October DVD of the Month: Arrested Development - Season 1

October is a fairly dead month this year for DVDs. Later on this month, I will offer my Halloween movie suggestions with a list of great horror movies. That will be your retro renting guide, so here's the new one:

Arrested Development? What's that, Darren? You have never mentioned that here! For the retarded among you (come on, raise your hands!) here's a guide:

Arrested Development is the winner of 3 2004 Emmy's: Best Comedy Series, Best Writing In A Comedy Series and Best Direction in a Comedy Series. This was not enough. Nominations for one cast member wasn't enough. Everyone deserves to be nominted. There's not a weak link among them.

AD follows the wealthy and slightly insane Bluth Family. After their patriarch is jailed for insider trading and some light treason later on, its up to the only sane one, Michael, to save the family business: real estate development. Problem: the rest of the family. Michael has worked for the company for years and finally takes charge after his father is put in jail. Michael's son is George Michael, who works at the Bluth banana stand, a striving business in today's low carb world. While Michael's father, George Sr. is in jail hocking new religion and tweaking the nipples of undercover feds, Michael's mother, Lucille, is at home keeping the illusion of being happy and extremely wealthy. She loves taking care of her accidentally - scratch that - drunkenly adopted son, Annyong (which is "Hello" and not his name, despite what the family believes.) Everyone else, she loves screwing with them and their lives. Her daughter and Michael's sister is Lindsay Funke (pronounced Fyun-kay.) Lindsay is a shopoholic, obsessed with appearance and almost never working. When she is, it is normally upper class wife charity drives including H.O.O.P. (Hands Off Our Penises - an anti-circumcision movement) which puts her on the Jewish Defense League's shit list. Lindsay also enjoys strange business investments such as beads, Dip-A-Pet (custom pet coloring), and "Mommy, what will I look like" a business that shows parents what their kids look like in several decades mostly for the worse. Lindsay's husband is Dr. Tobias Funke, a man who quit his psychology practice to become an actor. His sexuality is a mystery to the family. Nevertheless, Tobias and Lindsay have a daughter, Maebe. Maebe is a constant troublemaker who made up a fictional disabled sister, Surely, to get some sympathy money. Maebe is also the source of affection for George Michael, her cousin. Michael and Lindsay's brothers are Gob (like the biblical Job) and Buster. Gob is an "illusionist"/out of work magician/self proclaimed ladies man. He's willing to help the family out, which normally entails him banging George Sr.'s nutty secretary, Kitty Sanchez. Buster is a highly educated mess, childlike and a major mama's boy. Buster is frequently jealous of Annyong who gets most of Lucille's affections. To make up for this, he dates Lucille Austaro, Lucille Bluth's arch nemesis, after accidentally flirting with her at a party. It is convenient for Buster and "Lucille #2" because she lives in an apartment right across from Lucille Bluth.

I hope you laughed several times during that season 1 overview. If you didn't, the idea of Julia Lois-Dreyfus as a blind lawyer with a seeing eye dog named Justice, Heather Graham as a ethics teacher who loves Sadam Hussein, Carl Weathers as Carl Weathers and Liza Minelli as Lucille #2 should make you chuckly. But more importantly, you must check out this DVD. It is over 8 hours of comedy (that's almost 4 movies!) and I guarentee you will laugh more in a single episode than what you did during any movie released in the past year. Here's some great one-liners from this series.

Lucille Bluth (on homosexuals): "Everything they do is so dramatic and flamboyant. It just makes me want to set myself on fire."

Lucille Bluth (on Buster's lack of companionship with his siblings): "Everyone's laughing, and riding, and cornholing except Buster."

Lindsay: "Michael, if this is a lecture on how we're all supposed to whatever and blah-blah-blah, well, you can save it, because we all know it by heart."

Lindsay: "I'm tired of trying to find happiness through lies and self-medicating. If you need me, I'll be at the bar."

George, Sr: "You should have seen the face he made when - well, he's my twin brother, I'll show you!"

Annyong: "Annyong."

Kitty Sanchez: "Can we please talk about something other than my breasts?"

Publicist: "There are very few intelligent, attractive and straight men in this town."
Tobias Funke: "Well, that leaves me out."
[Silence, everyone stares]
Tobias Funke: "She did say single, right? I-I-I thought she said single."

And Angie's favorite...
Michael: "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Arrested Development - Season 1 is available to own on DVD October 19.