Arrested Development - Season 1 (DVD)

It is amazing to me that "Arrested Development" was not cancelled after its first few episodes, and this is not because it is a bad show, it is simply because this show demands a lot from the audience as it doesn't operate as a normal half-hour sitcom.

Presented with no laugh track and offering up little to no punch lines "Arrested Development" plays more as a half-hour drama filled with sarcasm and intelligent humor that is handed to the audience on a plate saying, "Laugh at this!"

What has proved to be the critics’ darling "Arrested Development" won an Emmy recently for Outstanding Comedy Series and is already considered a classic as it is just rolling into its second season.

Based on the number of special features, deleted scenes and overall extras on this first season DVD release Fox was planning on success from the get-go, and the Ron Howard produced show will be searching for a spot on DVD shelves everywhere.

Not familiar with "Arrested Development"? Well, one thing you can do is take a peek at some of the DVD clips we have to the right but let me introduce you to the Bluth family as you will get to know them well, almost too well as the first season progresses.

Presented in almost a documentary style "Arrested Development" tells the story of the downfall of the Bluth family, primarily centered around Michael Bluth (Bateman), a widower left with just his son George Michael and now a handful of irresponsible adults.

Michael was set to quit the family business, but suddenly finds himself swept back into dysfunction once his father George Bluth Sr. (Tambor) is arrested by the SEC for shading accounting practices, which freezes the family assets and puts Michael firmly in the hot seat as his family looks to him to be their savior while unknowingly doing everything in their power to prevent him from doing so.

What Michael is dealing with is his socialite mother Lucille, his sister Lindsay (de Rossi), her husband Tobias (Cross) and their daughter Maybey (Shawkat), the struggling brother George Oscar Bluth II, a.k.a. Gob (pronounced Jobe) played by Will Arnett, and his pampered brother Buster Bluth played by Tony Hale.

To give you an idea of these characters, Lucille is unemployed and has gotten use to days at the country club sipping martinis, Lindsay is a wannabe social activist, Tobias is a non-nude (can't be naked) wannabe actor/failed doctor, Gob is a struggling magician, Buster is a neurotic professional grad student who has studied everything from Native American tribal ceremonies to cartography. Then their are the children; Maeby is a rebelling 14-year-old and her cousin George Michael Bluth is a 13-year-old boy who has suddenly found himself extremely attracted to his cousin.

So, with that long-winded explanation of the show you see dysfunction is the name of the game and the Bluth family has it and with some slow starting early episodes it is a wonder that this series stayed on television, but it is a good thing it did as you ultimately find yourself wrapped up in the madness that makes up the Bluth family.

Jason Bateman is now proving he has the comedy chops, Will Arnett's sarcasm is a work of genius and David Cross never fails to deliver on every scene he is in, plus you have the gorgeous Portia de Rossi ("Ally McBeal") to round things out, I can't say much more about it.

As for the DVD extras, take your pick, there is something for everyone depending on your taste.

Each disc offers Deleted/Extended scenes and an Audio Commentary on one episode. The audio commentaries are quite amusing, especially the ones on disc two and three considering David Cross is involved and anything with his type of on-the-spot humor is bound to entertain, plus they got together the entire main cast for those two commentaries along with creator Mitchell Hurwitz.

Each disc also has its very own featurettes, whether it is making-of-features, The Museum of Television & Radio tribute to the show, or the TV Land Awards it really provides the gamut of opportunities to go further into the production.

Along with these features disc one offers 29 songs of original songs (audio only) and disc three offers up a peek at season 2 with Ron Howard.

Even though there are this many features the only ones really worth checking out are the disc two and three commentaries, and even those don't really offer extra incentive to buy the set, the show alone sells itself and should breath even more life into a series, which I think was given much more of a chance than most sitcoms are allowed.

This isn't "Joey" or "Friends," it is aimed at a different audience, with a different sense of humor. "Arrested Development" is a cut above the normal sitcom and is a breath of fresh air from the norm. While this is not a show for everyone, I do think people will find themselves intrigued if they just give it a chance.