Arrested Development

2013 In Review: Shows that Dominated the Pop Culture Landscape

With no new premieres between now and the end of the year, I’m taking this opportunity to look back on 2013. 2013 in many ways felt like a transitional year on television with old standbys leaving the air (30 Rock, Breaking Bad, How I Met Your Mother), surprise returns (Arrested Development)and new shows looking to fill those spots in the public consciousness (The Bridge, The Americans).

Speaking of that public consciousness, it always seems like a handful of shows have a tendency to get the most ink spilled about them, the most mentions on people’s twitters and Facebook walls, and the most water cooler talk. Needless to say, the shows below are the ones I think tended to come up in conversations the most this year.

Honorable Mentions: The Walking Dead (AMC), Dexter (Showtime), Under the Dome (CBS)

The Walking Dead and Dexter seem to always generate a lot of chatter, but it seems like both really lacked the visceral punch that episodes of many of the shows above it seemed to possess. Under the Dome conversely, was the most hyped new summer premiere for the major networks, but seemed to lose a lot of it’s steam over the course of the season for reasons both internally and externally.

5 – Game of Thrones (HBO)

Game of Thrones is the sort of show that I feel typically gets lumped in with the honorable mention category with the other genre shows I mentioned above. The key difference is, while it was an overall slow season for GoT, the Red Wedding episode generated an unbelievable amount of buzz. Toss in the usual string of Emmy buzz, and you have a genre show that managed to garner a lot of attention over the course of the year.

4 – The Following (Fox)

The Following makes the list this year solely on the hype it received prior to it’s January debut. During the 2012-13 Winter lull, there were a surprisingly high amount of people who were excited because Kevin. Bacon. Is Doing. TV. While the show itself ended up tapering off over time due to ludicrous plot twists and the fact that the show’s main allure came from it’s star, the initial hype was staggering during what was a relatively quiet winter season.

3 – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC)

While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken a fairly sizable hit in the ratings since it’s debut, it also happens to be the single most hyped show of the fall. This is in part because it hit all of the hype check marks: fits with the movie universe (check), super showrunner Joss Whedon had a heavy hand in it (check), and ABC burned it’s entire Tuesday to the ground to rebuild around it (check). While the show itself is dangerously close to flopping, I can think of a decent number of my close friends who had this date circled on their calendar since may.

2 – Arrested Development (Netflix)

2013 was a truly brutal year for the sitcom, and one of the few bright spots on the year was the return of Arrested Development. While House of Cards may have been Netflix’s first show, it was pretty clear from minute one that the streaming giant’s future (and credibility) was built around betting big on something the show’s cult following has demanded for years: new Arrested Development. The show itself delivered fairly well even if it’s new structure felt uneven at times and Netflix ended up receiving a lot of new subscribers.

1 – Cult (CW)

No series had it’s fans going as far to protect it in the ratings as Cult. The CW had a massive hit on their …just kidding.

The show that dominated pop culture the most in 2013 was very clearly:

1 – Breaking Bad (AMC)

This was truly Breaking Bad’s year. Vince Gilligan and crew managed to do a difficult task that numerous other pantheon shows failed to do: stick the landing. This season was so well executed and so strongly hyped that Facebook would essentially go dark on Sunday nights and spoilers would often draw the ire of most (if not all) of your friends, neighbors, and family. The execution and hype were so strong that it single-handedly killed Dexter’s mojo (numerous articles were posted about how Dexter so thoroughly blew it’s last season compared to Breaking Bad) and the comparison even leeched out to broadcast TV, where the only peep heard about Under the Dome after it’s mid season run was the fact that Dean Norris had two characters die within a week. It won Best Drama at the Emmys, it drew the most attention online (three months later and Peter Foy’s reviews here still trickle into our top posts), and it generated the most buzz at the viewer level. The pop culture landscape has a huge hole to fill in 2014 without it.

Next Time: Later this week we look at the new shows this year that made my stomach turn the most as we look back at the worst of 2013.

Emmy Nominations Are In: What Do They Say About the Big Picture in TV?

by Michael Tyminski

This morning, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences released its’ list of nominees for the 2013 Primetime Emmy Awards. With the list of nominees, we can take away some conclusions about the state of television over the past year.

Netflix’s original programming model is for real: Amid the nominations, we see a handful of nominations for Netflix Originals Arrested Development and House of Cards. House of Cards seems to hold a slightly higher position on the totem pole, scoring nominations for both Kevin Spacey for best actor as well as a best drama nod for the show itself. Arrested Development received a best actor nomination for Jason Bateman to add to Netflix’s prestige. The network which started releasing original shows in February is off to a good start critically (as well as commercially, as proven by the rumors of a pushed season 5 for Arrested Development).

