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Positive:
72
Mixed:
17
Negative:
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Critic Reviews
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
This is one of maybe six or so elite series on all of television that you should absolutely be watching. Pitch-perfect acting (ensemble stars Jason Bateman and Jessica Walter were robbed of Emmys) and nuanced writing that staggers you with its cleverness and lunacy makes this more than a typical dysfunctional-family sitcom. [3 Nov 2004, p.E1]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
The reigning Emmy comedy champ debuts its second season with an episode that may well be its funniest... TV bar's for comedy has been raised again. [5 Nov 2004, p.4]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
Arrested Development is, in fact, "Dynasty" as it might be rewritten for the Three Stooges if there were a dozen of them...Sly, wild, clever and just plain nuts, Arrested Development makes you think as it makes you laugh, and one of the things it makes you think is, "Why the hell am I laughing?" Deep in your subconscious, you know. You've slipped on the appeal of a frozen banana. [6 Nov 2004, p.C01]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
What a brilliant, hilarious treasure this show is, a real work of skewed art. It's also the last, best argument against the assertion that comedy is dead on TV. Watch a couple of episodes of Arrested Development and you'll be convinced it's not even ailing. [7 Nov 2004, p.1E]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
The future of TV comedy is a sick one, my friends. A gloriously, brilliantly, deliriously sick one, where a desperate housewife wears a "SLUT" T-shirt on a prison visit, a businessman sells prefab homes to Saddam Hussein, and a pudgy teen lusts after his first cousin. It's a ferociously Freudian future, replete with a pent-up mama's boy, a family-run banana stand, and a disbarred psychiatrist who wears cutoffs beneath his underwear because he's a "Never-nude." That's a phobia about nakedness he's trying to make into a nationally recognized condition...In short, it's Arrested Development. [7 Nov 2004, p.N4]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
Part of what makes his series hilarious is the riotous pace and innovative comedic rhythms that sneak up on viewers. This distinctive style is as different from TV's old "Laverne & Shirley" model as third-wave ska is from Perry Como. [7 Nov 2004, p.F-15]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
If you enjoy seeing wealthy, petty people get their deserved comeuppance, this is the show for you. If you enjoy laughing, this is definitely the show for you - the funniest new comedy of the season by a wide margin...For a show about dumb, unfocused people, Arrested Development is wickedly smart and quick, willing to go anywhere for a good gag. [31 Oct 2003, p.49]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
There are moments in Arrested Development, Fox's new sitcom, that are pants-wettingly funny. There are jokes and scenarios that bend you over in gleeful agony. All of a sudden, with this last new fall series offering -- hope having been beaten out of all of us -- we get one of the most hysterically ridiculous half hours on television.
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May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Arrested Development is very animated but it is not a cartoon. Cartoonish, perhaps, but it is filled with real actors playing surreal people, all of whom have frighteningly identifiable traits and tics. Together they are the Bluths, the latest and at this moment greatest of TV's dysfunctional families. Dysfunctionalism has rarely been as ingratiating or, certainly, as hilarious.
