Despite being heaped with critical praise and winning multiple Emmy awards, FOX had slated Arrested Development for cancellation last season. True to snarky form, the writers incorporated the cancellation rumors into the plotline. Adam Sternbergh wrote in New York Magazine (April 2005) “Its tenuous status has become an explicit metajoke on the show. When Fox recently cut the show’s season from 22 episodes to 18, the writers had Michael Bluth complain that a construction contract for his company had been cut from 22 houses to, yes, 18. (His father grouses, ‘I heard about the reduced order. Those bastards!’)”
The ever-present threat of cancellation is due in part to the fact that the show is not an easy sell. There’s no single comedic situation with which you could easily describe it. Almost a mockumentary, the irreverent Arrested Development skewers white-collar crime, conservative Christianity, actors, magicians, and the recovery movement.
Every institution deemed essential to American life is up for grabs. Here’s a few examples:
The show also sports a sly gay sensibility. Gay icon Liza Minelli surprises and delights as neighbor Lucille Austero (aka Lucille 2), a dizzy (literally) adversary to Lucille Bluth who beds swishy mama’s boy, Buster. Her willingness to mock her own public image, and her amazing comic timing, is a reminder of what makes her such a great talent.
But the biggest gay theme is the ongoing speculation about the sexual orientation of Lindsay’s husband Tobias. Tobias is a mincing wannabe-actor whose word choices always seem to involve fruity double-entendres. Michael finally points this out to a clueless Tobias, suggesting that Tobias tape record himself speaking throughout the course of the day.
In another queer turn of events, Maeby is horrified when her mother, Lindsay, flirts with one of her high-school crushes. Maeby ingeniously curtails the competition by telling the boy that Lindsay is actually her father, adding, “And the worst part is he thinks he’s passing.”
You know you’re watching progressive television when the gay, straight, and transgender folk are equal targets for satire. In a recent interview with The Advocate (September 13, 2005) Portia de Rossi remembered being upset by the faux lesbian subplots on her last television show, Ally McBeal, and feeling exploited by McBeal creator David E. Kelley’s eagerness to have her character, Nell Porter, fool around with another woman. De Rossi recalled, “Here I was really worried that it would be the end of my job on the show, and he was so titillated by it he wanted to write a whole character arc about it.”
In stark contrast, she felt respected enough on the set of Arrested Development to introduce producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer to her then-girlfriend, Francesca Gregorini, and to talk to her young co-stars about their gay friends. De Rossi told The Advocate, “I asked both of the [teenage actors on the show] if they had any gay friends at school, and they were like, ‘Sure! Steve’s gay, Sarah’s gay….’ If I was 14 and knew some gay people, I wouldn’t nearly have had the struggle I had. Our world is definitely changing.”
Now that Portia is officially out as a lesbian, and the set of Arrested Development is officially a gay-friendly work environment, making a weekly commitment to watch the show can be counted as a sedentary form of activism. And if you’ve never seen Portia’s comedic side, you’re missing out (two words: “chicken dance”).
In the new season, Lindsay and Tobias further explore an open marriage, although unfortunately for queer Portia fans, their affairs will likely continue to be of the opposite-sex variety only. One object of Lindsay’s affections early on is Scott Baio, who replaces Henry Winkler as the family’s attorney.
Meanwhile, cousins Maeby and George Michael continue to deal with the fallout of their kiss, Buster can’t seem to get out of the Army, Lucille starts to date while her husband remains imprisoned, and Michael romances guest-star Charlize Theron–another good reason to watch!
Activism, guest stars, and the gloriously out de Rossi aside, the best argument for tuning into Arrested Development this season is the fact that it is quality television. As the Emmys continue to roll in, the show is sure to catch on and finally garner the audience it has always deserved.
Season Three of Arrested Development premieres Monday, September 19 at 8 pm EDT/PDT, and the second season DVD comes out on Oct 11. Visit the official site or comprehensive fan site the-op.com for more information.
