My people are from Kentucky, but even I've never seen as much damned incest as the Arrested Development series finale having sex with itself.
The Arrested Development series is done. It has not officially been announced as such, but Fox took their last four episodes of the season and shotgunned them back to back against opening night of the Olympics. They're obviously done with it.…
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— go to most recent comments26 - Smugness comes from Superiority...
And superiority comes from being able to spell better than the author. So it is earned.
Still, a bit dangerous to play the smugness card with sentences like "figuratively jumping the shark in a metaphorical context," don't you think?
The mention of 'The Simpsons' is beyond funny. The characters dont develop. They're all static representations.
Anyways, you jumped the shark, in that metaphorical contextuous (rhymes with incestuous!) way so I'm off to make fun of some more King of Queens fans.
27 - Bob Loblaw
Reading that drivel, it is quite clear why you are nothing more than a pseudo-critic on some random blog.
You should work at Burger King. I hear it is a wonderful restaurant.
28 - Matthew T. Sussman
The voice in my head tells me to never, ever, ever, ever rush to Al Barger's defense.
But he's right.
You know, sometimes a sit-com brimming with cleverness from day one needs to end early so as not to ruin the mystique and water down the series as a whole. Please watch The Drew Carey Show or That '70s Show as examples of great chemistry and memorable one-and-a-half-dimensional characters that overstay their welcome.
And here's something I'll throw out there that may have not been thought of yet: Suppose the show lasts three more years and has no sign of stopping: suppose actors and actresses want to pursue a movie career. Suppose David Cross gets tired of the show, and Portia de Rossi wants to explore her options, or the teenagers are offered their own show on Disney. Now you have to re-write the show and compromise its plot to serve the selfish will of the actors.
Look at Drew Carey. Kate left a void.
Look at That '70s Show. Ashton Kutcher left (obviously) but holy shit Topher Grace, the main character, leaves in the final season? Who wants to watch it at this point (notwithstanding that Donna went from standout redhead to cookie-cutter blonde?)
And rather than bitching about FOX cutting the show or Barger for cutting up the show, you'll be whining about how they stayed on the air too long.
Christ, some people are never happy. Enjoy it while it lasted. Buy it on DVD.
29 - Al Barger
Suss- you've only got one voice in your head? It's underpopulated, I say.
30 - Al Barger
Al's Mea Culpa: I made one actual factual error in my memory of the Japanese investor story, now corrected. It was Tobias rather than Gob stomping the model houses like Godzilla. Same point, but still my bad.
I also managed to trip over spelling a couple of tricky names. I looked one of them up while I was writing, but still ended up with an extra "e" in Maeby. Sorry.
31 - Justin
Do you even watch the show? The whole basis is set-up around a documentary theme. The fact that some of the jokes and events on the show go on and on from episode to episode gives it that "real" feeling. If it just dropped jokes and events every episode it would be just another "Raymond". Arrested Development is the best comedy on TV now, thank god they did not tie it all up, and left room for it to continue if Showtime and Mitch decide to go all the way.
32 - Al Barger
Mr T (comment 25)- Your silly spitefulness doesn't impress me, but you do have a legitimate point about Seinfeld lacking character development but still being an outstanding and successful show. In that regard, it is the exception that proves the rule.
Thing is, Seinfeld was doing other things very well besides the character development that they avoided. It was largely a comedy of manners, with continuing sharp dissection of social manners and such.
Seinfeld was just a much better show. It had a lot more going on to fill the character development void than William Hung or the same couple of jokes played out endlessly.
33 - LP
Wow. I like how many of your criticisms completely missed the point. I like how most of the things you said were unfunny were just jokes that flew over your head.
I like the fact that you have no idea what you are talking about.
No, seriously, I like it. The comedy of your post is one of the funniest things I've read today. If only it were intentional.
34 - Fox Executive
what's " Arrested Development"?
35 - AW
I would like to start by saying I agree with basically everyone who commented on this article. It is absolute drivel, and I feel less intelligent for reading it.