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May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Generous with the laughs. A wonderfully quirky and stylish series from a creative team headed by director-producer Ron Howard, this isn't merely the best new comedy of the season. It's the best new show of any kind.[2 Nov 2003, p.J1]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The best new sitcom to come along in years. [2 Nov 2003, p.C4]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Nobody tries to be funny here, so they're more hysterical than the folks falling all over themselves elsewhere. They're simply hopeless specimens of spoiled humanity who haven't a clue how to operate in the real world. [2 Nov 2003, p.04]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
News bulletin: We've finally found the weapons of mass destruction, or at least one of them. The jokes fly like shrapnel in Fox's dangerously hilarious new sitcom Arrested Development, and, like shrapnel, they often draw blood...A scathingly, unnervingly comic riff on stupidity and greed in the corporate world, Arrested Development is something like a National Lampoon's Wall Street Vacation, painting its targets variously as buffoonish or malefic, but always hitting them dead-center. [2 Nov 2003, p.3M]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
A smart, tart, daring comedy in a season that could really use one. Arrested Development and Mr. Bateman both deserve a long and prosperous run. What a nice, bracing development that would be. [2 Nov 2003, p.3]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The season's best new comedy - we're talking laugh-out-loud funny. [2 Nov 2003, p.F-14]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
The good news is that it's still got game. [7 Nov 2004, p.C09]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The one truly original new show this season and certainly the funniest comedy. It is outrageous. It is odd. It is fresh. It is smart. And, given the track record of such refreshingly sophisticated comedies on network TV, it will be lucky to last three episodes. [31 Oct 2003, p.9E]
May 30, 2013
Season 4 Review:
I suspect it might be a classic that deserves a spot in the pantheon of great, long-delayed follow-ups, though I need to watch the whole thing again and live with it and then write about it again to be sure. That I’d want to rewatch the whole season immediately is, of course, another, possibly higher compliment.
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May 28, 2013
Season 4 Review:
The Rashomon-style storytelling takes a bit to get used to, and the sometimes feverish flow of the jokes (which fans may remember from the hall-of-fame first three seasons) struggle to unleash themselves in the first couple of episodes, but then it snowballs into seven-and-a-half hours of hilarity just waiting for a movie to follow it up.
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May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
An uncommon comedy. Its rhythm is less jokey and requires a little more effort on the part of viewers, but the comedic payoff is better, too...I begged viewers to watch this series last year, and I'm not averse to doing it again: Please watch. If not for yourself, do it for me; if the ratings are low, Fox might replace it with yet another edition of "The Simple Life," and that's not good for anybody. [5 Nov 2004, p.WE-41]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
For all their foibles, the Bluth family seems more real than most stale sitcom clans; the looks that they give each other are recognizable to anyone who has ever been embarrassed or just weirded out by the behavior of the people they love. [5 Nov 2004, p.5]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
If the season premiere is any sign, Arrested Development is going to be just as wacky as last season. [6 Nov 2004, p.13E]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
With faith in its own inspired goofiness, the net's newest Sunday entry reinvents what works --- and mocks what doesn't --- within the confines of the undernourished sitcom world. Critics and viewers clamoring for something unique since the sesh began back in August finally have something to champion ... and boy, is it funny.
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Arrested Development has been hyped to the clouds in a number of ads, all piling on critical encomiums from all over the country. This time they're telling the truth. [31 Oct 2003, p.E1]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
For all its willful outrageousness, Arrested Development is sort of gripping -- a continuing story that one actually wants to see continue, which is more than can be said of most of the new dramas the season produced. [31 Oct 2003, p.E1]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Bateman is a revelation -- the ex-child star is great in this show. The rest of the cast is also very good, the writing is sharp, the humor level is high and it succeeds in creating a different comedy look and style. [31 Oct 2003, p.C08]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
This is compelling in both the broad strokes and the little details. The funny thing is, even at its most absurd, it feels almost realistic, because Hurwitz so precisely sketches his characters and their setting. [1 Nov 2003, p.27]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
Funny stuff. Now if only it could find an audience. [5 Nov 2004, p.51]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
As you might expect from an experimental show that is doing its best to misbehave, there are times when Arrested goes too far. I could live without George Michael's crush on his first cousin, a story given more prominence in a future episode when it really needs less. But for now, I'd say stick with the Bluths, even when their behavior is more alarming than arresting. At least they're not dull. And this season, that's a development worth encouraging.
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May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
The funniest, hippest and most imaginative new comedy on any network this fall. [31 Oct 2003, p.E-11]
The Daily BeastMar 15, 2019
Season 5.5 Review:
Arrested Development’s one-liners and inward-looking allusions fly by at the speed of light, and at this point, the show has long since given up trying to accommodate new viewers. It’s a comedy whose main frame of reference is itself, and while that likely limits its appeal outside its cadre of hardcore fans, its latest go-round reconfirms that, though many sturdy imitators have followed in its wake, it still sits upon the absurdist throne.
