The Day Arrested Development Died
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
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An exploration into the history of Arrested Development, the aspects that made it special, and the one episode that sparked the show's downfall to mediocrity.
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Isn't it crazy that the first 3 seasons were made to watch one episode a week and yet are so much more comfortable to binge than the 2 seasons that were specifically made for Netflix?
My god yes. That's because you get payoffs after each individual episode that is satisfying.
@@EntertainTheElk Yeah thats true. And when you think about it its very impressive that the got small stories, parts of a bigger plot and tons of humor in a 21 min episodes, but now episodes are twice as long and have half the payoff.
This is a problem with nowadays series for streaming service ... they make 10 hours films ... there is a reason you make 2 hours film not 10 .... more episodic series are better exactly because of that payoff at the end of every episode.
ARRESTED had it harder because only like 3 actors were available for most of the shoot, the rest only committed for a couple weeks, so they just had Bateman visiting random family members.
By season. 5 had just been to long timing of a aged cast just wasn't the same...should of just et showtime do the 2 seasons offered back in the fox days.
Well only 4 was hard to watch, but I finished 5 in 2 days
Wow. Hearing Jessica Walter distraught, and not in character as Lucille, is really uncomfortable. Sucks what she went through.
Yeah. That's hard to listen to.
After season 4 I was excited for season 5 and thought that maybe they'd get their groove back and then I saw the interview.
Watching Jessica Walter cry while Alia Shakwat comforts her and then hearing all the guys just blow it off really ruined it for me. I haven't watched any AD since even though I used to rewatch the first 3 seasons like I was trying to commit them to memory.
That was so upsetting. I had no idea
TRu ..we all so love her😍
@@gregg88 mind me asking what interview are you talking about?
I love the original ending where Michael realizes that he can’t save his family from themselves and that he needs to move on with his life.
It’s a moment of perfect, concluding character growth where he registers that they’ll never learn and grow if he always rescues them from the consequences of their actions, and that he’s been ignoring his own life for too long.
Yeah, there are so many shows that end on cliffhangers because they were cancelled without tying up the loose ends but AD is not one of them. I was too young to watch the original run on tv so I had no expectations for either ending but I couldn't even get through the Netflix seasons. They just felt unnecessary.
They should have just left perfection be. While i have never been truly satisfied with the ending, it felt as fitting an ending that could be made for this show specifically. I dont even want to count season 4 as canon (i havent watched s5), i just dont like the people most of them became. Especially the relationship with Michael and George-Michael. The people they were from seasons 1-3 would not have let the relationship between them become that tense.
@@demetriatorowus9735 Indeed. Maybe they could have just gone with the original idea for a movie, but the Netflix shows are just horrible, almost like Mitch Hurwitz forgot what made the show work.
Agreed. It was perfect. That's where it should have ended, period.
“Cancelled in its prime” is the best thing that could possibly happen to a TV series.
I remember watching the last episode of S3 and the first of S4 back to back. The decline in quality was really jarring.
i binge watched the whole season 3 and then immediately after that i started season 4. i swear i had to pause it and take a break from netflix for the first time in HOURS
I binged 1-3. Got halfway through episode 401 and went back and rebinged the entire 1-3
Never watched further
i did a couple episodes of season 3 but it didn't have the same feeling to it and despite how many times i tried to get through it, i never really got to it. At this rate, I've rewatched the first three seasons over four times
Same!
Yep
The first three seasons of Arrested Development is my favorite TV show. I didn’t even bother with the 5th season...
S1-3 of AD are untouchable greatness.
I couldn’t finish 5 either
5 is better than 4, not a crazy amount but noticeably better
@@jimmylozano7490 I have four episodes left. If I am talking about the show to anyone who hasn't seen it, I tell them to pretend that only the first three seasons exist.
I always try to keep an open mind to new seasons of a show... but the deafening lack of talk about Season 5 was enough to feel okay with forgetting about it as soon as I'd remembered it was released.
I learned a lesson from seasons 4 and 5: even though we may THINK we want more of our favorite cancelled shows, we shouldn't actually want more. It's not often that a show ends gracefully, like AD did originally with season 3, so we should be happy when it does. I can't think of any instances where a show was revived with the same quality as its original run.
I agree with this 100%. It’s strange to me that we now live in an entertainment world where so many shows go on indefinitely. I think having writing to a definitive ending, even if it’s only after a few seasons, is much better. Quality over quantity.