The major networks did not have a strong year: Many of the major categories this year seem to be dominated by the cable networks and premium channels such as Showtime and HBO. While this doesn’t surprise me (the only strong drama for the big four this season was Hannibal and barely half the season was over by the May 31^st cut-off date). This trend is particularly strong on the drama side of the ledger, where the only broadcast show being considered for best drama is PBS’s Downton Abbey. On the comedy side, the trend is slightly less harsh, but mostly due to the heaping of praise the Academy has placed on 30 Rock’s final season. There is however, one show on the major networks that is standing up against this wave of cable dominance, because…

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences really likes Modern Family: If there was one scripted show on network TV that the Academy has fallen in love with, it’s Modern Family, which has become a master-class for domestic comedies and props up a successful night for ABC. The show has a large number of nominations spread across a variety of categories including best comedy, best supporting actor (with three nominations there), best supporting actress, best writing for a comedy, and best directing for a comedy.

After a few down years, HBO is back and carried on a mix of younger shows and miniseries: After struggling around the end of the last decade, HBO has taken back it’s role as the main home to high quality television. The academy heaped praise upon sophomore comedies Veep and Girls, as well as third-season drama Game of Thrones. Similarly, it’s Liberace feature Behind the Candelabra has received a large amount of attention from the Academy, scoring 15 nominations.

Finally, the Academy did not forget Louie, in spite of skipping a season and airing at the very beginning of this year’s broadcast window: It may have been airing at this time last year (the Emmy window goes from June to May, unlike many other awards), but last year’s transcendent and critically adored second season of Louie has received a large number of nominations in almost every category that the show could qualify for (added bonus for Louis C.K. Also getting a best guest actor nomination for his hosting gig on Saturday Night Live). It’s nice to see, because while it seems that many movies begging for Oscar nods try to crowd into the end of the Oscar window, that the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences didn’t forget a show that could have easily escaped public consciousness over the year.

This years 65^th Annual Emmy Awards are on Sunday September 22^nd at 8 p.m. on CBS. I’ll be here covering the show that night in the same breezy rapid-fire style that I used to cover the Oscars and Grammys.

The full list of Emmy nominations can be found here: http://www.emmys.com/nominations

Arrested Development Is Back And As Good As Ever

by Michael Tyminski

Arrested Development: Now on Netflix

It’s back. Arrested Development received its’ full-blown Netflix release Sunday morning. Being the first Netflix style whole-season dump release I’ve had to review I took the moment to ask myself: How am I going to handle this? Ultimately I decided that rather than use an excessively narrow reference frame of one episode, or binge watching the full season, I’d watch three or four episodes and take it from there. Additionally, because it isn’t a new series, I’d hone my opinions onto mostly what’s new and different. If you need some background before watching the series, I’d recommend checking out my Many Happy Returns column on the show before reading this review.

So….in a broad context, where are we? Seven years after the arrest of Lucille Bluth, we find out that she somehow gets off of the SEC charges but is instead being charged under maritime law. Michael is in dire straits after Sudden Valley turns into a huge disaster when there are no roads placed in relation to the house. Lindsay and Tobias are well…Lindsay and Tobias, and George Michael is away at college.

Otherwise? You know…it’s the story about the family who lost it all and the son who has to keep them all together.

That being said, the fourth season has a lot of key differences from the series that ran on FOX:

First and foremost, the show moves at a much slower pace. Whereas the original series often juggled three story lines in a given show, season four follows one character arc from beginning to completion. This isn’t a bad thing, as jokes that would normally get a split second have a little bit of time to develop. Additionally, whereas the older show would often have the three story lines come together at the end, the plots in this season, while considerably simpler often tend to snowball.

Alongside that slower pace is a renewed interest in character development, even if it eventually leads to some characters being off model. Michael, for example, has his negative traits more embellished, particularly his clinginess to George Michael (what seems like a father not wanting to lose a teenage son turns into something completely different when he’s hanging around a college). Similarly, we see more of the domineering George Sr. that was alluded to during the series (as opposed to the constantly groveling George Sr. we actually see during the series).

Additionally, there is a never ending door of celebrity cameos in the new season, including recurring spots for Seth Rogen and Kristen Wiig (playing the 80’s version of George and Lucille), as well as one off spots for Adam Devine (and half of the cast of Workaholics), Ed Helms, John Slattery, Maria Bamford, and John Krasinski. A lot of these cameos are half disguised making spot the celebrity even funnier.

