Friday, June 08, 2018
Fri-Yay: Arrested Development Returns for a Funny But Hollow 5th Season; FX Orders Atlanta Season 3
by Vincent
Last week, Arrested Development dropped the first half of its fifth season on Netflix (the second half will be released at an unspecified later date, an interesting strategy that Netflix is also using for the fourth season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). It's been five years since the fourth season dropped on the streaming service in May 2013 - and, of course, when the fourth season was released it had been seven years since the abrupt conclusion of the series' original run on Fox. The revival of Arrested Development was one of the first Netflix original series and arguably the major flagship of Netflix's foraging into original content (along with House of Cards). In many ways, it's a great representation of this new era of peak TV. The cancellation of the original run of Arrested Development had long been one of the biggest examples of a network failing a widely beloved series, and Netflix swooping in like a savior to bring the show back after nearly a decade off the air seemed to signal a new era of TV, where a fan-beloved but slightly off-kilter sitcom could succeed and even thrive without the constraints of network television. And yet, through-out both the fourth and fifth seasons of Arrested Development, two thoughts often popped into my mind: 1) It's super cool that they were able to bring this show back, and 2) This show probably should've stayed dead.
To be fair, the fifth season of Arrested Development is not bad. It's an improvement upon the messy fourth season, which had some great moments but never quite lived up to the sum of its parts. The jokes are tighter and funnier, and the chemistry of the entire cast bouncing off of each other allows it to have more of that classic Arrested Development vibe that Season 4 was missing (the fourth season focused on each characters' separate journeys and rarely saw them in the same place at the same time, largely due to difficulties syncing the cast's schedules.) But while the show gets the rhythm and the pacing of Arrested Development right, it all just feels a little tired. The spark of the original run is only there in spurts - in many ways, it feels like the later seasons of many long-running sitcoms, where everyone is sort of on autopilot, getting through the motions of the show without ever truly aspiring for something more. That's not true of everyone - Alia Shawkat truly gives it her all in what may very well be Maebey's best season, Will Arnett does a great job handling some surprisingly emotional GOB material, and Jessica Walter's Lucille is as perfect as she's ever been - but for the most part, the fifth season of Arrested Development never makes a great case for why it needs to exist. That could change when the second half of the episodes drop, as a lot of these episodes felt like they were cleaning up the messes that the fourth season left. But as of now, it's hard to get too excited about the prospect of more Arrested Development, which is something I never thought I'd say before the Netflix revival seasons.
FX has ordered a third season of the critically-acclaimed and award-winning comedy series Atlanta. The premiere of Atlanta Robbin' Season, the latest chapter in the Emmy(R) Award-winning comedy series, nabbed the best ratings of any recent basic cable comedy. The first season of Atlanta won two Emmy(R) Awards as well as two Golden Globe(R) Awards and AFI, Peabody, PGA, WGA, TCA, NAACP and Critics' Choice Awards. In the recently concluded Atlanta Robbin' Season, two cousins work through the Atlanta music scene in order to better their lives and the lives of their families. "Earn Marks" (Donald Glover) is a young manager trying to get his cousin's career off the ground. "Alfred Miles" (Brian Tyree Henry) is a new hot rapper trying to understand the line between real life and street life. "Darius" (Lakeith Lee Stanfield) is Alfred's right-hand man and visionary. "Van" (Zazie Beetz) is Earn's best friend and the mother of Earn's daughter.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Sunday, January 29
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 23)
Friday, January 27
- Maya Rudolph (Loot/Bless the Harts/Up All Night) - Watch Maya on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
- Josh Gad (Central Park/Avenue 5/The Comedians/Back to You - Josh chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Nia Long (Uncle Buck/The Cleveland Show/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Lauren London (The Game) - Nia and Lauren talk about their roles in the movie You People on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Kristin Chenoweth (Schmigadoon!/Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin talks about her new book I'm No Philosopher, But I Got Thoughts on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
- George Lopez (Lopez vs Lopez/Lopez/Saint George/George Lopez) - George stops by to talk about his NBC sitcom Lopez vs Lopez and his life as a single man in Hollywood on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Jaime King (Gary Unmarried/The Class/Kitchen Confidential) - Jaime talks about Lifetime's Sherri Papini: I Kidnapped Myself on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings. She will also be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
- Katie Lowes (How We Roll) and Guillermo Díaz (United We Fall/Weeds) - Katie and Guillermo discuss their new podcast Unpacking the Toolbox on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Kyla Pratt (Call Me Kat/Let's Stay Together/One on One) - Kyla is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 8:50am and on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (October-January)
10/04 - Mr. Mayor - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
10/04 - The Munsters - Marineland Carnival with The Munsters TV Cast
10/18 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete First Season
11/08 - Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/08 - Young Rock - Season Two (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/15 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Seven / The Complete Season Eight
11/22 - That '70s Show - The Complete Series (Mill Creek)
11/29 - Ghosts - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/06 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Christmas Collection
12/13 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season
12/13 - Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
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