Joining the bandwagon

The great advantage television has over films is the ability to spend more time with characters. The best shows of the last few years are able to shape great story arcs over many episodes or even seasons. Steven Bochco should be thanked for popularizing this storytelling technique with Hill Street Blues. Right now Arrested Development has possibly perfected this style. I came late to the show having heard it was brilliant but reluctant in the age of DVD to begin watching the show midseason. Having watched almost all the first season now thanks to the DVD release there is little doubt in my mind that this is easily the best half-hour comedy on television. The hand-held camera style is the perfect choice to underscore the casual cruelty and sarcasm. The show has the confidence not to "punch" the funny moments. Jason Bateman has grown into an excellent straight man over the course of the first season. His deadpan delivery allows for a moral center in the middle of such selfish, greedy, and occasionally cruel behavior. But unlike most sitcoms the cruelty in Arrested Development comes from the characters and not from the writers. It isn't the insults themselves that get the laughs, it is the fact that these characters are all fully drawn and the audience understands where the animosities between the various characters started. Most appealing is the fact that, even though these characters are often horrible to each other, they are a believable family that occasionally glimpses real moments of love and trust. Imagine the glory years of Susan Harris' Soap with three dimensional characters and you can begin to understand the remarkable achievement that is Arrested Development.

See the first season on DVD and then start watching the new one on FOX after the Red Sox lose to Roger Clemens in Game 7 of the World Series.