Was Arrested Development too smart?

One of my favorite jokes was how Buster's hand was bitten off by a "loose seal."

His mom's name? Lucille

 

This show was in the top 3 of all times.

My list would be

1. Mr. Show

2. Monty Python's Flying Circus

3. Arrested Development

 

Exactly, it's not 'smart' to make a show that only a few people will appreciate or find funny. The real genius is in a show like Seinfeld, which was clever and had mass appeal. I guess Frasier may fit into that as well, although I hated that show.

 

Yes, but the name of his girlfriend (and mother's mortal enemy) was also Lucille (called Lucille 2).

 

I guess you could define not being very accessible as being too smart, but that's what I loved about the show. The continuity and the inside jokes.

Shows like Seinfeld and Friends, they're funny. They don't require any thinking though.

Arrested Development was clever. That's saying something for a TV sitcom. It's funny on the surface...but the real humor lies in piecing it all together.

You don't have to be "smart" to get it...you just can't turn your brain off and watch it like you do most sitcoms.

 

I've been a big David Cross fan (Odenkirk too) because of Mr. Show. I never thought there would be a sitcom vehicle suitable for him but AD was a great fit. It was the only reason I didn't flip the channel when I first saw it on TV.

BTW, clever is indeed a great way to describe it. You'd get more jokes if you keep your thinking cap on.

 

...and Lucille too.

 

I don't know about too smart...It was definitely hilarious and very clever in its own rite, but I think it had more to do with the fact that you had to watch it from the beginning to get the show. Shows like that are great for cult followings, but when you're trying to make a lot of money for a network and stay afloat in primetime ratings, you can't have all these inside jokes that only people that followed the show all along get. I loved the show and think if the general public watched the show from the start, it would do great...but that's not how sitcoms in America usually survive. That being said, I do wish it would have continued. It is great to see a lot of the actors from that show getting their due in other shows and movies, though (however long that might last).

 

You know, it's funny--I just went through the whole series again and it struck me that the genius of this show is that they never really missed an opportunity for a joke, but that it never seemed forced. I don't think I can say that about any other show, ever.

 

Next time we play basketball we'll have to compare notes.

I need to go back to some old AD threads I started back in the day and see who posted in them

 

American Dad: You're like Arrested Development - it's not that you're not good, it's just America's not interested in you.

 

I watched the pilot, then missed the next few eps only to download them all one day because I remembered that show that was pretty funny and wanted to keep going with it. So after the first ep, I saw the next 3 in a row and was forever hooked.

I won't name any names (COUGHDAVEDEREK), but I've been wanting to make jokes about some of the things in the 3rd season that would make no sense to anyone that hasn't seen it before, or hasn't seen the last few eps of the 3rd season.

I currently own 2 sets of the 3 seasons, I had 4 sets at one point ( obsess much?) and gave 2 sets out as gifts.

I couldn't pass up the 31 dollar deals at amazon.com a few years back (and even last year I think)

 

I started watching my DVDs again and I realized there was a lot of foreshadowing that I never really thought about. Like in season 2, Buster losing his hand to the seal is foreshadowed by stuff like him losing his "hand chair" and then getting it back, the seal he wins in the boardwalk arcade, etc.

 

I started watching the show around the Marta Complex and in the years since, I think i've hooked over 10 people to the show.

 

Every time this thread gets bumped I keep thinking it's because they've finally greenlit the AD movie...

 

Prof Jay: I have to point out, AD wasn't depending on the "Wee Brain" joke to get a laugh, it's just a nuance that pops up later. There are a trillion laughs to be had on the first viewing, with no knowledge of the extended storyline.

And two trillion in the second viewing.