Arrested Development - TV-MA
TV Rating: TV-MA
Network: Fox, Syndicated Cast: Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi
Genre: Comedy
Available on: 
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Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that despite its brilliance, this show is wholly inappropriate for kids. The show features mature issues that include lying, stealing, cheating, adultery, implied nudity, drinking, pill-popping, driving under the influence, prison breaks, kissing cousins, jokes at the expense of gay men, Christians, people of color, and the disabled, embezzling, illegitimate children, and all around crooked behavior.
Families might also want to take this opportunity to discuss recent changes in primetime television content. Increasingly, critically acclaimed shows feature very adult themes and material. Why do you think it's difficult to find a family-friendly show as creative and funny as this one on network television? How does cable play a role in this trend?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Marjorie Kase
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT is the story of the wealthy and extraordinarily dysfunctional Bluth family that is left in shambles after father George (Jeffrey Tambor) is sent to jail for embezzling millions from the family's real estate venture capital firm. Levelheaded son Michael (Jason Bateman) is left to take control of the company and the family. He does his best to placate his drunk mother Lucille (Jessica Walter) and his needy siblings; creepy Buster (Tony Hale) who possesses a hook for a hand, insecure, yet popular with the ladies, Gob (pronounced like "Job" in the bible) (Will Arnett), and materialistic twin sister Lindsay (Portia de Rossi). The rest of the family requires less of his attention, but are as equally screwed up. His thirteen-year-old son George Michael (Michael Cera) is in love with Lindsay's daughter Maebe (Alia Shawkat). Maebe's sexually confused father Tobias Fünke (David Cross) sports cutoffs in the shower and possesses an acute obsession with the Blue Man Group. Guest stars are aplenty, most notably Henry Winkler as the family's inept attorney and Liza Minelli as Lucille's vertigo-stricken neighbor and arch nemesis Lucille Austero, who has an Oedipal-like affair with Buster.
Arrested Development is rightfully the most critically acclaimed show on television. The plotlines are incredibly bizarre, unique, and hilarious. The acting is superb and the direction allows for subtlety not possible on a standard three-camera sitcom. Unfortunately, despite its multiple Emmy awards and industry praise, the show continues to draw poor ratings. With any luck, the appearances this season of Charlize Theron and Scott (keeping it in the Happy Days family) Baio as Winkler's replacement will increase the show's popularity.
Parents should know that this show is definitely NOT for kids. Much of the humor is so quick and subtle it is most likely to go over your children's heads. However, aside from George Michael, the lack of good will in any of the show's characters makes this show unsuitable for kids. Families who enjoy Arrested Development might want to check out the equally brilliant BBC mockumentary series, The Office.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentSubtle explicit jokes, likely to go over kid's heads. |
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ViolenceA character is checked into rehab against her will. Another sports a hook after he lost his hand in a freak accident involving a seal. |
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Social BehaviorEvery character, aside from one, is out for his/her own gain. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoOne character is an alcoholic who also takes prescription drugs recreationally. Other characters drink/get drunk occasionally. |
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