RED ENVELOPES: Late Development

An unfortunate side effect of my limited television exposure for the past couple years has been that when a decent television program does come along, I'm probably not watching it. I saw -- I'm guessing here -- two episodes of Lost last season. (I've seen all of this season so far, but I don't know if my schedule will let me keep that up.) I've hardly seen The Sopranos at all. I was denied the joys of Alias until my friends at Netflix finally came through for me. This season, that's not seeming like such a bad thing.

Probably the biggest miss for me has been the magnificence of Arrested Development. Evidently I am going to remain a season behind for as long as Fox can be persuaded to keep producing this show. The schedule just doesn't work out. So when the producers of Arrested Development sit around ruing the fact that no one watches the funniest show on television, they can go ahead and take a momnet to blame me.

So I do the only thing I can do. I rent it from Netflix.

Season 2, Disc 1 came yesterday, and I plowed through it. If ever a show could have either rested on its laurels (an Emmy for Best Comedy after Season 1) or given up due to audience apathy, it's this one. And yet, they chose instead to keep being brilliant. Jason Bateman has the best deadpan on TV. The writing staff manages to be completely zany without ever becoming self-satisfied. Jokes from early in the first season pop up again and again, to great effect. And Ron Howard's work as narrator is surely the best thing he's ever done.

The pinnacle so far is found in Episode Four, "Good Grief!" A dejected George Michael (Michael Cera) is walking home after being dumped by his girlfriend. His head hangs comically low, and the mournful strains of "Christmas Time Is Here" play in the background. But the Charlie Brown motif is not complete. No, not until he walks by a red doghouse with a beagle sleeping on the roof.

My wife thought I had hurt myself, I was laughing so hard.

The makers of this show truly care. I admire that. Respect that. And I'm really sorry I can't watch it in real time. But I promise to rent it. As soon as Season 3 is available, it goes right to the top of the list.

I simply hope that Season 4 will be running at the same time.