Give Bluth a Chance

Why do good TV shows have to burn their bras to stay on the air?

by Joey Sweeney

We live in an age so overwhelmed with causes — things to save, things to boycott, things to, uh, research and then decide if it's worth saving or not — that causes themselves have forced us to be cynical about causes. And way below whales, rain forests, human rights, gay marriage, stem cell research, Howard Stern and hundreds of others, there is perhaps the newest splinter group of save-mes: The Save My Television Show campaigns.

As network TV has lost its way to the point of self-parody — check your local listings for the premiere of Fat Guy with Hot Wife and Crotchety Live-In Dad — the about-to-be-cancelled critical fave has become a running commentary on what Big TV wants to do, but simply can't. You've had your Freaks and Geeks, your Grounded for Lifes, and countless others, but perhaps the biggest about-to-get-chopped-'cuz-it's-too-smart-for-TV of all time is Arrested Development.

Arrested Development follows the travails of the Bluth family, who, up until about a year ago, were one of the wealthiest families in America. All that changes when Dad (Jeffrey Tambor, reprising some of the sublime cluelessness he did on The Larry Sanders Show) gets nabbed for some seriously Enron-sized corporate malfeasance. With dad in jail, it's up to recently widowed son Michael (Jason Bateman, in what can only be described as the most perfect role God ever gave to Jason Bateman) to steer the company (and often, his father's court case) into, well, anything that is not hell and degradation. This is not easy, especially when you count in the pesky mother, the activist/fashion-victim sister and her obviously gay husband (Portia De Rossi and David Cross in an amazing spot of casting magic), the crazy magician brother, the crazy mama's-boy brother, and George Michael, Michael's son, who has a bucket full of emerging adolescent problems of his own. Is that a mouthful? You bet!

AD's woes — and the very vocal ministrations of its producers about said woes — go back, it seems, to the very moment the show was picked up in the first place. From the outset, it's been a gamble: a smart social satire, slyly written, ensemble cast with great character acting but no huge stars, and the ridiculous nerve to ask an audience to suspend disbelief and have sympathy for screechy rich people. On Fox, no less.

But, for my money, what has separated Arrested Development — apart from it being a show that I actually watch and enjoy — from its poor-mouthed and doomed write-in brethren has been that when it all shakes out, this may be one of the first shows that has used the chopping block as a marketing device.

Think about it: Here is a show that has basically gotten famous for constantly being ready to go into the shitter. In general, the only times you read about the show are in articles like this. Never mind that the show has won five Emmys, features one of the hottest broads on prime time, or is just so smart you could puke. Arrested Development is famous because it is the Nelson Mandela of TV shows. But guess what? It's the best Nelson Mandela of TV shows on the air right now.

Arrested Development airs Sundays, 8:30 p.m., Fox.

TV/Tivo Tips!

March 10-23

50 Cent House Party
MTV, Fri., March 11, 6 p.m.
Oh, look at you: All home alone on a Friday night and shit. Good thing this is on, because, as it has been written in places like the Bible and the U.S. Constitution: Ain't no house party like a 50 Cent house party, because a 50 Cent house party, well, it simply does. Not. Stop.

Trading Spaces: Through the Roof
TLC, Sun., March 13, 9 p.m.
Now that hot minx Genevieve is gone, it's fun to watch the Trading Places folks scramble to keep it all together. How are they doing it these days? Volume! This time out, Paige Davis corrals no less than 10 designers to take two neighbor's houses and fuck them up completely. This is kind of like one of those porno movies that lasts four hours, but is actually just the same stupid shot 30 times over, just with the actors replaced.

Chappelle's Show
Comedy Central, Sat., March 12, 9 p.m.
Let the pining begin for Dave's trillion-dollar victory lap. Contained herein: "Girls Gone Wild," "Antwone Fisher,'' "Ask a Gay Guy" and "The Mad Real World." Praise be!