This basically sums up why most of America did not watch this show: they don't get it. Let me attempt to explain some of this. Arrested Development does repeat a lot of the same jokes, but *that's the point*. It adds a level of satisfaction for someone who has watched from the beginning. This is not a creative drought on part of the creators. This is them serving their remaining audience, which consists of loyal viewers. We're the people who laughed at every "COME ON!", who snickered at the name of GOB's yacht, and who actually appreciated the repetition in the final thirty minutes as a CALL-BACK to the pilot episode. As for the mock trial, coma, etc.: Do you think that *anyone* who likes the show is actually convinced that these are plausible scenarios? Do you think we like the characters because they are oh-so developed and relatable? Of course we don't. We love these situations because they are ridiculous and impossible. We love the characters because they have made us laugh non-stop for the past three years. Maybe that's just weird of us; personally, I think that's what TV's all about. Sadly, people like you can't stand to have their brains tested by a comedy, which is why shows like King of Queens run for years and Arrested Development is driven into the ground.
I don't understand the problem here. Why can't America be as committed to its comedies as it is to shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives? Obviously, Mitch Hurwitz overestimated the intelligence of our viewing population when creating this show. All we want are mindless, laugh-tracked, feel-good shows about fat husbands and their pretty wives, and you are doing nothing to improve that image.
So, thanks for your misguided attempt at cleverness and wit. Your gross misinterpretations of Arrested Development, its viewing audience, and television in general were pretty amusing, and your idiocy has made my day that much better. Have fun watching Bernie Mac!
36 - Sam D.
The trouble with writing comedy is that you have to stick your neck out every forty-five seconds and say THIS is what I think is funny. If someone wants to come along and criticize you, chance are you gave them a fart joke or a pun as ammo, or, in the case of the above review, every single "joke."
But really your piece is an object lesson in how hard comedy writing is. You are really sweating to get laughs up there and succeed not a once. Having been so humbled, perhaps you will now cast a kinder glance at the work of those who actually have the gifts you were so completely denied.
37 - Sister Ray
What kind of nightmare world do we live in, anyway? A witty television show is brutally mis-marketed and eventually canceled, plunging humanity into abject darkness. How could a just God let this happen? It is to scoff.
38 - brian
hey al, go suck a cock you fucking nut gobbler...AD is the best tv show on and you can now go back and watch your "humor"? of according to jim, bearnie mac, everbody loves raymond, and all the other so called sitcoms.....
39 - David C
Hey Al, maybe Mitch Hurwitz can't hear your lame critiques of his brilliant show over the sound his Emmys are making.
40 - brian
hey al...just busting ya man, i agree with ya the finale was alil over done, but it was a great show nontheless....like you stated it had its moments
41 - Alfred B
I won't even dignify this pitiful "article" with a comment. The Internet grants too much power to people with very little intelligence...
42 - El Bicho
can't comment on AD, but The Simpsons jumped the shark once Homer became an idiot and Conan left. Seinfeld jumped once Elaine became George.
43 - Matthew T. Sussman
I won't dignify Alfred B's comment with a comment of my own. I sure won't. Nope. I'm saying nothing about it.
44 - will
I came to the AD party late, but have become somewhat of an addict since first renting the season one DVD last year. Since discovering the show, I have watched each episode on DVD at least 10 times (including the final four already), and I have bought extra copies of the DVD's to give to random people to spread the word about AD. I love the show as much as anybody else.
So don't bring the "Do you actually WATCH the show, do you GET IT? Or do you watch Bernie Mac?" crap with me.
This third season has been downright mediocre. I agree completely with this review. Why am I supposed to find Tobias saying he likes hot sailors funny? Oh, because he's questioning his sexuality. Right. Got anything else? No! Tobias has gone nowhere in three seasons, and it's getting kind of frustrating hearing them rehash the same jokes over and over again. Same with Buster's relationship with Lucille, with Tobias and Lindsay's marriage, with George-Michael and Maeby. These characters are too far within a niche to go anywhere. There are only so many jokes that can come with characters so two-dimensional, and I think the writers have already gone through them all.
I think Hurwitz knows this too. If he didn't, the choice to go to Showtime would have been a no-brainer. It's time to give it a rest. Two and a half seasons was enough.
45 - TJM
First of all, would you like some muffins? I'm going to keep it simple. I thought this article was horrible. I completely disagree; these four episodes were great, especially the last two. The difference in quality between season one or two and season three is minuscule. I would say season three had a slow start, but these last couple of episodes have been on par with the top episodes from the past seasons.
46 - Jason P.
You know what? I found this article two-dimensional because all it does is rag on one of the greatest shows ever to grace the TV screen.
47 - Al Barger
Folks, now I've been called names, criticized and knocked around by all kinds of folks on the net, but I've got to say that some of you AD fans have less apparent critical intellectual facilities than a Pretty Ricky fan- and are more passive-aggressive hateful than a Mariah Carey Lamb.
