges and the family's assets are frozen. Michael is forced to step up and aid his family in adjusting to their new lives.
Shot with a shaky camera and a documentary air that creates a feeling of intimacy with the characters, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT is reminiscent of Wes Anderson's THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS and Christopher Guest's mockumentaries. Truly unique in the realm of TV sitcoms, it employs a cinematic humor that often exhibits a dark side. While targeting the filthy rich and the squeaky clean families of prime time, it also displays a certain tragedy in the characters' eccentricities and helplessness. During its two seasons on Fox Network it garnered massive critical acclaim, and was nominated for 7 Emmys, a Golden Globe, and won the TV Land "Future Classic" award.
critical reviews
"[I]t became a critics' darling and was the surprise winner of the Emmy for best comedy series." - Los Angeles Times
"[With] wacky, deadpan humor and Seinfeld-like pretzel plots..."
- Movieline's Hollywood Life
"Wickedly cynical, always taking the joke a step too far to deranged effect..."
- Uncut
"Handheld, faux-verite camerawork and skittish chronology are complemented by a voraciously eclectic aesthetic..."
- Sight and Sound
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"If you would have told me Jason Bateman would star in one of the all-time best comedies I wouldn't have believed you. You can watch this several times and pick up small nuances that make this a great watch.
It ended way too quickly-I wish they would reunite and make more seasons…"
"Mocumentary meets corporate family satire with over - the - top - characters. It's hard to describe but thats how most brilliant things are. Jason Bateman said the show is like the royal tennenbaums meets cops and thats probably as close as one can get to describing it. The acting, jokes, and continuity are all superb. Every character..." see more
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