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May 24, 2018
Season 5 Review:
Even amid the mad scramble to re-establish plotlines, there are plenty of funny callbacks. ... Luckily, by the third episode of the new season, the cylinders are firing a lot more effortlessly, and the series benefits from having the cast pretty much all back together for shared scenes. Episodes five, six and seven show Arrested Development at its best, taking a full sprint at ridiculously elaborate scenarios.
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The Daily BeastMay 22, 2018
Season 5 Review:
The new revival isn’t perfect, especially in the tone-deaf (and arguably offensive) way in which Tambor’s controversy is mirrored in his character’s, George Sr.’s, story arc. But it also goes a long way to absolve the sins of that first Netflix revival, sins we can forget, but are still a ways away from forgiving. ... Our advice is to just surrender yourself to the constant confusion and instead take pleasure in the clever writing.
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May 29, 2013
Season 4 Review:
It’s a chore to watch and a delight to decrypt. Its overwhelmingness contributes to its initial underwhelmingness. But in time, with a moment to reflect, it begins to feel like the fullest and fraughtest expression of its form. It is, in a perverse way, the “Ulysses” of sitcoms.
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May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
One weakness in the show is that each character has a showoff story line that splinters the narrative rather than unites it. And sometimes the hyper-arch tone gets a little tiresome. But only sometimes. Mostly, a talented cast and funny, imaginative writing make each episode a pleasure. Arrested Development is watched by critics, but it deserves a bigger, perhaps better audience.
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May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
With its depiction of a warped, absurd family, Arrested Development is worth watching for fans of out-there comedy. [2 Nov 2003, p.TV-5]
May 23, 2018
Season 5 Review:
By returning to a relatively more linear narrative, not to mention its truly ensemble roots, Arrested Development has given something back to us by remembering that the Bluths are fundamentally bound by idiosyncrasy. At its best, the series continues to deftly skewer the interpersonal dynamics of a hilariously dysfunctional family.
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IndieWireMay 22, 2018
Season 5 Review:
Some of this can feel a little too tied to the past. Yet even though there are only a half-dozen or so scenes that stand out on their own--as well-written, executed, and bonafide funny stretches that don’t rely on old gags--plenty of minor moments hit the right note, and the series overall isn’t twisting itself into knots anymore.
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May 22, 2018
Season 5 Review:
The season is faster-paced and makes better use of the recurring gags from its entire run. But though it's a considerable improvement on Season 4, the fifth season still can't reach the heights of the first three. ... However, the long gap since its original run gives some cast members the opportunity to shine more brightly.
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May 30, 2013
Season 4 Review:
The cultural references feel a bit dated (the bubble-bursting housing-market collapse, Herman Cain proxy Herbert Love, The Blind Side, and The Social Network among them), and there's too much miscalculated racial humor and preoccupation with sex offender-related jokes, but there's still a plethora of fresh homonym-friendly wordplay, surprising parallels, and witty allusions to delight and preoccupy us until the series pulls off its next magic trick.
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May 28, 2013
Season 4 Review:
Arrested remains a bracingly clever but emotionally cold intellectual exercise of a comedy, one that revels in puns, double entendres, intricately structured set pieces, astonishingly inappropriate jokes, asides, callbacks, flashbacks and, less propitiously, its own inaccessibility.
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May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Arrested Development is one of those increasingly rare network comedy series that dares to assume there might be intelligent life out there watching, viewers who actually know when to laugh. Bless you, Fox. [31 Oct 2003, p.1H]
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
What a dazzling bunch of jerks. Yet, somehow, they are family and you can't help but laugh at them. Arrested Development is so dopey - but slick dopey. [2 Nov 2003, p.39]
May 29, 2018
Season 5 Review:
The first half of Season 5 is perfectly fine. Mostly funny. At moments scintillating. It’s a good time as long as you keep in mind what the show is now. “Arrested Development” was once the story of a wealthy family who lost everything. Now, it’s mostly a story about having watched “Arrested Development.”