"Twin Peaks"? Though that's kind of cheating, considering how "The Return" is almost an entirely different beast, even when it's unmistakably the same show.
Seriously. Arrested Development coming showed me truly I don't want a show to come back. I want a story, and I want it to end. That's it.
Great point. Kinda what I say to everyone who wanted more Firefly (and I love the show too!)
After watching That 90s show I couldn't agree more.
The thing about Arrested that made it so great was the rewatch factor. You'd always find new jokes or things you didn't notice on your third, fourth, fifth rewatch. Older jokes got funnier on rewatches too. I go back through the first three seasons and still find new things to this day. That was the greatness of the show.
As logistically impressive as season four was, it just doesn't have the rewatch factor. That's why it doesn't feel the way it's supposed to.
It’s funny because I feel like that is where the fourth season shines. There are a bunch of missed jokes in the show because it requires you to have seen the later episodes, so it improves with rewatches, while the first time through was underwhelming for me.
@@nick91884 100% agree
Bro I kept rewatching Seasons 1-3 too, it's just so fun
Same! Ten years later I still find jokes hidden in the background after several rewatches!
@@nick91884 Absolutely. Recently researched that season because Netflix was supposedly getting rid of the show and it held up better than I remembered, but partially because I knew (kinda, some details had been forgotten) so much of it was setup, a mix of teasing and misdirection.
I just binged all of arrested development and holy shit season 1 to 3 has some of the best writing I've ever seen and never failed to make me laugh
I hope you rewatched the episodes at some point. One of the best things about the older season was that some episodes forshadowed future events or there's just stuff in the background that you never noticed during the first watch. Lol. There is surprisingly a lot of foreshadowing to buster eventually losing his arm.
@@hersh23 yeah I did its incredible, just a great show
i think they really stepped it up in the third season, they only got 13 episodes and they 100% knew they were going to get cancelled so they just did what they could and did amazing. classic episodes such as for british eyes only, exit strategy and mr. f, saddens me that netflix made more seasons it was perfect as is.
"I want to check and see if you have a monster."
Hearing Jessica talking about Tambor breaks my heart. RIP
It's very sad to hear. May she RIP
That felt so real. What a human treasure she was.
The "I'm used to a car with stairs" pun made season 4 almost worthwhile.
there's some really funny moments in season 4. the recut is generally an improvement. Season 5 everyone looks tired, bored, and old. it's just not fun or endearing anymore.
Meh
The S4 Remix was garbage. Say what you want about the original cut, but at least it made sense because it was written with the Rashomon style in mind.
The remix was like watching Memento in chronological order, completely pointless. They ruined the best twists and jokes of the season.
I’m not gonna try to defend S5, tho. I personally liked it but it was a mess.
@paula Yep.
Best joke of season 4 was in the first 10 seconds when Ron Howard talks and sounds different and clears his throat to sound normal
First of all, great video, Elk. That outtake with David Cross shit-talking the Fox marketing for the show is still one of my favorite things about the DVD box set.
Although there are a few extra things that give context as to why AD Mk II failed. For anyone interested:
1. This part is just my opinion. It's often said a show's never the same when it's revived. This has to do with both recapturing the magic and adapting a work centered on a specific point in time. Futurama was centered around life in the year 3000 yet still showed a lot of products in the late 90s/00s that still existed such as Napster (dead and long since replaced by Spotify). Once revived, Futurama struggled to stay relevant because by then the previously fringe WWW had exploded and info and news moved way faster, making their references feel dated. AD was a show satirizing the Bush era and the Enron scandal; moving it into the new era wasn't impossible but made difficult by the fact their run had stopped abruptly and was then trying to be restarted in a changing society. Still, this is just minor compared with the rest.
2. The Fateful Consequences edit was a mess behind the scenes. It was still funny, though. The overlapping scenes repeated over and over got tiresome really quick (which was a huge problem when released) but it wasn't a big thing. However, season 4 had an already established contract with the actors regarding their salary for each episode they appeared in. Since FC cut the footage and spread the scenes around, it ended becoming a legal problem as it was a breach of contract and as such required renegotiating payment with the actors. Just something that made a bad situation worse.
