Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7720 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-03-21
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Swedish
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 529 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Arrested Development is the kind of sitcom that gives you hope for television. A mockumentary-style exploration of the beleaguered Bluth family, it's one of those idiosyncratic shows that doesn't rely on a laugh track or a studio audience; it's shot more like a TV drama, albeit with an omniscient narrator (executive producer Ron Howard) overseeing the proceedings. Barely holding the Bluths together is son Michael (Jason Bateman), the only normal guy in a family that's chock full of nuts. Hardworking and sensible, Michael's certain he's going to be given control of his family's Enron-style corporation upon the retirement of his father (Jeffrey Tambor). The fact that he's passed over instead for his mother (Jessica Walter) is only a blip when compared to his father's immediate arrest for dubious accounting practices, and the resulting freeze on the family's previously limitless wealth. Bereft of money, and even less family love, the Bluths have to band together in their moment of need--not easy when everyone's looking out for number 1. In addition to his scabrous parents, Michael has to contend with his lothario older brother (Will Arnett), his basically useless younger brother (Tony Hale), his greedy twin sister (Portia DeRossi), and her sexually ambiguous husband (David Cross). Michael's only comrade in sanity is his son George Michael (Michael Cera), but then again, the teenage boy harbours a secret crush on his cousin (Alia Shawkat). A peerless ensemble led by the brilliant Bateman (who knew he could be this good?), all the actors are pitch-perfect in their roles, delivering the dryly funny, sometimes absurdist dialogue with the speed and flair of classic farce. The unusual tone of Arrested Development takes a bit of getting used to--it's far different from anything you'll see on TV--but once you buy in to the Bluths' innumerable dysfunctions, you'll be laughing your head off for hours. --Mark Englehart

Synopsis
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 favour 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 humour 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.

Customer Reviews

This show is Awesome
Some people have seen this on TV in the UK on the BBC. Others might have got hold of copies from America but anyone who has seen this show must agree. It is the most original, clever, multi-layered comedy that has been produced in a very long time.

Some people say that Britain produces the best comedy, well I'm afraid, we have never managed to make a show as perfect as this one.

Every single actor in this show is a Genius. David Cross regularly has me on the floor with laughter as Dr Tobias Funke. Jeffrey Tambor is still as funny as he was in The Larry Sanders Show and Will Arnett's character GOB will have you crying as he messes up every aspect of his life, including his career as a magician.

My favourite episode in this series is #10, Pier Pressure. It cannot be explained with mere words, but it is one of the funniest things ever to be seen on television.

There is plenty to say on this show, but no room to do it! Buy this DVD, you won't regret it and you may just help get the show renewed for a third season.

Amazing comedy
This has to be the funniest programme ever conceived in America - it has everything, from laugh-out-loud gags to Office-esque awkward moments. There isn't one bad episode on the three DVDs, and you will be left wanting more.
It's difficult to express quite how hilarious this show is, particularly the character Gob, a magician with a history in stripping and an astonishing lack of respect for anyone else, especially his girlfiend Marta who is unfortunately cut out of the story quite early on in the series. What I wouldn't have given to see Gob take her for granted or insult her just one more time.
Overall this actually could be the funniest show I've ever seen, to the extent that I couldn't bare to wait for the next episode when watching the DVD, so I stayed up watching it all night, for over eight hours.
Be prepared: You could be in for the same sleepless night.

Stellar Performances, Stellar Show
"Arrested Development" is a show with such wit, originality and hilarity that it's all too easy to forget that it's not British. Indeed, it wouldn't be altogether ridiculous to suggest that "Arrested Development" gives "The Office" - my particular nomination for best British Comedy Ever - a serious run for it's money.

Michael Bluth is a single Dad in the family from Hell - a corrupt father, permanently drunk mother, a sister who has never worked a day in her life, and two bizarre brothers, one a washed up magician and the other a neurotic Mummy's boy incapable of maintaining his confidence for long periods.

The show's primary focus is Michael's desperate effort to rescue his family's faltering business, a constant uphill struggle against his various family members who each have their own unique flaws that stand in his way. Michael's patience and dedication are a source of gut-churning frustration to the sympathetic viewer - indeed, I frequently found myself shouting advice at the screen.

There are many glorious sub-plots through the course of the series - Michael's brother's relationship with a far older woman (played fantastically by the eccentric Liza Minelli), his son's desperate attempts to please the multitude of grown-up influences in his life, and funniest of all, his Father's incarceration for "mild treason".

It is rare to find a show so remarkably well scripted that you find yourself quoting line after line, much to the annoyance and confusion of your friends. "Arrested Development" is so entirely full of these classic moments that you will be tempted to take notes. Don't bother, you'll be watching the whole thing again and again anyway.

The show is so fantastically produced, deliciously witty and laugh-out-loud hilarious that you won't even worry about the DVD extras, which are incidentally top-notch. Commentaries, deleted scenes, documentaries and featurettes will keep you occupied for a couple of hours extra entertainment.

I can't recommend Arrested Development highly enough. If you've been left feeling empty after the "The Office" came to an end then this is exactly the tonic that you need.