10 stars belong to the Fox network run of the series. I still remember watching the debut season on Sunday evenings. The netflix reboot was just.........wrong and I knocked off 2 stars because it feels little more than a knock off than an actual continuation of the show. The reboot feels like there's 2/3rds less comedy in each episode compared to the shows in the first 3 seasons. Also, it does a really lousy job trying to pick things up years down the line. More clumsy than offbeat funny. They really could have done better. Maybe it tries too hard but its years too late, maybe it forgot the show had likable characters, maybe it was too busy trying to be a political allegory instead of being funny like, a sitcom. I guess it's true what they say about any art. You can't go back and pretend it's the same. Then again, there's a few netflix reboots that failed miserably after moving to that streaming service (Designated Survivor anyone??].
So the show has the appearance of a reality tv show/mockumentary about a rich family who ends up broke and mired in legal troubles. In the orginal run, it focused on the middle son of the family trying to keep the family and business going despite his desperation to abandon them. The show throws alot of comedic curves and stays fresh for awhile as things get more outlandish. I rank the oringal 53 episode run up there with Fawlty Towers considering the amount of jokes and gags stuffed into a single episode. It is incredible how much they got into one 23 minute episode. Its like a joke every 7 seconds and yet they still develop a story in that. Those first 3 seasons are the fastest feeling and most enjoyable binge watching experience of all time.
Arrested Development had a very strong cult following (sadly lousy ratings) hence its demand for a reboot but honestly the first 3 seasons are a perfect bookend. It ends where it begins under similar circumstances but with opposite resolutions. One can only do so much for people who only think of themselves but are still somehow incapable of helping themselves. That was the lesson learned and leaving it there was right.
If you only know the series from its initial 3 season 53 episode run but never got around to the 4th and 5th season netflix run, you aren't missing anything. They're forgettable. The reboot is like those Gilligan's Island movies after that show ended or the Revenge of the Nerds movies that never made it to theaters. The fast paced humor is gone, the story is a mess, the premise restated during the opening credits is abandoned and instead of the narration helping fuel comedy, it turns into boring exposition most of the time. Like the plot and existence of the characters alone is meant to be the joke and the show was always about black comedy which it never was (more of a screwball comedy than anything else). I question if anyone involved in the reboot really wanted to do it for more than just money.