3. Season 5 (2018) premiered 5 years after Season 4 (2013). Continuing where they left off should have been thrown out. The FOX seasons were only able to be tightly constructed because of the year after year cycle. If you're gonna set it in real-time, don't recap, much less spoonfeed your audience.
4. The reason Season 5 was barely promoted? Jeffrey Tambor had been accused of sexual harassment on the set of Transparent, another series in which he was the star. The controversy of a man making passes at two transgender actors (as well as a cis man playing a transgender woman) caused Amazon to fire him. With this precedent, FOX and Netflix started getting pressed on social media to fire him as well...just before season 5 premiered. When they didn't, the backlash was immense. Then, the Jessica Walter incident happened which made Tambor, as well as Bateman, Arnett, Cross, and Hale, look like tone-deaf apologists. And then the EW written interview was published making Tambor look like the victim (it's up for everybody to gather their conclusions but the article just circles around the subject without clarifying anything and seems to be more for PR).
5. Portia de Rossi (Lindsay) retired from acting in between season 4 and season 5 and had to be convinced by creator Mitch Hurwitz to appear in at least 5 episodes. This also begs the question: if the actress who has the character you have saddled with the biggest plot thread has retired, why in all 9 circles of hell would you decide to keep that plot point? It's just baffling and another point against season-long arcs in AD Netflix.
Sorry, guys, if this is too long. Didn't know I had strong opinions about this. But AD is (and still is) one of my favorite shows and it's infuriating how it all went wrong and how it never got a chance to be made right. Good programs can be fickle in nature more often than we think and in this age of revivals, genuine effort to keep the series's flavor with budget and time constraints can be even more appreciated when compared to tragic misfires like this. There's no shame in mistakes as long as we try to learn from them. Frankly, I just had to get it out of my chest. When all of this shit happened, it just hurt. Being able to talk about here...it feels good.
Kudos, Elk, and all AD fans. There will always be good episodes in the banana stand.
Love this Dario! Glad you and others can use this as a place to vent and share our thoughts on AD. :)
Your comment is more worthy than most of posts I've read about AD. Thank you so much!
Very well said. And that last part that the last season just hurt I can really relate to. When I was watching season 5 for the first time I went away with a bittersweet feeling that just made me feel empty. It took a while for me to be able to enjoy the first seasons again after that.
I just realized Rossi was in TWO shows canceled too early because she was in that... Better off Ted? I think where she was the corporate hardass
It was a little generic but the cast really put in great performances and she *killed it*
When it came back & was "meh" in season 4, it truly broke my heart! Nobody's crushed me like that since Spider-Man 3!!!
Look how they’ve massacred my boy...
video should have been called Arrested Development made a huge mistake
Underrated comment
"And that's why you don't cancel a show in it's prime." One-armed man
Am I the only one who got extremely confused by the time line after season three?
Nope. It was extremely confusing.
Yes. You're clearly an imbecile! Just joking, it was ridiculously convoluted and took away so much of the warmth that this show about a family of narcissists had.
That’s why they did the retooled version of season 4. Season 4 was done the way it was due to the cast not being able to be all together to do a complete season. Go and rewatch the retooled version of season 4 and it might make more sense
It was confusing but kind of fun to see the pieces all come together at the end (with the weird exception of lucille 2 being missing). The final 2-3 episodes worked well in that way but they required the sacrifice of the rest of the season, which was just "eh"
Thats why I really dont get why everyone hates on season 5 but not season 4. Season 4 timeline absolutely killed the season for me, but season 5 was a bit better.
At least people can discover this gem on Netflix
And the first three seasons are still on hulu
I can still watch season 4, but season 5 is so bad, it's sad. Sad ending.
That ending was bleak as hell.
Same, I just finished it and I refuse to believe that reveal lol
I watched season 4 and it was fine i guess, but season 5 i watched 2 episodes and stopped
I don’t feel like watching season 5 so what’s the reveal
I do realise this ..😭😭😭I have no control ..I will veiw it than just FEEL DiRTY😭😭😤😤😤😤🤯😱😡😠
I actually really like Season 4, particularly the latter half, but it is just so different -- in form, style pacing, and tone -- it really should've been sold as a spinoff or sequel series rather than a straight continuation. It just does not organically flow from season 3.
Same here. I felt season 4 was slow to take off, but the second half of it resonated deeply in me. It wasn't as funny as season 1-3 but it was clever and even more profound in my opinion.
the original version or reedits version?
