Arrested Development -- 2 Episodes "Notap.../Mr. F" -- 11/07/05
#1
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Arrested Development -- 2 Episodes "Notap.../Mr. F" -- 11/07/05
"Notap.../Mr. F"
Spoiler:
Cast: Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, Bob Einstein, Charlize Theron, Justin Grant Wade, Dave Thomas, Scott Baio, Frankie Muniz, Mae Whitman, Jamie Kennedy, Marcy Goldman, Phil Proctor, Donald Bishop.
Producer(s): Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, David Nevins, Mitchell Hurwitz.
Original Airdate: November 7, 2005.
#5
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Saw a preview last night and I can not wait! A month is way TOO long to go without this show, and I will probably cry when they cancel this in the next couple of years.
#8
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I'm for a new episode.
I was watching an episode this weekend from S2 "Good Grief" with commentary on. I didn't think the episode could get any funnier, but it did. I didn't catch the Charlie Brown reference and "Snoopy" in the background until it was mentioned on the commentary.
I was watching an episode this weekend from S2 "Good Grief" with commentary on. I didn't think the episode could get any funnier, but it did. I didn't catch the Charlie Brown reference and "Snoopy" in the background until it was mentioned on the commentary.
#11
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Just found that thread and read it. I don't think I was reading these boards back then.
Either way, hilarious stuff. It was funny hearing all the commentators crack up when George Michael walked into the living room just fell to the ground after his sad walk.
Either way, hilarious stuff. It was funny hearing all the commentators crack up when George Michael walked into the living room just fell to the ground after his sad walk.
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Today's my birthday and no better way to celebreate than by watching not one but TWO brand new episodes of one of the best shows on tv.I just watched season two last week and cought up with season three(a whole 3 episodes sadly) and each episode just keeps getting better and better.I'm just praying we get at least a full 18 episode season this year at the very least before the show gets canceled.
Let the "final"countdown begin.
Let the "final"countdown begin.
#17
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Found this in the Las Vegas Paper Today
LIFE ON THE COUCH: Smart, creative, Emmy-winning Fox comedy may be doomed
"Arrested Development," which airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on KVVU-TV, Channel 5, is in need of rescue. It ranks 99th in the ratings.
For believing that the earth orbited the sun, Galileo died under house arrest.
For laying the groundwork for ethics and philosophy, Socrates was sentenced to death by poisoning.
And for creating the most intricately woven, wickedly smart series ever to make it to television, Mitchell Hurwitz has to watch his "Arrested Development" get slapped around in the ratings by the likes of "Yes, Dear," "Still Standing" and any number of schlumpy-guy-with-a-hot-wife sitcoms.
Humanity has a long history of punishing visionaries, but this is ridiculous.
So as "AD" returns from its baseball-imposed hiatus to face still more ratings abuse, (back-to-back episodes begin at 8 p.m. today on KVVU-TV, Channel 5), Hurwitz could be forgiven if he were to start eyeballing a hemlock smoothie.
His faux documentary series, narrated by Ron Howard, details the daily lives of the Bluths, Newport Beach, Calif., socialites brought down by developer and patriarch George Bluth's arrest. They've been reduced to living in a rapidly disintegrating model home, the company's only remaining asset other than the "stair car" -- the movable stairway for the private jet they once owned -- that has become their primary mode of transportation.
"We'd be remiss," Hurwitz said in September, while accepting his second straight Emmy for comedy writing, "if we didn't point out the fact that the academy has twice rewarded us for something that you people won't watch."
So what's keeping you away?
Too much acclaim? Let's face it, the sheer tonnage of praise heaped upon the series can be a turn-off. That type of outpouring from critics is usually reserved for those stuffy, four-hour British character studies in which a couple sips tea while talking in circles and pondering the meaning of life. But I assure you, there is absolutely nothing British about "AD." Except for the current storyline that implicates British operatives in an elaborate set-up that framed Bluth for building palaces for Saddam. But that's it.
