Arrested to Television

Monday night at 8:00 P.M. marks the third season premiere of Arrested Development on FOX. This is easily the best-written and most amusing show on television today, but it needs some audience support. The plot revolves around Michael Bluth(Jason Batemen) trying to keep his family company alive while working around the chaos including, but not limited to his escaped con father, alcoholic mother, and three equally psychotic siblings. Throw in a sexually confused brother in law, Michael’s hatred for his son’s girlfriend, and Liza Minelli sleeping with both his brothers and you have yourself one hilarious party. This program also manages to receive long-term recurring role commitments from several well-known actors such as Henry Winkler, Christine Taylor, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, and Charlize Theron. Every character has his/her own unique quirks and while Michael plays the straight man during most of the action he is far from normal. Producer Ron Howard narrates each episode by adding to the storytelling because instead of simply referring to events of the past, the viewer is provided with a setup accompanied by a ten second clip. There has not been such successful random plot development since Seinfeld so I strongly recommend everyone watch, TiVo, tape, or rent previous seasons on DVD. Enjoy the show!