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.
DVD Features:
3-Disc Set - Thinpak
Widescreen - 1.78
Audio:
Dolby Digital Surround - English
Subtitles - English, Spanish, French - Optional
Disc 1: "Creator's Cut Pilot (unaired)," "Pilot," "Top Banana," "Bringing Up Buster," "Key Decisions," "Visiting Ours," "Charity Drive"
Additional Release Material:
Additional Audio Material - Original songs by David Schwartz (29)
Alternate Scenes - Deleted/Extended scenes (from "Top Banana," "Bringing Up Buster," "Key Decisions," "Visiting Ours")
Audio Commentaries - Mitchell Hurwitz - Creator; Joe Russo, Anthony Russo - Directors; Jason Bateman - Star ("Creator's Cut Pilot")
Behind the Scenes - "Breaking Ground: Behind the Scenes of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT"
Introduction - Ron Howard - Narrator
Disc 2: "My Mother the Car," "In God We Trust," "Storming the Castle," "Pier Pressure," "Public Relations," "Marta Complex," "Beef Consomme," "Shock and Aww"
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentaries - Including Mitchell Hurwitz - Creator; Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Jeffrey Tambor - Stars ("Beef Consomme")
Alternate Scenes - Deleted/Extended scenes (from "My Mother the Car," "In God We Trust," "Storming the Castle," "Marta Complex," "Beef Consomme," "Shock and Aww")
Interviews - Including Mitchell Hurwitz - Creator; Cast (The Museum of Television & Radio: Q&A)
Disc 3: "Staff Infection," "Missing Kitty," "Altar Egos," "Justice is Blind," "Best Man for the Gob," "Whistler's Mother," "Not Without My Daughter," "Let Them Eat Cake"
Additional Release Material:
Additional Footage - "TV Land Awards: The Future Classic Award"
Alternate Scenes - Deleted/Extended scenes (from "Staff Infection," "Missing Kitty," "Altar Egos," "Best Man for the Gob" )
Audio Commentaries - Mitchell Hurwitz - Creator; Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Jeffrey Tambor - Stars ("Let Them Eat Cake")
Featurettes - "TV Land Special - ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: The Making of a Future Classic"
Trailers - 1. Product Trailers - "Ron Howard Sneak Peek at Season 2"
2. TV Promo ("Blind")
Interactive Features:
Hidden Features - Easter Egg
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Review 1:
"[I]t became a critics' darling and was the surprise winner of the Emmy for best comedy series."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.E10 10/21/2004
Review 2:
"[With] wacky, deadpan humor and Seinfeld-like pretzel plots..."
Source: Movieline's Hollywood Life
p.120 10/01/2004
Review 3:
"Wickedly cynical, always taking the joke a step too far to deranged effect..."
Source: Uncut
p.144 04/01/2004
Review 4:
"Handheld, faux-verite camerawork and skittish chronology are complemented by a voraciously eclectic aesthetic..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.85 05/01/2005
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