Too different? Sure, there's no laugh track, there's nothing resembling a traditional punch line and it even sounds vaguely British. But in the most recent episode, it was revealed that Bluth-by-marriage Tobias, a psychiatrist-turned-actor, once combined the jobs of analyst and therapist. The next shot was of his business card and the unfortunate term he coined for this new specialty: "Dr. Tobias Fünke, Analrapist." Let's see the Brits come up with that.
Too intricate? You may have heard about the inside jokes, like the one in which a dead shark, crucial to another piece of the story, blocked the path of Henry Winkler's character, forcing him to hop over it. (Fonzie jumped the shark!) Or maybe you're afraid of having to pay attention to scenes that set up jokes weeks or even a season in advance. But there are so many laughs, you could miss a half-dozen or so and still be fully entertained. If you can follow even a third of "Lost," you can handle "AD."
Too unlikable? Fine, you wouldn't want to spend time with any of the characters in the real world. But you watched "Seinfeld" for cryin' out loud. Take away Jerry's studio audience and the programs really aren't that different.
I'll admit, I didn't fully get it at first. It took a couple of episodes to really appreciate "AD's" rhythms. But now I can't imagine life without it.
Sadly, if ratings don't turn around soon, I'll have to. (Even "Head Cases," which the same network canceled after just two episodes, averaged nearly a half-million more viewers than "AD," which ranks 99th in the ratings so far this season.)
But if audiences continue to reject smart comedy, future generations will be subjected to more mind-numbing dreck. (Coming in 2030: Apple Paltrow and Maddox Jolie in "If I'm So Fat, Why'd You Marry Me?".)
I believe that children are the future. If you won't watch "AD" for yourself, for the love of Galileo, won't you do it for them?
Christopher Lawrence's Life on the Couch column appears on Mondays. E-mail him at [email protected].
THE BLUTH FAMILY
Here's a quick rundown of the characters, so you have one less excuse for not watching "Arrested Development":
George Bluth
(Jeffrey Tambor)
Father
Developer; keeps escaping federal custody; can never be trusted; invented the "Cornballer," a frying device responsible for scarring countless Mexicans; made "Caged Wisdom" line of spiritual tapes from prison
Lucille Bluth
(Jessica Walter)
Mother
Socialite; cold and distant; manipulative; drinks too much; had affair with George's identical twin, Oscar; adopted Korean teenager out of spite; talked into volunteering son Buster for the army by a Michael Moore impersonator during a bit for "Jimmy Kimmel Live"
Michael Bluth
(Jason Bateman)
The honest one
President of the Bluth Company; tries to keep family members out of jail and bankruptcy; rides bike to work or drives "stair car" to save money; widower
George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II
(Will Arnett)
Oldest sibling
Name is pronounced "Jobe," but is often mistaken for "Gob"; terrible magician; usually seen riding a Segway; appeared in "Girls With Low Self-Esteem" video series; has puppet named Franklin; just learned he has a teenage son; catchphrase: "I've made a huge mistake"
Byron "Buster" Bluth
(Tony Hale)
Youngest sibling
Quick to panic; spent 11 months in the womb (doctor said there were claw marks on the walls of his mother's uterus); dated his mother's rival, Lucille II (Liza Minnelli); had affair with his mother's robotic sweeper; loves juice; emotionally scarred by Lucille, who coddled him; physically scarred by a "loose seal" that bit off his hand; catchphrase: "Hey, brother"
Lindsay Bluth Fünke
(Portia de Rossi)
Michael's twin
Loves to shop; prone to charitable work, purely for the social benefits; founder of failed businesses "Mommy, What Will I Look Like?," which projected how infants will appear as adults, and the animal coloring business Dip-A-Pet; unhappily married
Tobias Fünke
(David Cross)
Lindsay's husband
Sexually ambivalent; as a "never-nude" won't wear anything less than cutoffs; studied acting under Carl Weathers; former back-up for Blue Man Group, his blue smudges often can be seen around the house; after briefly leaving Lindsay, dressed as nanny "Mrs. Featherbottom" to spend time with his daughter
Maeby Fünke
(Alia Shawkat)
Lindsay and Tobias' 15-year-old daughter
Hates her parents; conned her way into job as a movie executive; passed herself off as dying twin, Surely Fünke, to raise money for a fake disease; member, with her parents, of Dr. Fünke's 100% Natural Good-Time Family-Band Solution, a folk group that shilled for a pharmaceutical company
George Michael Bluth
(Michael Cera)
Michael's 15-year-old son
So nervous he twitches; works in the family's frozen banana stand; keeps perfect time; dated Ann, the world's plainest, most forgettable girl; loves his windbreaker; lusts after his cousin Maeby
LIFE ON THE COUCH: Smart, creative, Emmy-winning Fox comedy may be doomed
"Arrested Development," which airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on KVVU-TV, Channel 5, is in need of rescue. It ranks 99th in the ratings.
