In what is arguably the most significant event in Internet television history, the cult-sitcom “Arrested Development” aired a new, 15-episode season on Sunday, more than seven years after its cancellation. The Bluth and Fünke families returned, an episode or two each dedicated to what the individual characters were up to in the aftermath of the show’s final television episode in 2006.
Those dedicated to the first three seasons remember the final episode as Michael Bluth vowing to leave his family and head to Cabo, Lucille attempting a sea escape to avoid felony charges after selling the Bluth company to Stan Sitwell, Lindsay discovering she was adopted, G.O.B. dating Ann, Annyong actually being the nefarious Hal-loht and Maeby trying to get signatures to sell her family’s movie rights to Ron Howard.
The new season begins five years after, finding Michael living in his son’s UC Irvine dorm room.
Because each episode focuses on the last five years of each character’s life (first episode is Michael, then George Sr., then Lindsay, then Michael again, Tobias, etc.), the actual storyline can get confusing. Plot is slow to emerge, as viewers only realize why G.O.B. showed up with a limo full of bees several episodes after we see said limo or why George Sr. walks into Michael’s office with a bag of nude magazines. Ron Howard (who is also a character on-screen for this season) isn’t as willing to explain to the audience what’s going on as he was last season, and his narration seems lacking in spots.
True, it’s funny television (or … Internet-vision, anyway), but it feels like the writing has lost its level of quick-paced, sharp-witted spark. The jokes aren’t as high quality — though, when one lands that’s on par with “Take a look at banner, Michael!” it almost feels like we’ve reached the pinnacle of comedy past again.
Along with a plethora of new characters, longtime fans will relish the return of Barry Zuckerkorn, Bob Loblaw (and his Law Bomb), Uncle Oscar, Kitty Sanchez, Lucille Two, Warden Stefan Gentles, Carl Weathers and news anchor John Beard, among many others.
I missed these characters, and season four of “Arrested Development” gives me the closure I never had. I enjoyed it immensely, and it was easy to tell the actors did as well. I didn’t expect this season to be like the previous three (one can’t strike gold twice), and while this set of episodes stands in the shadow of the previous 53, it holds its own.