Same exact thought. It's essentially another series but with the same cast. Like a prologue or something like The Hobbit. It's really solid for what it's worth.
(The original is the superior version; the reedits kill a lot of jokes that are set up in later events where the punchline comes, chronologically, before the set up, robbing the season from one of the few things that made it special)
my main problem with season 4 is that none of the new characters work
the actors are great, Maria Bamford, Chris Diamantopoulos, Terry Crews, but the characters are bad
then a lot of their plot also falls apart
@@dimitreze So true. For comparison, Gene Parmesan was only in one episode in the original series and had a total screen time of less than 5 minutes. But they absolutely killed it in that time and his character was so memorable. All the side characters like Wayne Jarvis, Dr Wordsmith, Ice, Carl Weathers, Barry Zuckerkorn, Stan Sitwell, etc in the original were memorable.
The first 3 seasons were golden. When Netflix revived it, it just wasn't the same. The schedule conflicts and time gap for Season 4 didn't help. Season 5 tried to return to form but still wasn't as good.
Didn't help it was 5 years later and they looked so old by then
Very true about the normal format hurting Michael more than others. His motivation in the first series was to rid himself of this craziness and get back to a normal life. NOw, with all the craziness to contend with, his character must become "interesting" as opposed to "boring" which he was and which worked for him as a character. And so we get this less-than-fun movie-producer arch.
Yep. Exactly.
I honestly feel a better version of that arch was done with Jay Sherman in an episode of The Critic.
@@jordansweet8054*arc
One of my favourite running gags was Buster's hand, even before he lost it they were foreshadowing it. The claw machine he won the stuffed animals from including the toy seal lol
I believe you mean his Marksmanship Award. 🦭
The biggest issue I had with season four, among the many that were pointed out with this video, was that the focus was taken off of Michael attempting to save the family business despite his family's hilariously selfish behavior. The Bluth businesses were essential to the comedy and storyline and it was all sadly wrapped up within the first episode of the fourth season with Michael losing out to the 2008 housing crash and then essentially throwing in the towel. Once Michael stopped being the one point of reason for the family to fall back on he ended up just joining them in a weird mish-mash of off the wall antics and misadventures. That's what killed it for me, didn't even bother watching season five. Just stick with the original three seasons and you'll never be disappointed.
I always like to say Season 4 did well with some of the "big jokes" (A new start, Fantastic 4: An action Musical etc), but not the "little jokes" that made 1-3 great. Thanks for articulating that better than I could
Glad you enjoyed it.
Me:"Oh shoot, I forgot I haven't finished S05 pt 2 either!"
My Fiancee: "No, you did, remember?"
Me: "Ohhh yeah..."
Poor show got really dragged through the mud.
Ha. Yep!
M night did the same to avatar
The video by Plot Points brought this up but I’ll post it here in case anyone’s wondering:
If you wanna watch the Original season 4 of Arrested Development, not the remix, go to the Arrested Delopment page on Netflix.
Click TRAILERS & MORE
underneath a few trailers there you will find all 15 episodes of the season marked Original Cut
Omg thank you so much I’ve been trying to found the uncut version for so long
That’s crazy. This is the most informative and productive comment in youtube history. A sincere kudos. 👍
I watched it but didn't really like the Netflix ones prefer the old ones
Absolutely. The old seasons are infinitely rewatchable.
Who doesn’t lol
@@Syndixal who doesn't ?? i like them all except the last two show...
Netflix sucks
Yeah, you pretty much nailed my thoughts about Michael during the Netflix era. In the earlier seasons, Michael had a moral compass and cared for his son, like when he broke up with a woman who went behind his back to criticize George Michael, but S4 took him and made him a sad pathetic mess who was in a relationship with his son’s girlfriend. There was just no morality from the straight man anymore.
Yeah, I hated that. Michael was never perfect but he was always the show's moral compass and when he did bad things he was super remorseful. He was generally pretty selfless and sacrificed a lot for his family, even to his own detriment. S4/S5 Michael is an entirely different person.
Hearing his voice near the end sounds likes he’s heartbroken on how arrested development died
Seasons 1-3 are some of the funniest stuff I've ever seen. Even through I felt 3 was the weakest of the 3, it was still pretty great.
