Accelerated Laughter

An all-star comedy lineup - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter

A NEW TV PARADIGM

This year’s Emmy Awards has a unique feature – 3 nominated TV shows (Hemlock Grove, House of Cards and Arrested Development) are products of Netflix, the streaming Internet TV service. It marks a turning point, both cultural and technological, where a popular series is not offered on a cable or network schedule. For $8.65/month anyone with a broadband connection and a Roku device can see these shows; they can be viewed at one’s convenience – all in one sitting or whenever the mood strikes.

Speaking only for myself – I love Netflix. I resisted it for years, not wanting another monthly service charge but that was very wrong about that.. Netflix offers a huge library of independent movies, hit TV shows and original programming for a pretty tiny fee. HBO or SHOWTIME are pricey by comparison with much less for offerings.

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

I watched a couple of episodes of Arrested Development back in 2003. Have to confess I thought it was quirky and weird – I didn’t key into the humor and quit watching. Now 10 years later I’m watching it from the beginning and am a “fan boy” of the show. My conclusions of this (and some other shows too):
1) You need to at least see the pilot episode which introduces the characters and lays the ground work.
2) Arrested Development uses inside jokes and self-referencing humor that rewards viewers who’ve watched all along (and mystifies late-comers who miss an inside remark).

How do I love this show? It came along in 2003 well after Seinfeld and Family Guy. It borrows a bit from each of these – with zany complex, inter-weaving plots like Seinfeld and cut-away jokes a la Family Guy. It adds an overlay of new nuttiness; it portrays the severely dysfunctional riches-to-rags Bluth family where every single adult is in some state of mental agitation. The Bluths are alternately trapped in loveless marriages, imprisoned for felonies, estranged, suspended in adolescence, evincing neurotic personality disorders or lusting for money that is no more.

Arrested Development showcases the talents of guest stars like Henry Winkler and Liza Minnelli. It also has given exposure to stars-in-waiting like Jane Lynch and Bob Odenkirk.. it’s a virtual turnstile of comic genius. Most of the stars are fairly thick-skinned as the roles they play may have fun with the actors’ own previous careers. The show veers wickedly between campy humorous unreality and real-world situations and news stories.

Probably my two favorite characters are Tobias (David Cross) and Gob (Will Arnett). They are complete loons who are willing to look absolutely silly. In doing so, they sell their personas completely and compel me to fall off the couch laughing. The other characters are no slouches either.. The “chicken dance” in which various people try to dance like a chicken is now the stuff of legend.

I won’t divulge anything else – if you have Roku, Netflix and a wicked sense of humor please avail yourself of this wonderful show. You won’t be sorry.

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