Let's drop back a step on this consideration, then. Let's grant for the sake of argument that I'm a no-good-sumbitch too stupid to live. You found me out.
But that STILL doesn't make AD's finale good art of any kind. No matter how bad I suck, that still doesn't make any case at all for AD.
So, you'll make more ground with me by actually making positive arguments about why you think this show was really good, and explaining where all these great jokes are that I supposedly didn't get, particularly in these final four episodes.
If you in fact come up with a really good twist, that's an argument for your show, and I'll be glad to acknowledge it. Indeed, I readily concede that the show had its moments.
But which ones, exactly?
48 - Mr. F
"Sacred cows make the tastiest burgers.
Get in my belly!"
Genius? I've heard "get in my belly" so many times, it definitely outweighs the repeated (and creatively executed) motifs you complain about. (Also, I added a period in your little cow saying.)
And STOP EATING SO MANY COWS! If you live THAT free, you WILL die!
P.S. This is not a personal attack. Just lookin' out for you.
49 - Too Much Press
You've already gotten too much press. Peruse the-op.com or TWOP forums for positives about AD. Its unfortunate that you've already gotten this much readership when you really don't deserve it. Whether someone likes AD or not, your argument is poorly constructed.
50 - will
Responding to post #48, here's a forum with a bunch of fan favorite lines from the finale.
http://forums.prospero.com/foxarrested/messages/?msg=10464.1
51 - Teddy
wow... i cant say what has not already been said. al, the show is called arrested development, and you worry that the characters are in a state of arrested development? you call yourself a critic, yet you seem to have a very difficult time criticizing the show. the show is built around recurring themes, variations and callbacks, its an intelligent humor, something that you apparently are not able to grasp. i hope you have another career option al, because this one looks like its going nowhere, fast.
now, the whole idea of how the show ended was brilliant, because if it was indeed the end, it ended off with a solid ending, similar to seinfelds, actually, but if they choose to continue, then they have a whole new begining, the show came full circle, but still left a pretty nice opening. and did you really not think the "my name is judge" jab was clever? or how about the incredibly detailed sets? if you dont find these funny that leads me to believe that you dont know what these mean, and are therefore unqualified to write an article about tv's best show, Arrested Development.
52 - Teddy
also, i forgot to mention that its pretty rough to tie up all these loose ends when 13 episodes were cut out in the last 2 seasons (4 in s 2 and 9 in s 3)they were basically told that they had to wrap it all up with just 4 episodes to be filmed, its not that easy with such a brilliant, intricate, interwoven plot.
53 - clappy
Actually, I've found AD fans to be really good with criticisms of the show - if it's justified. If your article had shown a lot more depth, thought and appreciation of the show and fans in general (regardless of whether you like it or not) then you probably wouldn't be copping all this flack. The fact that you clearly don't seem to have watched many AD episodes at all and just don't GET the intention of so many of the jokes is what makes people not want to listen to anything you have to say.
54 - Will
Yeah, we're a rude bunch. 'Course, last time some insensitive twit said my recently deceased favorite pet turtle was a horrible example of the species"much worse than that cute fat turtle/thin turtle couple who showed *real* character development"I gave him a shiner. Guess I'm just the type who's sensitive when somebody comes along with their nose in the air, a false sense of superiority, and pure glee dripping from every syllable of their hackneyed ramblings about the demise of something they seem to have never understood in the first place.
Seriously, if you don't find humor in the show's situations, absurdist comedy, and frequent call-back jokes, you could have written this article half way into the first season. But no, now that a critical darling with a cult following is likely gone is when you pull out your knives"though I must congratulate you on such a fearless, hipsterish, and even, dare I say it, cliche and one-dimensional, method of "criticism." Now that it's probably over, you can safely bitch about something that everybody else said was genius but that you never really caught on to; you can pull out the "I liked them back when..." card used by music critics when an acclaimed or cultish band they didn't actually like in the first place faces its inevitable backlash; you can be the pundit who proclaims "I'm fair and balanced"vote Republican!" In short, you can disingenuously try to pass yourself off as a fan of the show while saying that the show stunk. It's been done to death, though, so you, sir, you must have huge balls to use it to make those arguments. Shame brains and honesty don't seem to have come with them.
Or... oh, wait! It was all satire! Since you're obviously so brilliant, what with your big words and all, you knew all along how absurd it was to bash a show for becoming cliched and one-dimensional by using the most cliched and one-dimensional method of criticism in existence. I only wish I'd been smart enough to catch on sooner so I wouldn't have had to get so worked up over things. Bravo!