Season 4 isn't bad, it just feels like a different show. It still made me excited for the future, but it felt very disconnected, I'll actually say the worst part was Michael z every character felt like they were a continuation of their previous seasons except him.
Season 5 had its moments (the Mexican Mr F is one of the funniest parts of the show) but it overall felt really sad. Tobias felt completely useless but was only there to do goofy shit. And I felt that is the problem that the rest of the show has.
Get out of my head, you!
1 and 2 are perfect and 3 has gems in it. 4 is humor tragedy and 5 is humor torture
Season 3 was deep into "the network is making us do a bunch of stuff to cater to a wider audience" territory.
Of all the ones you've done, this was by far the easiest to guess - it's just a shame that FOX didn't back the original enough.
DIdn't want to overthink and get cute. It's pretty clear when this show went downhill.
Fox's scheduling of S3 was such a complete mess it's no wonder the ratings tanked as badly as they did. I remember trying to tune in to watch and the show being rescheduled multiple times. They didn't even pretend to try by that point!
Just letting people know that Netflix blocks PIA's servers so you won't be able to watch anything outside your region with it.
@@dadeleemurphy85 Well there are other VPN services that Netflix doesn't block (yet) like Express VPN for example. PIA just isn't one of them.
Surfshark. CyberGhost, ZenMate still work with Netflix
Why do they do this? They get their subscription money no matter what.
@@bageltoo Typically it is because different people own the same content in different regions and they want to distribute the content through an alternative method. This may be due to old licences, small audiences, or national rules (in Canada 50% of content on an entertainment service has to be made in or by Canadians).
@@bageltoo As Coy pointed out, it has to do with licensing rights. Netflix doesn't actually give a shit - they only do as much as they have to to appease the lawyers.
Because of things like this, new methods of circumventing it are being developed.
Arrested development is my favorite show no doubt. While I agree that AD seasons 1-3 are practically a different show than 4 and 5, I appreciate 4’s experimental plot layout. Of course it had to be done because of the cast’s time constraints, but I appreciate the overlapping of the plot, and AD season 4 is one of the best examples of that plot layering idea
I appreciate them trying something radically different, but I just don't think it worked out creatively. But I'll give them credit for trying.
It didn't die. It retired gracefully at the end of season 3. Everything was as wrapped up as possible. Micheal, the only thing holding the business together walked away and both he and his sister got a happy ending. So did Maibe and George Michael.
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I remember seeing ads for the show when it originally aired and it did not look appealing to me. When MSN bought and streamed it online around 2008 I discovered it and got hooked. I could not believe how good it was compared to how it came off in promotional spots. I have now watched the original 3 seasons about 10 or 11 times. The newer stuff ruins the experience, not worth it overall.
Is there a term for when a revival/unplanned final season is so disliked by fans that most of them don't consider it part of the series canon? Scrubs, AD, and some other shows need the term for that
the new Star Wars trilogy
@@dimitreze the what now?
I've always thought of it as "going the way of Scrubs"
TV Tropes calls it 'Fanon Discontinuity'
Community's "Gas Leak" Season 4.
I do think there is some quality moments in both season four and five, but the pacing is just so different than the rest of the series that it's extremely jarring. I did think the season four remix was better and maybe if they remix the fifth season that will help. The episodes being longer than 21-24 minutes really hurt the show. Too many jokes went on for too long.
So THAT'S why Netflix reminded me of the show's existence lately, I wasn't even aware of a season 5
I never watched a single episode of Arrested Development on network TV. I bought the DVDs and watched every episode a few hundred times. I had Arrested Development parties, where friends came over on a Saturday afternoon and we'd knock through an entire season in one day
I watched Arrested Development for the first time a few months back. Seasons 1, 2 and 3 are brilliant and one of the best comedies I've seen so far. Then I was very dissapointed with seasons 4 and 5. Even my best friend warned me "Just watch the last episode of season 3 and that's it. If you continue, you're in for a let down".
Yeah absolutely agree.
Watching series 4 when it came out just made me sad. Dont think I'll bother with series 5. Never even heard it got made.
It's bad. Just ignore it. Stick to S1-3.
Can confirm. I'd say it's a wee bit better than Season 4, just because they could have most of the actors in the same room again, but not by much. And it's still very weak compared to 1-3. Like Elk, I didn't even hear about Season 5 Part 2 being released and, by the time I did hear about it, I just didn't care any more. Nice to know I didn't miss anything by skipping it.