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RogerEbert.comMay 24, 2018
Season 5 Review:
Overall, it’s more coherent and consistent than season four (at least the seven episodes I’ve seen) even if it’s not as inspired as the prime of the series. We need to start coming to terms with the realization that it won’t ever be quite that transcendent again, but this season is still often pretty funny.
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May 22, 2018
Season 5 Review:
For committed fans, who have followed the series through thick and (ratings-wise, mostly) thin, the latest comeback might feel like visiting an old friend. Still, the long layoff and a renaissance among premium half-hour series have made the experience pleasant enough, but less of an occasion than it was in the past.
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May 29, 2013
Season 4 Review:
Despite some incredibly funny set pieces--almost all of them involving two or more of the original characters interacting in ways we instantly understand (like Buster helping Lucille deal with the conditions of her house arrest). The new season doesn't really work as its own thing, but as a prologue for this movie that no one in the industry has shown the slightest inclination towards making.
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May 29, 2018
Season 5 Review:
Structurally, Arrested is in better shape than it was in season four. Fans who temper their expectations for this new batch of episodes--eight are available this week with another eight coming later this year--will be happy to be back with the terrible Bluth family.
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May 29, 2018
Season 5 Review:
But trying to recreate the past is almost always impossible, as every TV revival other than Twin Peaks: The Return has been forced to grapple with. And that leaves Arrested season five feeling half finished. It’s fun in places and labored in others, sometimes in the same scene.
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May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
Even if you're confused when tuning in as a first-timer, it's a lot better than not tuning in at all. [4 Nov 2004, p.103]
May 26, 2013
Season 2 Review:
But my ultimate test for any comedy is - what else? - "Does it make me laugh?" Arrested Development seldom does. Not loudly, anyway...It has neither the liberating audacity of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" nor the delirious, anything-for-a-laugh energy of NBC's "Scrubs," the two contemporary comedies that consistently crack me up. It's reminiscent of the taboo- breaking 1970s comedy serial "Soap," but drier, more deadpan, and with less endearing characters. Does it deserve a wider audience than it has gotten? Sure. But I can't imagine it becoming a mainstream hit for Fox like "The Simpsons" or "Malcolm in the Middle."
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
Despite some amusing bits involving the parents, there's a major problem: Arrested Development isn't especially funny. That's the one asset every successful sitcom must have. [2 Nov 2003, p.4]
May 23, 2018
Season 5 Review:
You feel, in the end, like the concept-album strangeness of season 4 has been replaced by an attempt toward facsimile: The old show, recreated. Fun enough, I guess, if you forget that a central part of the thrill with Arrested Development was how completely it could reset the boundaries of TV comedy every week. There will always be money in this banana stand--but there used to be so much more.
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May 29, 2018
Season 5 Review:
The only innovation in these new Arrested Development episodes is how the story processes tensions between Michael and George Michael, who remain in love with the same woman (Isla Fischer), leading to one confrontation that is, I’ll admit, fairly amazing. Otherwise what Netflix has shown reviewers of this fifth season (seven of the eight to be released on May 29 were made available to critics, with eight more coming later) doesn’t justify the continued revisitations to the Bluths.
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ColliderMay 22, 2018
Season 5 Review:
While the family is usually better together, they’re mostly scattered again (with a few strange pairings that don’t really work, like Lucille and Tobias), and the narrative focus is completely on Michael. No one else has much of an individual story yet, and that’s a shame, because the strongest comedy so far comes from the plots that are the most removed from Michael.
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The Daily BeastMay 30, 2013
May 28, 2013
May 26, 2013
Season 1 Review:
A marvelous cast, including Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Walter and Alia Shawkat. Offbeat situations and innovative direction. Your humble critic, however, finds one problem: It's not very funny. [2 Nov 2003, p.H01]
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