Arresting television

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From the Assistant Editor / Jonathan Friedman

For the fans of one of the few good shows on television, Friday night will be a bittersweet time. A two-hour special of my favorite television show, “Arrested Development” will air on Fox. But it will likely be the final episode, at least on network television. An Emmy Award-winning show with great writing, memorable characters and scenes that make you laugh until you cry deserved better than this.

“Arrested” premiered in November 2003 after a major publicity campaign by Fox during the World Series. The advertising didn’t do much as the first episode received poor ratings, and the number of viewers has only gone down from there. The show faced cancellation after each of its first two seasons, and it would have happened but for two reasons: a loyal and active following by the few who watch the show and critical acclaim.

After its first season, “Arrested” won the Emmy Award for best comedy series. Just about every television critic (not that we should always listen to them) praises the show. And the viewers who do watch write letters to the network to keep “Arrested” on the air, discuss the show with other fans on various Web sites and make jokes in public that reference “Arrested,” while a couple people respond with nods and giggles of approval and others wonder what they are missing.

But all of this praise and appreciation is meaningless as television networks make money through advertising. And companies will only advertise and pay lots of money for the ads if there is a large number of people, or at least a decent amount, watching the show.

For those of you who don’t watch “Arrested,” and that’s probably most of you, I will try to explain what the show is about. It focuses on the Bluth family, who live in Orange County. On the first episode, George Sr., who heads the family business, the Bluth Co., is arrested for various financial crimes. He spends the first season in jail, the second season on the run from the law and during the current season he is under house arrest.

Meanwhile, George’s son, Michael, must keep the family business going. But he must deal with his three siblings and mother who refuse to work but continue to spend the family’s money (or the company’s money). One brother, Gob, is an out-of-work magician. Another brother, Buster, has a creepy bond with his mother, a hook for a hand due to an attack by a loose seal (and his mother’s name is Lucile, get it!) and must be restricted from fruit juice because he gets too hyper. Michael’s sister, Lindsay, has an on-again/off-again relationship with her husband, Tobias, a possible homosexual and an out-of-work psychiatrist who has a strong desire to join the Blue Man Group but has an unfortunate disorder called “Never Nude” that forces him to wear cut-off blue jeans at all times so that he is … never nude.

Oh yeah, and Michael’s son, George Michael, has a passionate crush on his cousin, Maeby, who may or may not be his natural cousin. And Maeby, although in high school, has a job as a Hollywood producer that she got one day after getting lost at a movie studio.

If all this doesn’t inspire you to at least catch one episode of “Arrested,” I don’t know what to tell you.

The beauty of the show is, despite its outrageous characters and story lines, “Arrested” is sophisticated and well-written, perhaps the reason why so few have chosen to watch it. Ron Howard, one of the show’s executive producers, also does a brilliant narration during each episode to help the viewer sort through all the crazy happenings of the show.

Fox has not officially canceled the show, although Fridays’ two-hour special is at least being considered the season finale. As for whether it will return to the network next season, Fox President of Entertainment Peter Liguori has been quoted as saying it was “highly unlikely” that would happen.

It has been rumored that Showtime is interested in picking up “Arrested.” As a premium cable channel, it does not need the amount of viewers that a network show does. It isn’t official whether Showtime will take it, but “Arrested” fans have already been disappointed by rumors of a pick-up by ABC and HBO, which turned out to be false.

So, for now, we have the two-hour special on Friday. And if you’re a fan of the show, make sure to watch it. And if you’ve never watched it before, I encourage you to check it out. I guarantee you will have many great laughs, and how often do you get that from television today?