For believing that the earth orbited the sun, Galileo died under house arrest.
For laying the groundwork for ethics and philosophy, Socrates was sentenced to death by poisoning.
And for creating the most intricately woven, wickedly smart series ever to make it to television, Mitchell Hurwitz has to watch his "Arrested Development" get slapped around in the ratings by the likes of "Yes, Dear," "Still Standing" and any number of schlumpy-guy-with-a-hot-wife sitcoms.
Humanity has a long history of punishing visionaries, but this is ridiculous.
So as "AD" returns from its baseball-imposed hiatus to face still more ratings abuse, (back-to-back episodes begin at 8 p.m. today on KVVU-TV, Channel 5), Hurwitz could be forgiven if he were to start eyeballing a hemlock smoothie.
His faux documentary series, narrated by Ron Howard, details the daily lives of the Bluths, Newport Beach, Calif., socialites brought down by developer and patriarch George Bluth's arrest. They've been reduced to living in a rapidly disintegrating model home, the company's only remaining asset other than the "stair car" -- the movable stairway for the private jet they once owned -- that has become their primary mode of transportation.
"We'd be remiss," Hurwitz said in September, while accepting his second straight Emmy for comedy writing, "if we didn't point out the fact that the academy has twice rewarded us for something that you people won't watch."
So what's keeping you away?
Too much acclaim? Let's face it, the sheer tonnage of praise heaped upon the series can be a turn-off. That type of outpouring from critics is usually reserved for those stuffy, four-hour British character studies in which a couple sips tea while talking in circles and pondering the meaning of life. But I assure you, there is absolutely nothing British about "AD." Except for the current storyline that implicates British operatives in an elaborate set-up that framed Bluth for building palaces for Saddam. But that's it.
Too different? Sure, there's no laugh track, there's nothing resembling a traditional punch line and it even sounds vaguely British. But in the most recent episode, it was revealed that Bluth-by-marriage Tobias, a psychiatrist-turned-actor, once combined the jobs of analyst and therapist. The next shot was of his business card and the unfortunate term he coined for this new specialty: "Dr. Tobias Fünke, Analrapist." Let's see the Brits come up with that.
Too intricate? You may have heard about the inside jokes, like the one in which a dead shark, crucial to another piece of the story, blocked the path of Henry Winkler's character, forcing him to hop over it. (Fonzie jumped the shark!) Or maybe you're afraid of having to pay attention to scenes that set up jokes weeks or even a season in advance. But there are so many laughs, you could miss a half-dozen or so and still be fully entertained. If you can follow even a third of "Lost," you can handle "AD."
Too unlikable? Fine, you wouldn't want to spend time with any of the characters in the real world. But you watched "Seinfeld" for cryin' out loud. Take away Jerry's studio audience and the programs really aren't that different.
I'll admit, I didn't fully get it at first. It took a couple of episodes to really appreciate "AD's" rhythms. But now I can't imagine life without it.
Sadly, if ratings don't turn around soon, I'll have to. (Even "Head Cases," which the same network canceled after just two episodes, averaged nearly a half-million more viewers than "AD," which ranks 99th in the ratings so far this season.)
But if audiences continue to reject smart comedy, future generations will be subjected to more mind-numbing dreck. (Coming in 2030: Apple Paltrow and Maddox Jolie in "If I'm So Fat, Why'd You Marry Me?".)
