In June of 2004 a comedy show entitled Arrested Development was broadcast on the Fox network. The show was done in a mock documentary format, very similar to the show The Office, and followed the lives of the members of the fictional Bluth family, who lead excessive lifestyles well beyond their actual financial means.



The family is selfish, greedy, overly materialistic, vain, underhanded, sneaky, and deceptive and yet the audience cannot help themselves but fall in love with them. In fact there are only two exceptions to the characteristics of the family, and that is in the main character of Michael Bluth (played by Jason Bateman) and his son George Michael (played by Michael Cera) who both care for their family's well being despite their ways.

The driving force in the show was more often than not attempts by Michael to control the family business and get his father Michael Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor) out of jail from charges ranging from tax evasion, embezzlement, and even light treason. Other stories revolve around Michael trying to keep his family as close to normal as they can possibly be.

George Michael is struggling with an attraction to his cousin Maeby (Alia Shawkat) who is not his biological cousin, Michael's brother G.O.B. (which stands for George Oscar Bluth II and played by Will Arnett) who is a scheming magician who rarely succeeds. The show's most prominent stories were the ones that made the audience question why Michael would put up with his family.

The show, however, ended in 2006 with an episode that showed Michael and George Michael letting their family fend for themselves for once. The ending of the show came as the series was starting to gain a major cult following due to the outrageousness of the characters reactions to the very serious situations around them.

The show was also notable for featuring many talented actors such as Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Jeffrey Tambor (who played two roles), Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jessica Walter, and uncredited narration from Ron Howard (who is also a producer on the show).

While many fans were disappointed by the cancellation, on February 2nd, news broke that Mitchell Hurwitz is working on a script for a film version of the series. This has led to major buzz as the actors have already been called about the film, which will supposedly wrap up the series and is expected to have major cameos as the series itself did.