Fortunately, the silent treatment lasts for less than an episode of Fox’s hysterical new “Arrested Development,” and if there’s any justice, the show, which debuts Nov. 2, will last a lot longer. In a TV season littered with dysfunctional-family sitcoms, “Arrested Development” is the most dysfunctional of the bunch–and it’s funnier than all the others combined. Clever, nutty and utterly original, it’s something like “The Royal Tenenbaums” meets “Malcolm in the Middle,” held together with “Monty Python” Silly Putty. If that sounds like it’s all over the place, maybe that’s because “Arrested Development” works on so many levels. It’s a show that adores wordplay: hence Michael’s son is named George Michael and a tease of a cousin is named “Maebe.” It loves visual jokes, whether it’s the sight of Dad (Jeffrey Tambor) trying to get down with the brothers in jail or the entire family caught in a chaotic gay-rights protest on the high seas. Best of all, “Arrested Development” treats every inane (or insane) twist with utter seriousness, as if the show were a documentary of the absurd, complete with earnest narration by Ron Howard (who’s an executive producer). The result is dry as a martini and just as intoxicating.
Though it sometimes gives you a hangover. There’s a thin line between inspired silliness and just plain silly, and “Arrested Development” can get carried away with cornball jokes–and we mean jokes literally about making corn balls. Still, you can’t fault a show for trying, and for giving the surprisingly funny Jason Bateman (Michael) a show that’s worthy of his talents. In a world where a good food fight can turn a lame sitcom like “Hope and Faith” into a hit, “Arrested Development” deserves to be a smash. And we don’t mean Maebe.
