I love this show so much... I don't want it to go away

It's officially over now...so sad! Maybe we'll get a movie eventually!

I've only seen about 5 episodes of this show, and I don't know what season they were from or anything like that, but they were hilarious. Such a brilliant, wild sense of humour.
But ratings are everything in TV land mis amigos...

How can you expect smart shows to be succesful in a world full of stupid people.

quote:

Originally posted by Hope:
How can you expect smart shows to be succesful in a world full of stupid people.

The Simpsons is going on 18 seasons, and still has some of the most razor-sharp writing on TV. But maybe it's the exception, given the popularity of Two and a Half Men and Deal or No Deal...

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:

quote:

Originally posted by Hope:
How can you expect smart shows to be succesful in a world full of stupid people.

The Simpsons is going on 18 seasons, and still has some of the most razor-sharp writing on TV. But maybe it's the exception, given the popularity of Two and a Half Men and Deal or No Deal...

I agree Simpsons is one of the few exceptions, even though the popularity rate has gradually gone down in the past few seasons. Now the majority of the watchers are the devoted ones who have watched since the beginning, and who like and respect it because they understand its intelligent humor. Family Guy is now a much more popular show around teenagers, possibly because the jokes are more mindless and blatant, and they dont have to think when watching it.

I think people are getting more sophisticated tastes. I'm amazed that Lost is as successful as it is. The Office and My Name Is Earl also strike me as two comedies with jokes that require some thought.

Whenever I go to the bakery I always try to pick the most intelligent bagel. I like the bagels with ingredients that are too subtle and sophisticated for regular people to find delicious. Unfortunately, the smartest bagels are always the ones that they only have for a limited time. Although I must admit asiago cheese is one of the most brilliant, creative, and consistently innovative bagels and also one of the most popular.

Mmm...asiago...glarrrggg...

I think the 'everything' bagel is a little uppity, myself. He acts all smart, but he's just playin'.

And don't trust onion. He'll cut your throat as soon as look at you.

Can't beat blueberry. Don't even try.

I know it's getting to be a sore subject, but is anyone else completely and utterly perplexed at A.D.'s horrible ratings?

I mean, what the hell is going on here?
Is it only watched in certain parts of the country?
Were people too busy watching Stacked and Skating with Celebrities to see it?
Do most Americans lack the brainpower to follow it?

I'm not a huge fan myself, but I'm getting there after watching about 3 hours straight of it on a car trip.

Whatever the reason, it sure is annoying. Oh well, reruns are on G4 now, so there's something.

Just buy the DVDs.

I saw a headline on some website news thing the other day that was talking about the upcoming TV season, and it read "They Canceled Arrested Development for this?" So at least people appreciate it, and at least it never got stale. I think it could have been more popular if Fox had kept it in a Sunday time slot.

I was talking with another dude at work about Arrested Development. He didn't like it because he likes David Cross and his character didn't have any jokes. If they would have given David Cross a good character and more screen time that might have been a good hook.

Uhhh... David Cross didn't have any jokes? His character was, well, if not central to the show's plot, one of the funniest people on there. (I prefer his character to his stage persona, actually - Tobias is hilariously insecure, but David Cross can come off as a real dick. Maybe that's what your coworker didn't like?) The best news I've heard is that Scrubs is trying to get David Cross in a guest spot AS Tobias Funke in their upcoming season.

I miss this show, and there will probably never be another like it.

I've been ridicously in love with AD since it first aired, and since it's cancelled and I just started here, I didn't bother to check out this thread. Plus, I gotta admit, I was expecting pages and pages of indepth AD discussion going on here, but there's not. Thats saddening, because this show was pure genious. The amount of work they put into the storyline and dialogue must have been exhausting for Mitch (the creator) and the writers. Which means this show is funny if you casually watch it, but if you actually pay attention, it is absolutely hysterical.

I agree with everyone who is saying to buy the DVD's, because if you give it time, you'll see it's worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by Hope:
How can you expect smart shows to be succesful in a world full of stupid people.

I don't quite agree with that. You definitely don't have to be a mensa member to laugh at Arrested Development, you just have to pay attention. I think that was the one of the reasons it failed at ratings. Your typical viewer is multi-tasking while watching the tube, and if you take your eyes away from the screen while AD is on then you'll miss a great joke

i.e. after Rita is clubbed and drugged in "Forget-me-now", Michael finds her on a bus stop bench promoting Wee Britian. But when Rita sits up and blocks a few letters, the bench then reads "Wee Brain". And that was before the audience even knew she was a Mr.F.

...or at the high school you'll see "Save Surely" posters hanging up before we even know about Maebys alter ego/scam.

There are soo many hidden jokes in this series, that require a viewer to watch it several times to truly appreciate it. Which alot of people won't do, well because...they have a life.

Anyway, theres alot of reasons why it did so poorly, but I really don't think you should include the "stupidity" of viewers as one of them.

I LOVE 'ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT'!!!!! It was the best show on television, bar none! I feel terrible that I never got into it until the middle of the third season during the whole Mr. F scenario. You can imagine how distraught I was when the show ended a few episodes later! Thank God for DVD! I now own all three seasons & enjoy watching them regularly. The first thing I did when I finally got all three, was watch every episode (nearly) nonstop from the first to the last!

The best thing about the show to me, besides the abscence of a laugh track, was the way all of the episodes are connected into one big story. There were no self-contained episodes, each one was a progression of the Bluth family's troubles. This made it so you COULDN'T just be a casual watcher. If you missed one episode, you were lost.

The cast was fantastic! I loved Ron Howard as the Narrator! Jason Bateman was perfect as the straight man, Michael Bluth. Portia De Rossi was perfect as the delightfully vain Lindsey. Will Arnett was wonderful as the clueless magician, GOB. Michael Cera has got to be the greatest young actor ever, with his portraial of the always nervous & insecure George Michael. Alia Shawkat was actually the smartest character on the show as Maeby. Tony Hale was brilliant as the man/boy, Buster. David Cross was the most hilarious character as Tobias Funke, the failed analrapist turned failed actor. Jeffery Tambor was great as George & Oscar. He really made these characters seem they were played by two different people! Last, but not least, Jessica Walter was the best drunken, uncaring mother I've ever seen on television. Lucille Bluth kicked Peggy Bundy out of the stadium!

The guest stars were also fantastic! Henry Winkler, Ben Stiller, Andy Rickter, Christine Taylor, Heather Graham, Justine Bateman, Charlize Theron, Judge Reinhold, Julia Louise-Dreyfus, Bob "Super Dave" Einstein, Scott Baio! I loved Bob Loblaw! His commercial gets me everytime, "Why should you go to jail for a crime someone else noticed?" I have to rewind it several times everytime I watch that episode!

It saddens me that the show is over but, I have introduced it to several of my friends who have also grown to love it! Now, I am no longer alone in my depression.

Tis' a real shame. Tis'.