The first season of the television comedy series Arrested Development aired
between November 2, 2003 and June 6, 2004, on Fox in the United States. It
consisted of 22 episodes, each running approximately 22 minutes in length. The
first season was released on DVD in region 1 on October 19, 2004, in region
2 on March 21, 2005 and in region 4 on February 23, 2005.
The show's storyline centers on the Bluth family, a formerly wealthy,
habitually dysfunctional family and is presented in a continuous format,
incorporating hand-held camera work, narration, archival photos, and
historical footage. Plot
George Bluth Sr., patriarch of the Bluth family, is the founder and former CEO of
the Bluth Company, which markets and builds mini-mansions, among other
activities. His son Michael serves as manager of the company, and, after being
passed over for a promotion, decides to leave both the company and his family.
Just as he makes this decision, however, George Sr. is arrested by the Securities
and Exchange Commission for defrauding investors and gross spending of the
company's money for "personal expenses". His wife Lucille becomes CEO, and
immediately names as the new president her extremely sheltered youngest son
Buster, who proves ill-equipped, as his only experience with business is a class
he took concerning 18th century agrarian business. Furious at being passed over
again, Michael secures another job with a rival company and plans on leaving his
family behind for good. Realizing that they need Michael, the family asks him
to come back and run the company, which Michael scoffs at until he sees how much
the family means to his teenaged son George Michael. To keep the family
together, Michael asks his self-centered twin sister Lindsay, her husband Tobias
and their daughter Maeby to live together in the Bluth model home with
him and George Michael. Throughout the first season, different
characters struggle to change their identities. Buster works to escape from
his mother's control through brotherly bonding and love interests such as
Lucille Austero, Lucille Bluth's neighbor and chief social rival. George
Michael nurses a forbidden crush on his cousin Maeby, while continually trying
to meet his father's expectations. Lindsay's husband Tobias, a psychiatrist
who lost his medical license, searches for work as an actor, with the aid of
Carl Weathers. Michael falls in love with his screw-up older brother Gob's
neglected girlfriend Marta, and is torn between being with her and putting
"family first". After seeing Michael physically fight with Gob, Marta
realizes that they do not share the same family values and she leaves them both.
To spite Buster, Lucille adopts a Korean son whom she calls "Annyong" after she
mistakes the Korean word for "hello" as his name. Through an escalating series
of dares, Gob gets married to a woman he just met, played by real-life wife Amy
Poehler, but cannot get an annulment because he refuses to admit that he did
not consummate the marriage. Kitty, George Sr.'s former assistant and
mistress, tries to blackmail the company. She is caught in the Bluth
family yacht's explosion, as used in one of Gob's magic acts, but survives with a
cooler full of damning evidence labeled "H Maddas". After previous failed
attempts, and a brief religious stint in Judaism, George Sr. finally escapes from
prison by faking a heart attack. It is also revealed that George committed
"light treason" by using the company to build mini-palaces for Saddam Hussein in
Iraq. Cast
Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth Portia de Rossi as Lindsay Fünke
Will Arnett as Gob Bluth Michael Cera as George Michael Bluth
Alia Shawkat as Maeby Fünke Tony Hale as Buster Bluth
David Cross as Tobias Fünke Jeffrey Tambor as George and Oscar Bluth
Jessica Walter as Lucille Bluth Ron Howard as Narrator
Episodes The episode list below is ordered the
same as on the season 1 DVD collection and not in their original broadcast
order. Reception
= Critical reception = In its first season, Arrested
Development was met with widespread critical acclaim. On the review
aggregator website Metacritic, the first season scored 89 out of 100, based on 24
reviews, indicating "Universal acclaim". = Awards and nominations =
In 2004, the first season received seven Emmy Award nominations with five wins.
It won for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing and Writing for a
Comedy Series for the pilot episode written by Mitchell Hurwitz and directed
by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series,
and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series. Jeffrey
Tambor was nominated that year for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy
Series. Home media releases
The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on October 19, 2004, in region
2 on March 21, 2005 and in region 4 on February 23, 2005. Special features on
the sets include the unaired, full length pilot episode; commentary by
creator Mitchell Hurwitz and cast members on the extended pilot, "Beef
Consomme" and "Let 'Em Eat Cake"; deleted and extended scenes; "Breaking
Ground: Behind the Scenes of Arrested Development" featurette; The Museum of
Television & Radio: Q&A with Creator Mitchell Hurwitz and the cast of
Arrested Development; TV Land – "Arrested Development: The Making of a
Future Classic"; TV Land Awards — The Future Classic Award; Ron Howard Sneak
Peek at Season 2; Arrested Development Promo – "Blind"; Easter Egg — Tobias
Outtake. References
External links List of Arrested Development episodes at
the Internet Movie Database List of Arrested Development season 1
episodes at TV.com