I believe that children are the future. If you won't watch "AD" for yourself, for the love of Galileo, won't you do it for them?
Christopher Lawrence's Life on the Couch column appears on Mondays. E-mail him at [email protected].
THE BLUTH FAMILY
Here's a quick rundown of the characters, so you have one less excuse for not watching "Arrested Development":
George Bluth
(Jeffrey Tambor)
Father
Developer; keeps escaping federal custody; can never be trusted; invented the "Cornballer," a frying device responsible for scarring countless Mexicans; made "Caged Wisdom" line of spiritual tapes from prison
Lucille Bluth
(Jessica Walter)
Mother
Socialite; cold and distant; manipulative; drinks too much; had affair with George's identical twin, Oscar; adopted Korean teenager out of spite; talked into volunteering son Buster for the army by a Michael Moore impersonator during a bit for "Jimmy Kimmel Live"
Michael Bluth
(Jason Bateman)
The honest one
President of the Bluth Company; tries to keep family members out of jail and bankruptcy; rides bike to work or drives "stair car" to save money; widower
George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II
(Will Arnett)
Oldest sibling
Name is pronounced "Jobe," but is often mistaken for "Gob"; terrible magician; usually seen riding a Segway; appeared in "Girls With Low Self-Esteem" video series; has puppet named Franklin; just learned he has a teenage son; catchphrase: "I've made a huge mistake"
Byron "Buster" Bluth
(Tony Hale)
Youngest sibling
Quick to panic; spent 11 months in the womb (doctor said there were claw marks on the walls of his mother's uterus); dated his mother's rival, Lucille II (Liza Minnelli); had affair with his mother's robotic sweeper; loves juice; emotionally scarred by Lucille, who coddled him; physically scarred by a "loose seal" that bit off his hand; catchphrase: "Hey, brother"
Lindsay Bluth Fünke
(Portia de Rossi)
Michael's twin
Loves to shop; prone to charitable work, purely for the social benefits; founder of failed businesses "Mommy, What Will I Look Like?," which projected how infants will appear as adults, and the animal coloring business Dip-A-Pet; unhappily married
Tobias Fünke
(David Cross)
Lindsay's husband
Sexually ambivalent; as a "never-nude" won't wear anything less than cutoffs; studied acting under Carl Weathers; former back-up for Blue Man Group, his blue smudges often can be seen around the house; after briefly leaving Lindsay, dressed as nanny "Mrs. Featherbottom" to spend time with his daughter
Maeby Fünke
(Alia Shawkat)
Lindsay and Tobias' 15-year-old daughter
Hates her parents; conned her way into job as a movie executive; passed herself off as dying twin, Surely Fünke, to raise money for a fake disease; member, with her parents, of Dr. Fünke's 100% Natural Good-Time Family-Band Solution, a folk group that shilled for a pharmaceutical company
George Michael Bluth
(Michael Cera)
Michael's 15-year-old son
So nervous he twitches; works in the family's frozen banana stand; keeps perfect time; dated Ann, the world's plainest, most forgettable girl; loves his windbreaker; lusts after his cousin Maeby
#19
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Originally Posted by henryfish
What was with the green x's?
Other than that, quality episode. I laughed heartily.
Other than that, quality episode. I laughed heartily.
i still don;t get the whole retard thing... just seems kinda stupid
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Anyone see the document that shows that Gob is a pageant judge?
I don't have a screenshot, but it reads as follows:
Accredited Pageant Judge
Name: George Oscar (GOB) Bluth
Celebrity Status: Local/C
Area of Expertise: Outer
Then, there is a spot where a signature is. Underneath that, there is a statement that reads "This document has no meaning."
Laughter inevitably followed...
I don't have a screenshot, but it reads as follows:
Accredited Pageant Judge
Name: George Oscar (GOB) Bluth
Celebrity Status: Local/C
Area of Expertise: Outer
Then, there is a spot where a signature is. Underneath that, there is a statement that reads "This document has no meaning."
Laughter inevitably followed...
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Originally Posted by apchrist
George Michael wearing the jet pack fighting the giant Mole had me in tears.