I can't think of a TV series that has given me more pleasure and enjoyment with repeated viewings on DVD than Arrested Development. Smart, clever, fast, funny...like, really funny...but it's the multiple layers and subtle laughs discovered when viewing again (and again) that makes it stand out so much. Fantastic writing, a perfect cast, a unique presentation...AD gets an A+ in my books.
But do we need a movie? The show was never really a big hit, so it isn't like it would be made to cash in and run. And unlike say, South Park, which has had some really brilliantly funny episodes which be expanded into a self contained feature story, AD was soft funny...character beats and 'moments that built on themselves and then grew hilarious over time' funny...not self contained 'boy was that one ep funny and it could have been a movie' funny.
TV series comedies and movie comedies are sooooo different. It's character vs. concept. And as much as I love the notion of seeing more Michael and Poppop and George Michael and Buster and Gob, I'd want to see more series...not one movie. Let it live forever in our minds and memories as a what was and might have been, instead of 'ending' in what couldn't help but be a letdown and disappointment.
2 comments:
I kind of hope they give the movie a shot. Usually I'm not for sequels/remakes. But when they work, they're usually brilliant, like the Brady Bunch movies. ("Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!") Because the AD creators were so smart, I'm betting a movie of AD could be good.
The BBC are currently repeating Arrested Development and once again, showing it the same respect as when it was first broadcast - which means stuffing double-bills on late at night, three nights a week, with little announcement.
I'd forgot what a brilliant, subversive show it is. But given that it's all about the little details, over the already twisted narrative, that makes it an absolute hoot, would that work as a movie?
I'd hate to see it watered down for a dumb audience that didn't watch it the first time around.
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