It’s a testament to how far this show fell when no one talked about the 2nd part of Season 5. Like I forgot about it.
Personally I found the 4th season to still be very engaging as I love the style (rashamon) but the 5th season was quite a letdown
I couldn't even finish season 4 let alone make it to season 5. But I've watched the first 3 season 4 times so far.
I think I tried to will myself into liking S4, but it just wasn't the same. Not even close. I have no desire to watch it ever again. But I'll be rewatching S1-3.
I’m someone who prefers the old seasons,but I honestly was really impressed with season 4,I thought it was both meta and his best display of editing talent.
Exactly my thoughts. Season 4 was very rewarding for the hardcore fans of the show.
Jimba BINGO! most people i know that dislike 4&5 are fairly new viewers or people who don’t give the last two seasons a fair viewing compared to the first 3
@@dmor9717 Nice true Scotsman fallacy there, buddy "they're new viewers, not REAL fans like us" sounds a lot like "if you interpret our religion differently than I do then you're wrong and not a real devotee"
I absolutely love the Fox seasons, but I genuinely think season 4 is highly underrated. Despite the scheduling conflicts, they managed a season that is just as quotable and memorable as the rest. Season 5 however...
So glad I'm not the only one who thinks S4 was a very good show on its own.
Season 5... We don't talk about season 5.
I think the decision to enhance Michael's negative character traits (that was always been there, whether people remember them or not) is the best thing they could've done to his character in season 4 and the Michael episodes would've been some of the most boring without it. Michael is a Bluth after all and although perhaps depressing, the Bluths dragging Michael down with them and turning him into a worse person is literally arrested development (hey that's the name of the show). The narrator has always been the real straight man of the show anyway, not Michael.
I think it would've been much better as a spin off, to see his life in Phoenix with George Micheal and how they go through life realizing they are after all Bluths and tapping into that negative side of their blood to fix life issues, accepting their inherent flaws and using them as a resource, therefore understanding and accepting the family more even just by proxy and by distance
I don’t think I knew season 5 was a thing until I saw a poster on the subway on the way to school. That was really weird, seeing no ads online.
The reason season 5 is repetitive is because Ron Howard had to explain the same plot points a billion times instead of the plot points actually moving forward
Agreed.
Season five directly contradicted a fact said in season one therefore I don’t have to count it as canon
Season 4 and 5 don’t exist. Arrested Development, this 3 only seasons of the show, are some of the greatest in existence
Season 5 has this one joke that pretty much sums up my main problem with the show post-season 3. It's an immigrant talking about all the issues they've had under the American president-pretty clearly meant to bring Trump to the viewer's mind as it was released in 2015- then the guy says "Obama". 1-3 were clever satire. Season 5 is just trying too hard to imitate that and ends up full of cheap, unfunny jokes. It's depressing to watch.
Yeah season 5 was heavy-handed with a lot of the political jokes. it felt like liberal twitter humor.
Seasons 1-3 are absolute comedy classics. Season 4 is decent, I enjoyed it and actually liked the original editing. Season 5 was insanely rough and I couldn't get through it...
Nielsen ratings didn't consider TiVo because everyone skipped the commercials.
Man I remember those days of watching Netflix on my Xbox back when stuff like Hemlock Grove was released and those other shows you mentioned. Not that I watched em but damn time flies. Olddd titles lol.
Recently researched the series and it is amazing how they make the comedy work. Sometimes it takes episodes for a punchline to make sense and when it does, it's hilarious and you have figured out some more of the story. It's honestly genius. Yes the first three seasons are the best but the 4th and 5th season had their moments of hilarity and intelligence
The romance between Gob and Tony Wonder is really one of the up sales of season 4 (and 5 I guess, but 4 was much better imo).
Honestly, I really loved the entire series, even if I can see it's flaws. Though I don't agree it's a problem that season 4 and 5 changed their narrative to be more focused. But I guess it doesn't really bother me much when shows or characters evolve/change over time, even if it doesn't resemble what it started to be in the beginning anymore.
