arrested development

1. A 1990s hip-hop band. 2. Critically-acclaimed television comedy which appeared first run on Fox from November 2003 to February 2006. "Arrested Development" is the witty, tightly-written continuing saga of the Bluth family, a thoroughly dysfunctional clan of self-absorbed noveau riche from Orange Co. California -- a group whose gross incompetence in basic life skills is exceeded only by their corruption and sense of entitlement. The story centers around second son Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), the sole capable and kind child of jailed patriarch George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor) -- a man who as the story begins is "arrested" and jailed pending future trial by the U.S. government for allegedly making a quick buck building houses for Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It is left to good guy Michael to save the family's faltering financial empire from complete ruin during his father's imprisonment. Said financial empire consists entirely of the Bluth Company (a "development" firm whose central office is overpopulated by a score of witless drones) and the frozen banana stand from whence it sprung, located near the beach. Living in a Bluth Co. model home of dubious quality with other family members, Michael must also attempt to raise his son, George Michael Bluth(Michael Cera) to be a good person amidst a sea of lunacy. Inmates of the asylum include Michael's twin sister, Lindsay Bluth Fünke (Portia de Rossi) -- a vapid, affection-starved thirty-something with a chronic case of maternally-induced low self-esteem; Lindsay's husband, Tobias Fünke (David Cross), a closeted queer former folk singer and psychatrist intent on becoming a professional actor despite the slight handicap of being absolutely bereft of talent; and their daughter Maebe Fünke (Alia Shawkat), a brash young woman going through normal growing pains without the slightest aid from her oblivious and inept parental units. Putting a twist upon the crowded living situation, George Michael is absolutely smitten with his worldly first cousin Maebe, and is constantly torn between social mores concerning such matters and a burning desire to requit his unrequited infatuation. Mommy dearest is Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter), a devious, manipulative, andmean-spirited witch of a woman with a taste for vodka and the trappings of wealth. Lucille lives with her youngest son Byron "Buster" Bluth (Tony Hale), a lovable simp crushed into a neurotic neediness by his mother's domination. Lucille has grown tired of her oversized pet, but she still needs someone to help zip her up. She has nearly no affection for her jailed husband but his spacey stoner twin brother Oscar Bluth (also played by Jeffrey Tambor) can still spark her pilot light, as he apparently did 30-some years earlier, when Buster was conceived. Oldest son George Oscar Bluth II ("Gob" -- pronounced "JOEB") (Will Arnett) is a narcissistic and self-indugent part-time magician of limited IQ, driven by a need to win paternal affirmation by constantly one-upping his smarter and harder-working younger brother Michael. Sibling rivalry knows no bounds. Contributing to the madness are George Senior's tit-flashing young secretary and squeeze Kitty (Judy Greer); Lucille Bluth's dizzy neighbor, the widow Lucille Austero (Liza Minelli); and the Bluth Company's lawyer, Barry Zuckerkorn (Henry Winkler), the worst attorney ever to have passed the California bar. Narration of the show is capably performed by Co-Executive Producer Ron Howard, of Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days fame. The mastermind who created the series was Mitchell Hurwitz. Hooray for both of them. Due to the advent of the DVD format and the show's rabid and missionary fanbase, Arrested Development's status as a cult classic seems assured. (Buy with confidence!)