Thursday, November 17, 2005

"Arrested Development" wasn't that funny, there I said it

I admit that I only watched the show a couple of times. But "Arrested Development," which is now getting cancelled after two and a half seasons, wasn't all that. The Emperor Wears No Clothes, I say! Although I don't really watch any TV "shows," preferring instead to keep it on ESPN, the Food Network, Jeopardy!, and my taped Bob Ross episodes, the fact that I watched the show like three times and can't remember any of the character names has to indicate something. Namely, that it was unfunny and uninteresting.

Watching "Arrested Development" reminded me a lot of watching "M.A.S.H." Big reputation, widely acclaimed, and just not even remotely humorous. With "M.A.S.H.," I couldn't even correctly guess what was and wasn't supposed to be a joke. It was like a game. I would say to myself, "okay, THAT was the joke, here comes the laugh track," and nothing. Twenty seconds later, that old guy would come in and say "what's the good word?" and Alan Alda would say "Lunch. Because I feel hungry," and the audience would break up. The stuff just wasn't funny, and same goes for "Arrested Development." The only good thing about that show was
Portia De Rossi. Now there is a truly underrated talent.

And as for the fans of the show, I got love for you. One man's trash, and so on. Just don't tell me I "didn't get it." Because, what was there to get? A rich dysfunctional family tries to deal when the patriarch goes to jail. Tantalizing. Didn't another character also get sentenced to be someone's butler? I love it when you disagree with someone on their humor, and they say "you just don't get it." Yeah, that's right. Monty Python people do this all the time. Like when The Knights Who Say "Ni!" come on the screen, that just boggles me. It works on so many levels. Or their song "Sit on My Face and Tell Me That You Love Me." I really appreciate that song's comedic layering. I actually just shot Yoo-Hoo out of my nose. But back to "Arrested Development." Yes, when Jeffrey Tambor finds God in prison and gets all new-agey, yeah - what a deep joke! I'm just guessing here - but did he flirt with homosexuality as well? Sparkling!

Now that I think about it, I guess it was the "Arrested Development" fans that I disliked more than the show. Sure wish I was an "Arrested Development" fan. I'd be a much more sophisticated party guest then. But it's a moot point now. Good-bye, "Arrested Development," appearing on the whatever channel it was you appeared on. May your memory serve as a beacon to pseudo-intellectuals everywhere. As we say in France talk, "arrivederci."

2 comments:

Armchair Cook said...

You are right on. I completely agree about the M.A.S.H. comparison. I appreciate Arrested Development's quirkiness, but I am confounded by the amount of praise that was heaped on this show. People are acting surprised that the show was cancelled, but the show's fans should be grateful that Fox kept it on the air for more than 3 weeks.

MSH said...

Hear, hear...always good to hear from a fellow Food Network junky!