Great video, man. I'll add something I haven't seen anyone else say, here. What helped make AD work--and it's what helps many zany shows work--is that despite any wackiness, at the core, there was heart. The special moments that showed us these characters were human is what made the more insane stuff work, imo. The change away from that in AD is something that happens with lots of shows as they go on. The writers realize the audience is responding to the wackiness, so they up the wackiness and let characters become caricatures of themselves, not realizing the balance was necessary to make it work. The seeds of it were planted in Season 3 (which I still love, btw) and they grew more and more with each subsequent season. If you want a specific scene to see some of the heart I'm talking about, watch the episode where Michael takes the original Marta (RIP OG Marta) to the awards show. There's a scene where they're eating fast food on the stair car and she's crying and he cheers her up and she laughs and there's a big uplifting song playing and it FEELS so genuine to me. I love experiencing stuff like that at one moment then going full tilt the other direction and singing along to "GET THOSE BALLLLLS IN THE AIRRRR!!!" the next.
Well put together my friend! Thanks for the video!
This has to be the easiest one.
Love your videos when you talk about sitcoms. You got to do one on Parks and Recreation.
I loved the earlier seasons so much that when I didn't have Netflix I went out and bought season 1-2 dvd sets... In 2018! that's a legendary status if I've ever seen it
2:39 ive just now caught that the pants Tobias is wearing as meant to have asscheeks hanging out, but instead we can just see his never-nude cutoffs. That's such a layered and hysterical visual gag and i only just now saw it
Oh dang, you’re right, that’s immensely clever!
I decided to pretend the show ended with season 3, season 4-5 was just an absolute depressing mess
9:33 "slow Buster reveals". Those scenes are some of the strongest laughs I've ever had in my life.
It's telling that although I've rewatched 1-3 many times, i couldn't remember if I ever actually watched Season 5.
My biggest issue with the Netflix seasons is that they were a lot more depressing than entertaining. Seeing how Buster was actually treated as a kid was incredibly uncomfortable. No one recognizing Steve Holt was never funny and served more as a sad reminder that some people really peak early on in life and then fall into obscurity. GOB was definitely the saddest character to watch, his relationship with Tony Wonder was great and it would've been cool to see them work together more but the roofie cycle was just heartbreaking to watch. Every time he had a bit of character growth or developed any relationship, he would forget it. It's sad watching his magic performances because he tries so hard but impresses no one.
Buster’s “gentleman leash” 😂
Great video. I was doubting whether or not I should watch the revamp (leaning on not), and this was just the push I needed to make the decision to refrain. First three seasons only.
i’m just now getting around to binging arrested and when I got a couple minutes into the first episode I was like, “why is this show bad now?” so I looked up “what happened to arrested development” this told me everything I needed to know
I loved season 4, but season 5 and the season 4 re-cut sucked
I heard Mitch Hurwitz did the recut while held at gunpoint.
@@sstteev yea it took him years to finally do it
I like to think of season four as an Arrested Development Special.
I could not stand watching season 4 personally, i found it difficult to watch as each character alone makes myself feel lonely and sad. Along with Michael’s unfortunate storyline, which was mentioned in this video. Didnt even bother with season 5
I loved season four. It was adapted to the Netflix marathon format, it was bold and creative and I loved every minute of it. just like the seasons before, you couldn’t really appreciate it until your second watch. Season five is terrible though.
I have the same thoughts as you. Small things like Lindsay wearing ostrich shoes in s01e01 and then ending up with a live one in season 4 is such a great callback that I didn't realise at first.
I'm only on my first watch. Just hit season 4 today and it felt like going from driving on pavement into loose sand. It was jolting, and I feel like I'm just forcing myself to finish the story at this point. I hope it feels better on a second go around, so I'll take your word for it.
It's like taking a brilliant Rube Goldberg machine and saying "Now watch this!" - and now the ball just rolls down a straight ramp for 20 episodes
Seasons 1-3 of AD is the best comedy of all time, including the office, Seinfeld, and curb
This is why I just don't watch television anymore. It just always ends up devolving the further a show goes along.
Pretty sure that is almost every tv showever, unless they end while still on top, like Breaking Bad.
“HBO’s not gonna want us.”
“Well I think it’s Showtime.”
That was an AMAZING and insanely topical joke! Lol.
The “Home Builders Organization” haha that was a clever joke
Agreed! I discovered AD about two years ago through my son, and promptly binged it. When I got to season four, I was like, WTAF?
It died at conception. The idea of a comedy that relies on continuity to build jokes and setup callbacks was never going to work on cable tv. Ironically had it started on Netflix I think it would have gone stronger, longer.
