I dedicate this post to the 'Arrested Development' super fans who have not forgotten what a banging series it was (past tense). I was rooting for them. I watched the trailers and followed the voyages of the banana stand and all the nutters who blue themselves to mark the occasion. I even got of my arse and joined Netflix for a month (I'm not paying a penny you bastards!!). Yet, one of the best things to happen to television just didn't quite manage to live up to the brilliance of their three glorious previous series.
From the first episode, you knew it was going to be somewhat clunky. The idea of following individual characters rather than the choral format of the previous series fell slap bang on its arse. I grew to find he character of Michael profoundly annoying, largely because he was taking precious air time away from Lucille, Lucille 2, Gene Parmesan and Buster. The idea to cast Seth Rogan as a young George Sr. was disastrous and frankly seemed like a total waste of money in order to pander to Judd Apatow fans. Kristen Wiig was good as Lucille but, to be honest, I'd have rather seen Jessica Walter in a dodgy 70s wig.
In fact, the general lack of Lucille and Buster was criminal. The greatest scene of the entire series was Buster aiding Lucille to smoke. Enough said, just see it for yourselves!
Lindsay's foray to India and Tobias' 'Fantastic Four' musical feat. crystal meth were also pretty banging. Big shout out to my new fave ginger (sorry J-Chas) Isla Fisher who made a welcome guest appearance as Ron Howard's daughter and Michael/George Michael's love interest. She was sassy, brassy and totally off her rocker - let's call her a Lucille-light.
My main beef, the mother of all errors, was the total lack of AD's answer to Mary Poppins, Mrs Featherbottom. I consider her the greatest AD character of them all with such classic lines as:
It pains me to write this review but I'm still glad we got another chance to enjoy one of the greatest creations TV has ever offered and appreciate this exceptional cast of actors.
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