55 - Fox Sux
Ok, I've never read your stuff before, but this alone tells me that you're in way over your head. At least on this one. Let me explain the Judge Reinhold-William Hung bit to you buddy. Arrested Development, an intentionally wacky, albeit brilliantly (yes, brilliantly) written show, was portraying a version of the reality courtroom shows like Judge Judy, arguably the DUMBEST television genre this side of Dancing With Celebrities in the Stars on Ice or whatever. Making 'Mock Trial With J. Reinhold' even dumber was the exact thing they had to do to make that storyline fit the tone of the show. And aside from the points you tried to make here when you CLEARLY don't fully get the show, what's dumber than William Hung? Not to mention that having a band also goofs on the talk show format as well. If you were looking for Sir Lawrence Olivier, you went to the wrong place. If you were looking for hilarious satire, not to mention irony.... nevermind, you certainly weren't. You missed all that by a mile.
MORE A.D.
56 - LovePump
You lobbed that one right over the plate,Al... Home run.
57 - John
I disagree, basically because I found it funny. That's it. It made me laugh. I'm not going to give a lengthy speech about what is funny and what isn't, because everyone has a different opinion that they are entitled to.
Personally, I loved the finale and how it wrapped everything up with constant call-backs as far back as the pilot episode. Every time someone says "Come on!" or "I've made a huge mistake" I laugh.
I've never seen a comedy that had such brilliant continuity while still making me laugh. Loved it.
58 - Captain Hook
Your argument is just plain wrong. I dont know how someone with the ability to write such a long piece can completely miss the point.You shot your wad prematurely with your ridiculous premise, which unfortunately left this mess of a review on your hands.
Do you draw random shows out of a hat and review them? And to think, some poor soul who never watched the show might stumble across your writing.
I would cry, but I can't spare the moisture....
59 - Circumvrent the blog
You're not getting paid for this, right?
I think this site should make it clear that such authors are not accomplished journalists.With writing like that, surely not even Mr Barger thinks he has any credibility.
A true fan of the show wouldn't claim to have seen 'most of the episodes'.They would beg, steal or borrow to make sure they saw EVERY episode.They would then watch them again and again.
Commenting on something you seem to know nothing about is pointless. What were you trying to gain by writing this piece.
It has simply shown everyone what an incompetent reviewer you are, and I doubt that many people will ever read your work again.
60 - Jill Carroll
Damn! I can't believe I missed the season finale. Oh well, maybe I'll catch it on DVD.
61 - 3 YEARS OLDER?
The problem is Al, there are no fans of Arrested Development. There are people who OBSESS over it.
If you continue to "talk snack" on us folk, you aren't going to achieve any more respect. If a writer can write a well written article, no typos, no made up words, and no redundant phrases, and then stand by it and not have to defend it, then you might have respect from people who disagree with you.
I've never watched "Will and Grace" - for a reason. However, If I watch the finale, and only because it is the finale, and write an article on it, I have little to no room to judge the entire series by it, much less make up false-plot lines.
Hey ADdicts! Remember that episode when Kitty drove the cabin to Las Vegas to get Lucielle out of the Circus Olay act. That was guud.
62 - Ron Howard
narrator: It sure was....
63 - Alfred B
Matthew T's comment...Where's the dignity?
And Arrested Development is too whimsically nuanced for a two-bit online critic to comprehend.
Tell me, if you don't consider Friday's acts of happenstance "art," then what on TV DOES qualify as "art"? Skating With Celebrities, perchance? Or are you just a LOST bandwagon whore?
(And I in no way am I bashing LOST, for I believe that it is a great show; I just think this "critic" jumps on the shows that are "in".)
64 - Matthew T. Sussman
You guys are freakin' hilarious ... you don't like what Barger says, so you try and undermine his credibility to absolve your own pain.
I'm not certain what the difference between him and a "reputable TV critic" is, if there is such a thing. They all have TVs.
65 - Al Barger
Now, sometimes tv shows flop and don't find a big enough audience to sustain them for reasons not the fault of the creators. They weren't promoted by their networks, couldn't draw the press, or they were just too much for most people to absorb for some reason. From recent years, I personally lament the untimely ends of Titus and Dark Angel.
Consider, however, the possibility that Arrested Development was perhaps just not really quite so good as both ardent fans of the show claimed. I've actually tried to be nice about it, but the ridiculous hatefulness of some of y'all is wearing out my charity.