Unfortunately the one flaw of the single character focus and stuffed to the gills nature of the universe (the new season really uses its’ supporting cast in a number of interesting ways) is that you don’t hear from a large number of characters for long stretches of time. In the five episodes that I saw going into writing this review, neither Gob nor Buster have much in the way of screen time.

The show also has a longer run time. 22 minute broadcast requirements have turned into 30 minute episodes that generally follow the formats used in the original series’ pilot and finale of Freeze in a moment of time, cut to open, fill in the back story, then follow through the original frozen moment. This format works great for playing catchup as the show fills in the 7 missing years of the characters’ lives. Additionally, it allows for viewers who are new to the show to catch up, as the series uses footage from the original series wherever it refers to something outside of immediate continuity.

One thing that is not different, however, is that the show still remains incredibly sharp and funny. New pacing aside, Hurwitz and company managed to still pack the show with as many visual gags as humanly possible. Additionally, with everything snowballing and cascading in slow motion it should be interesting to see how it all meshes together.

The Final Verdict: This new season is well worth the wait. Additionally, due to the slower pace and the direct referencing of prior seasons, newer fans should actually anticipate a low learning curve since much of the exposition is laid out there for all to see. I recommend processing the series slowly, as each episode has an extra eight minutes of material (or approx 1/3 of a show), so this 15 episode season will actually be longer in run-time than any other season except one. The choose your own adventure aspect, while downplayed will also make repeat viewing interesting, giving the new episodes some lasting power. Highest recommendation on this season and likely the most addicting thing you’ll encounter this summer.

Many Happy Returns: Arrested Development

by Michael Tyminski

Arrested Development Season 4: On Netflix starting Sunday, May 26 @ 12:01am Pacific Time

When we last left off: It was seven long years ago when Arrested Development was canceled by Fox and burned off as counter-programming to the opening of the 2006 Winter Olympics. In that time, the show picked up a rabid following on DVD (Arrested Development is probably the first show that truly benefited from the binge-watching model, as it allowed for call backs to be salient in the viewers mind instead of going dormant each week). Additionally, rumors for a potential movie ran rampant for a number of years, while many of the cast members moved on to pursue greater fame and a large number of projects, the most notable being Jason Bateman and Michael Cera’s ascensions to movie star leading man status. Finally, a little company called Netflix went from being a DVD by-mail company and grew into a streaming Goliath that decided to get into the process of making its’ own TV (such as the earlier Kevin Spacey vehicle House of Cards).

In terms of the show’s internal storyline, the third season finale “Development Arrested” closed off many of the show’s major plot arcs. All of the charges against George Sr. were ultimately dropped when it was discovered that the U.S. Government’s two CIA branches didn’t know what the other was doing. Michael once again got passed over for the CEO position, leading him to leave for Mexico with George Michael. Meanwhile, Maeby was busy trying to get the family to sign away their likenesses for the rights to her story while Lucille was trying to ensure that no one sold their company stocks.

The show however, left one new avenue open: While the charges were dropped against George, our finale had the SEC coming after Lucille, whom we had discovered had masterminded much of George’s fraud and embezzlement schemes in the first place. A second, and potentially interesting angle arose from the reveal of Lindsay being an adopted daughter, adopted by George and Lucille with the sole purpose of spiting Stan Sitwell.

What I’m looking forward to this season: First and foremost, it’s new Arrested Development! While I occasionally watched the show when it was on FOX, I became hooked when a friend lent me the full series on DVD when I was living at school. Since that time I usually binge watch the series about once a year, so the idea of new episodes excites me!

To me, the most interesting part about this season is that whereas the original series was very strongly serialized and in chronological order, the events of this season will occur simultaneously, almost making the season feel like one jumbo sized episode when viewed holistically. While creator Mitchell Hurwitz feels the first run-through of the new season should be in run order, he envisions later viewings being akin to a choose-your-own-adventure style TV series, where people jump from one episode to another in order to see all the intersecting lines.

What I’m concerned about: One word: expectations. The expectations for this show’s return are at a fever pitch considering the fan outcry for new material for a number of years, and I wonder if expectations are going to be so high that no matter how amazing season 4 ends up (and trailers are indicating I won’t be moving from my couch this weekend) that it won’t stack up to all of the expectations.

I should be back with a review of the first two or three episodes of the new season either Monday or Tuesday. Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

Arrested Development

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