Before I get into the comparisons, I will go over each show so that the uninitiated (shame on you, and you know who you are!) will be able to better able to understand the comparisons.
Arrested Development told the story of the abysmally dysfunctional Bluth family, who have enjoyed a firm place in the upper echelon of society due to patriarch George Bluth, Sr.'s thriving development company. Starting with nothing more than a frozen banana stand, he eventually turns it into a multi-million dollar company. The first episode introduces us to George's son Michael, who is getting to take over the family business. Unfortunately, at his retirement party, George names his wife Lucille as his successor instead of Michael. Michael is upset by this for about ten minutes, but when the SEC boards the boat and arrests George, Michael's sadness is transformed into shame.
In an effort to get away from his family, who are extremely self-centered and helpless, Michael decides to take another job in Phoenix. But when his son, George Michael (played by Michael Cera!), laments that he has never been able to get to know his family, Michael decides to stay in Orange County and help save the Bluth Development Company.
This sounds like it would be the premise for a trite drama, but thanks to Arrested Develpment's cast of off-the-wall characters and lightning-quick jokes, the show became one of the best sitcoms that I have ever seen.
Michael's job is not an easy one, as he has to deal with his manipulative parents and absolutely dim-witted siblings. His older brother GOB (short for George Oscar Bluth, Jr., and pronounced like the biblical figure Job) is a crappy magician with an inferiority complex that developed from his father's mistreatment of him as a kid, while his younger brother Buster is an overgrown man-child who may be in love with their mother. And his twin sister Lindsay is a spoiled princess and self-righteous "activist" who is married to Tobias, an ex-psychiatrist who may or may not be gay and speaks in unintentional double entendres. Meanwhile, his son is rather timid and cannot speak his mind (Michael Cera tends to play very similar characters, but he plays them incredibly well), and his niece Maeby is a natural-born scam artist.
My favorite character is GOB, can make me laugh just by making a face. Also, his raspy voice has the incredible power to make anything he says absolutely hilarious. His bravado masks spinelessness that is magnified in the presence of his father, whose approval he is still trying to earn. GOB is responsible some of the greatest running gags on the show, from his catchphrase, "I've made a huge mistake" to the playing of Europe's "The Final Countdown" whenever he performs magic. Also, keep this one word in mind: Franklin. It's best not to spoil that one.
Of course, Tobias, Lindsay's husband, and Buster are close seconds in brilliance. I don't think that the writers ever conceived of the levels of strangeness Tobias would achieve by the show's end, but there was never a dull (or comfortable) moment when Tobias was around. He lost his medical license when he performed CPR on a man who wasn't really in need of it, and instead of trying to get it back, he started on a journey to become an actor. This was a journey of discovery, just not self-discovery. His family members come to think that he is gay and realize that they don't want to say anything to him, since he has a troubling habit of saying things that sound really dirty or uncomfortable, but doesn't realize it ("I blue myself"). While Tobias was at his best when he was speaking, Buster was pure gold in motion. Whether he was awkwardly walking around in a stripper outfit at a funeral, or collapsing to the floor in a panic attack, actor Tony Hale made everything Buster did hilarious. Of course, the things Buster had to say were just as amazing (and awkward) as GOB and Tobias.
Michael, although he is the straight man in this ensemble piece, still is a little too messed up to be able to function. Although he acts as the pillar of morality for the Bluth family, he often compromises his morals to help out those he loves (just watch the second episode, "Top Banana" to see what I mean) and can often be just as naive as he chastises his siblings as being (see "Family Ties").
If his family and his own flaws didn't make things hard enough for Michael, he also has to deal with even stranger guest characters. The world of Arrested Development is populated by some of the most incompetent and shallow characters this side of The Venture Bros. Let's start with Kitty, George Bluth's not-quite-right secretary. Played by Judy Greer, Kitty is introduced as a flighty woman whose appearance is off-putting at best. However, with each subsequent appearance, her looks improve until she becomes a knock-out. GOB makes reference to this when he realizes that the woman he once saw as a chore (he reluctantly slept with her to keep her from revealing family secrets) becomes someone he lusts after. But as her looks improve, so does her craziness. Eventually, she becomes unable to have a talk with Michael without flashing him.
Then there is Lucille Austero, AKA Lucille 2, played by Liza Minelli. I was actually upset when I learned that Minelli was a recurring guest actress on the show. Then I saw her, and realized that there is no one else who could play Lucille 2. Lucille 2 is simultaneously Lucille Bluth's best friend and worst enemy (frienemy?); they are social rivals who engage in cliched conversations with backhanded compliments. Of course, their game of oneupmanship escalates when Buster begins DATING Lucille 2. Yeah. It's creepy as hell, but incredibly hilarious.
Lastly (there are so many characters I could talk about, but I will stop here), there is Barry Zuckercorn, the Bluth's slimy attorney. By slimy, I don't mean that he is a manipulative jerk who will step over his own mother to win a case. I mean that he is just a creepy human being who engages in shady activities. Oh, and he's a terrible attorney. He is a lot like Lionel Hutz, the lawyer on The Simpsons who was the lowest common denominator of the legal practice. Zuckercorn tends to be a defendant in court as often as he is counsel, but the Bluths cannot seem to get rid of him.
The show's wit is incredible; Arrested Development is shot like a documentary, so there are no pauses for a laugh track between jokes. Every episode requires multiple viewings, because I guarantee that there will be jokes you miss the first time around. Sometimes they require a lot of thought (the joke about the Seaward early in Season 2) or make reference to a very obscure joke much earlier in the series (in the Season 3 premiere, the joke about, "getting Pop-pop in Reno" is only funny if you remember the origin of the joke way back in the fourth episode of Season 2).
There is also a lot of meta-humor, or jokes that are only funny if you know about events outside of the show. They can be as obvious as references to other shows ("Prison Break-In") to digs at the FOX network for cutting back the episode order to put Family Guy on instead. The show even derives humor from the production notes FOX gave the writers. In order to get more money, the network asked the writers to use product placement with the show's sponsors, such as Burger King. Let's just say that they made it REALLY obvious that they were hyping the fast food chain.
So there you have it. The quick and dirty overview of one of the funniest shows ever. Up next: the overview of Veronica Mars...
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