Praise be to Gob, “Arrested Development” is coming back for a fourth season and a movie.
Yes, diehard fans, I realize Gob is pronounced “Job” — it was just too good a joke to pass up for all the newbies.
After its cancellation in 2006, fans and critics mourned the end of one of the most clever and downright hilarious comedies in TV history.
During its run, the show intricately blended outlandish physical comedy, incredibly subtle inside jokes and ridiculous pop-culture references including everything from “Mrs. Days.”
To this day, “Arrested Development” rivals shows like “The Wire” in nuance and dialogue complexity.
For some people, this news is the equivalent of the second coming. To say the show has a cult following is an understatement.
Still don’t get it?
I don’t think I’ve seen anything funnier on television than the chicken dance (YouTube it) or laughed harder than when I first learned what a “never nude” was (exactly what it sounds like).
And thanks to “Development,” I’ve found my calling in life — I want to be an analrapist. That’s a combination analyst and therapist.
Sorry. Maybe the joke was in poor taste. Just keep me off of any and all watch lists.
I know these jokes are either obscure references or pure surface-level sexual puns, but believe me, the show is so much more.
The humor of “Development” is almost interactive.
There are running jokes sprinkled throughout the series that recall previous episodes or reference a broader plot theme.
The beauty of “Development” is that I can watch my favorite episodes over and over and catch a joke I missed the first couple of times around.
The show crosses lines it shouldn’t cross (a lawyer who pretends to be blind to gain a jury’s sympathy) and touches subjects that shouldn’t be touched (cousin-on-cousin incest).
What other show of the early 2000s had the audacity to cast Saddam Hussein’s body doubles in comedic roles?
While I remain optimistic that the reincarnated show will be everything I loved when I first watched, there is the feeling that what was once beloved about the show will be lost.
Remember when “The Hangover” was legitimately hilarious? The movie felt inventive and exciting – a breath of fresh air in the comedy world.
And then “The Hangover Part II” was made, and everything about the first movie was seemingly just reenacted in Thailand.
How about the “Die Hard” franchise?
Everything everyone loves about the first couple of movies – Bruce Willis in badass mode taking out some European terrorists in an awesome rampage of violence – was watered down and revamped in an attempt to make the franchise seem relevant in the digital age.
After all the years away from television, “Arrested Development” could very well have lost its edge. The writing may not be as clever or the Bluths may not be able to handle a crumbling U.S. economy.
I’m not really worried any of those problems will actually surface, but I guess I’ll just have to bide my time.
If worse comes to worst, we can just call J. Walter Weatherman to teach the show a lesson.
That’s a guy George Bluth Sr. hired to — oh, just forget it. Do yourself a favor and watch “Development” on Netflix.
 
Kevin Thibodeaux is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Lafayette, La.
 
____
Contact Kevin Thibodeaux at [email protected]