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| Show Reviews |
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Arrested Development
Mike McGann
09/01/2005
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Produced by: Imagine Entertainment
Network: ABC
Scheduled: Tuesday, 10 to 11 p.m.
Reviewed on: WPVI Philadelphia
Channel: 6 (64 digital)
 A TV show that is probably too smart for its own good––one probably too
interesting for network television. That describes Arrested Development, created
by Mitchell Hurwitz and produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.
The show is
best described as an in-situ-comedy-pseudo-documentary- soap opera. Imagine the
Young and the Restless on mescaline, shot by drunken NYU film students. Oh, and
it’s funny, too. Shot almost entirely with handheld cameras and featuring
narration by Ron Howard, the show focuses on the dysfunctional Bluth family,
which seems to have but one sane member, Michael, played by Jason
Bateman.
From a technical standpoint, the show is shot like a film. Despite
the extensive use of handhelds (which I suspect is something of an inside joke)
the shots are rarely jerky or annoying, but more like a satire of slice-of-life
films. The sound is good, as is usual with Fox shows, and includes an excellent,
if not overused Dolby Digital surround mix.
In an era when Survivor is
considered thought-provoking television, it is nice to see a show not aimed at
the lowest common denominator.
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