DVD TV - My Brother Was Right

Yay! again for Video Difference and the 7-day, $12.99 rental for an entire box-set deal. I had gone in to pick up Season 4 of "Coupling" and decided to finally cave to my brother's influence and get Season 1 of "Arrested Development" as well. Well, the final season of "Coupling" was FANTASTIC. But since it was now over I needed a new fave show and AD fit the bill perfectly. How could I have resisted watching this show for so long? How could FOX TV not want to keep in on the air?

The problems with AD on network (American) television are many. The influence of advertising disrupts the flow of AD. The shuffling of program schedules challenges the cohesiveness of the layered serial. The mediocre preferences of mainstream viewers limits the ratings for an intellectual satire. But on DVD all of these problems are eliminated. No commercials. Creative production. Smart story-telling. Brilliant performances. Comic payoffs. It's all there. And it is completely addictive.

AD follows the antics of the Bluth family. It is filmed in a documentary/reality TV style that keeps the action moving and generates an intimacy with the charaters that most sitcoms fail to achieve. Although the Bluths are odd, selfish and deluded individuals you grow to love them. You crave the next installment. You want to know what will happen next. And the characters are so wonderfully drawn that it does feel like watching a "real" group of people fumble through absurdity.

And then there is Jason Bateman as Micheal Bluth. He is the "normal" heart of this dysfunctional body. He is trying to keep it all together. He is trying to be a good father to his son. He is trying to get his dad out of jail and save the family company. And Bateman is SO good in the role. So sincere and dry and easy on the eyes. Yes, Bateman has grown into a completely marry-able man who, lucky viewers, plays the straight-man to perfection. I would be lying if I said that one of the show's joys wasn't watching him. Time to go back for a second helping and get Season Two!