I've only seen the original season 4 episodes. Didn't even bother with the recut or season 5. Honestly I consider seasons 1-3 as one complete thing. One of my top 5 favorite sitcoms
I must be an idiot, cause I actually like seasons 4 and 5 🤷🏼♀️ 1-3 are better, obviously... but the new ones still made me laugh all the time and I really enjoyed them.
The first 3 seasons were an absolute joy to watch. They had everything, and in my opinion were & still are the funniest 3 seasons of ANYTHING ever written. They were absolute genius. Sadly that genius was not utilised properly by the network. Watching season 4 & 5 was a chore, and watching Arrested Development should never be a chore. I tried, I really tried to like them, but sadly the magic had gone. As a die hard fan of the show, it's so sad to see what it had become.
I'm currently halfway through season 2 for the umpteenth time, and am still in knots of laughter. David Cross was hilarious, and Jason Bateman's acting was superb......worth every award.
A series that deserved better
I actually liked season 5 more than 4 but they are both depressing, nobody talked about it in my family and we are all huge fans of the first 3 seasons..."well no ones gonna top that"
The best thing about season four is that it got me to sign up for Netflix in the first place. Which might have eventually happened anyway, but who knows?
My roommate at the time had already signed up to Netflix, so I watched it on his computer. It was quite disappointing. Eventually, Comcast offered me a year free, so I signed up to watch Bojack. Will Arnett is low-key the greatest television comedic actor this century.
I haven't seen the last two seasons yet but seeing this made me sad for them.
It took me ages to finish season 5, and after I did I wish I hadn’t. The ending is so depressing and a complete betrayal of Buster’s character
It’s okay for a show to only be three seasons long.
just watched the whole thing on netflix for the first time. i pretty much binged the first 3 seasons full of enjoyment, had 1 or 2 breaks in the 4th one and considert dropping the 5th one every two episodes. your critique is pretty much on point here. couldn´have said it better.
I love this series! Crazy that it only has three seasons
I only finished 4th and 5th season to see what happened between GOB and Tony Wonder tbh
I felt the show was declining in S3. The plot line with Rita (can't remember if that's her name) is awful. I didn't like the finale either, it screamed of a show that had to wrap up quickly.
I kind of see the last episode and last scene of season 5 as pretty much a metaphor for where the show ended up. Everyone looking around wondering what happened, the silence the stair car driving away one last time. It kind of said more to me the second time than the first time. I think everyone knew how bad this had gotten and instead of ending on a laugh it ended it with that.
Arrested Development is really one of those tv shows that appeals to the right audience. It doesn’t rely on toilet humor it was a breath of fresh air, then it was taken away and given back but not in the same condition 😢 so yes the last scene pretty much nailed it
Season 4 was much different from the first 3 and many people didn’t like it, but I feel like it is amazing on a rewatch, there are so many jokes you miss on the first watch because they reference episodes that haven’t aired yet. It is very rewarding to rewatch. It was made this way on purpose, but I get why people didn’t like it because of the experimental nature of it.
Rewatching season 4 gave me a new appreciation for it (in its original form, not the terrible "remix"). Ended up enjoying season 5 as well. Best to view them as separate runs from seasons 1-3 because, well... they are. That time has passed and things have changed is impossible to completely ignore, but there's still some great stuff in there.
Great piece. I still remember eagerly watching the first of the return episodes and realizing how badly they'd fumbled the season. Seldom if ever have I seen a show go from being so good to being so incredibly bad.
Jesus. I had no Idea, until now, that Arrested Development season 5 even existed 😐
Watch at your own peril.
Season 4 is such a catastrophic no matter which way you edit it
Awesome job! (Loved that show but never had the urge to watch the return and didn't even know they made a second new season). #bellclicked
Hell yeah! Thanks for clicking that bell. :)
When Arrested Development came to Netflix was the first time I watched it. I was very much in love with seasons 1-3 but couldn't stomach more than two episodes of season 4. It was very obviously a different show that I didn't like. That said now I'll go and rewatch the good seasons
That's what I'm doing! Already in the middle of S2 and loving it.
Part of the problem with the Netflix episodes was the slower pacing. They should never had messed with the original pacing, even though they had more time per episode. Also, the distracting plastic surgery.