Now on the other hand, if you want to consider a really good classic sitcom that really amounted to something, and made a mark on the culture, TRY THIS ONE.
66 - DrRaoul
I was made to believe there would be grilled cheese sandwiches here.
Mr Barger, I am not dissing what you do.I'm not going to say you are a terrible writer, nor will spout any hatefullness.
What I will say is that your article is ,at best, misguided. It is clear to read in your argument that you never really followed the show very well, but simply hoped onto the bandwagon of kicking a show when it's down.
This will happen alot in the next few weeks.Fans of the show shouldn't let it bother them.To follow this show was a very personal experience.Losing this show feels like losing a close friend.
Before you tell me to get a life, Barger, I would say to you: get a real job. Writing is clearly not your thing
67 - Ta Da
you want us to argue with you over what is funny?
go back to clown college you downer.
68 - Al B's husband.
It took you that long to say that you don't like Arrested Development because it over uses the same jokes? - You can really recycle an idea yourself eh?
Also,could you please list the shows you think are better than Arrested Development? It would help point out your bad taste in humour.
69 - Al B's husband.
minus "u"
70 - Al B's husband.
and you're the woman again tonight. sorry.
71 - Sam D.
"Titus" is the overlooked classic. "Titus" was just ahead of its time. The show whose stature is going to grow with time is "Titus." It will come to be thought of as a tragedy that -- while the cast was all still alive -- they did not make more "Tituses."
It all makes even more sense now. Please feel free to dislike "Arrested Development" all you like.
72 - Smack of Ham
There's not much original going on in the final four episodes? This isn't a review of "According To Jim" we are discussing.
What TV shows have ever had their characters stumble upon Saddam Hussien look-a-likes living in a model home? Or had an actor inadvertently hire his actual sister's character as a prostitute? Or had a character pretending to be in a coma to woo a nurse? Or had various combinations of brothers, sisters, and cousins become physically interested in each other just because they found out they are not related by blood? Face it - these comedic ideas are not typically going to be found on CBS primetime.
And as for your comment that the last episode, which took place on a yacht as it did in the first episode, proves that the writers had run out of ideas - you couldn't be more wrong. Do you think that after only two-plus seasons of writing a show with this many characters that the only conclusion they could come up with was to steal a premise from the first episode? This is what writers call closure - it's a callback, a neat symmetry, to the start of the series, in case this was indeed the last episode. If this weren't the possible last episode of the series, do you think they still would have ended up the season on the yacht? The writers are far from creatively bankrupt. They're still running jokes faster than you can follow them.
AD is a tricky show. It requires an investment in time (to view each episode) and intelligence. Those that watch the occasional episode cannot appreciate the nuance of the humor and can more easily write it off.
It's fair to say you didn't find it funny. But to say that this show, of all the recycled garbage on TV, has lost it's originality or is somehow ordinary, is completely misguided.
73 - Alfred B.
I have to agree with the unfortunate demises of both "Dark Angel" and "Titus" -- their premature dismissals are a blow to quality programming (the former more so than the latter), but "Arrested Development" IS one of the greatest comedies of all time, and it is the premiere sitcom of this millennium.
74 - will
Did any of you really read this article?? Barger is a FAN OF THE SHOW. IT MAKES HIM LAUGH. He obviously "gets it." He can obviously appreciate the satire, recycled jokes, etc. But only up to a certain point. The recycling of the jokes has gone way too far, and the mock trial and Buster's coma really weren't that funny. And I'M A HUGE FAN OF THE SHOW (read post #44), so I too appreciate the humor and get satisfaction out of recurring jokes. Up to a certain point, that is.
Barger's not the only critic saying what he's saying. Other critics are losing excitement over the recurring jokes, too.
Here's one. Click on the "URL" link under my name on the left. Look at the fourth to last paragraph of that review.
75 - Reputable TV Critic
I'm not certain what the difference between him and a "reputable TV critic" is,
Since you asked, when reviewing a show, we would get characters names and situations correct the first time through. It shows we actually know something of the show in question.
We also don't think lines like, "the spentness of the premise" or "they've absolutely six kinds of worn out". are particularly clever, regardless of the backwoods-intellectual vernacular the writer is trying to create for his character.
The writer seems to have missed the whole point of the finale. They were obviously giving back to the fans who had been around since the beginning. Also, the whole Judge sequence appears intentionally bad, but the irony was missed.
People are certainly entitled not to like the show, after all, it didn't take with a lot of people, but I must call into question the writer actaully being a fan because it appears he didn't get the show.