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I Wonder If You'll Click or Flee If I Say: "Arrested Development"

My Gut is Telling Me No... But My Gut Is Also Very Hungry / Dustin Rowles

Trade News | August 11, 2009 | Comments (14)

I don’t think we’re getting a lot of mileage out of “Arrested Development” associations anymore. With the exception of Jason Bateman (and Portia de Rossi in the fantastic “Better off Ted”), the projects coming from “AD” alumni haven’t been faring very well. Michael Cera is apparently overexposed; Alia Shawkat has basically just done that Journey video with Ellen Page; Tony Hale has been in everything, but nothing memorable (save for his role in “Chuck”); David Cross has done nothing but embarass himself on screen since “AD”; Jeffrey Tambor had a failed sitcom; and Jessica Walter is on fucking “90210.”

Even Mitch Hurwitz has struck out with “Sit Down, Shut Up,” an animated sitcom that included much of the “AD” cast as voice talent. It’s actually gotten to the point where, if “Arrested Development,” is mentioned, and it’s not actually the long-awaited, perpetually in development hell “AD” movie, then I’m twice as skeptical. The “Arrested Development” tag has been put on more products than the Apatow one, and we have nothing good to show for it.

However, FOX is nevertheless giving Mitch Hurwitz another shot. Hurwitz is teaming up with Will Arnett and “AD’s” other executive producers, Jim Vallely, to bring another new single-camera sitcom to the network. In it, Arnett will play a rich Beverly Hills jackass who falls in love with a charitable tree-hugging woman who can’t stand his lifestyle or values. I assume the tree-hugging woman will be similar to the animated character voiced by Kristin Chenoweth in “Sit Down, Shut Up.”

You could hardly do better than casting Arnett as a rich Beverly Hills jackass, but one has to wonder how long you could carry that conceit. How many ways could he possible hate-pursue her? The good news is, it’s on FOX, so the show will probably only last as long as the premise remains fresh. Which is to say: Three episodes followed by a quick cancellation.


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Comments

I... clicked.
Tried not to but failed.
Meh.

Posted by: Spender at August 11, 2009 10:57 AM

So they're pretty much spinning off Arnett's character from 30 Rock except that pursuing a woman instead of an NBC page with incredible skin? Well, that sounds really just awful.

Posted by: Tracer Bullet at August 11, 2009 10:58 AM

It's probably another curse. After Seinfeld went off the air, with the exception of Wayne Knight's performance in Toy Story 2, everything the cast of Seinfeld touched turned to shit, kind of like some sort of bizarro Midas. The AD guys probably have the same curse.

Posted by: George at August 11, 2009 11:06 AM

Will they just call it "Dharma & Greg" or will they actually rename the show? "Karma & Dreg" maybe?

Posted by: branded at August 11, 2009 11:16 AM

Dustin, you just lost all film credibility... Have you heard of AMREEKA? Alia Shawkat is fucking fantastic in it... Best home run of any AD cast member since Cera in Juno. Really... you can't even use IMBD correctly now..

Posted by: Ted at August 11, 2009 11:17 AM

I've figured out how to avoid most disappointment in TV/movie stuff: don't follow actors. Sure, a director or writer will disappoint you, but they're more often consistent than actors, who don't really determine whether a movie is good or bad so much as determine whether their individual pieces of the movie are good or bad.

If you don't expect anything on the level of Arrested Development from its cast's other projects, you only have one real disappointment from that list: the cartoon.

Posted by: Lucas at August 11, 2009 11:53 AM

I clicked. But just to say I flee

Posted by: Odnon at August 11, 2009 12:17 PM

George - you seem to have forgotten about The New Adventures of Old Christine, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' successful current show.

Posted by: tamatha at August 11, 2009 1:14 PM

Yeah and Michael Richards had that really successful comedy tour, right? I mean, everybody was talking about it.

Posted by: Optimus Rhyme at August 11, 2009 1:32 PM

Alia Shawkat is in Whip It with Ellen Page, I saw her in the trailer. You act like she's not doing anything at all!

Posted by: myysharona (formerly Sharon) at August 11, 2009 1:57 PM

And Portia de Rossi is in Better off Ted! and she's awesome.

Posted by: figgy at August 11, 2009 2:53 PM

the worlds first analrapist.

Posted by: eden at August 11, 2009 4:08 PM

I'd like to third the feeling on this page so far, that Alia Shawkat is doing well. Amreeka looks great, and she has Ellen Page and Kristen Stewart co-starrers coming up to further her career. God I love her.

Posted by: Caspar at August 11, 2009 6:42 PM

Nah, I'm not sure about Maeby. She should stick to producing movies.

Posted by: piedlourde at August 11, 2009 7:26 PM





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