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Arrested Development S5 |OT| And the one producer who had no choice but to keep them all together
- Thread starter GK86
- Start date
Care to elaborate? I find myself agreeing with most of the posts in here, that it's not as funny as it used to be. If you have a different perspective, I'd love to hear it.
My first watch he was meh.
On my second watch I thought he was pretty great.
The introduction to his character encapsulates it.
"Did the skit start? I don't have a hook."
i have a feeling he's actually a cop or journalist or something. (murphy brown duhlol). Probably sent in to infiltrate the Bluth Family
and of course it's Tobias that brings him in. This isn't the first time Tobias has been merrily fooled into spying on them.
I really enjoyed the first half of the new season. They played it very safe, but I didn't hate that after season 4. I grew to love season 4 even before the remix. It nipexperimented a great deal, and had some glorious hits amongst a few notable misses. Season 5 is more fan service than anything else so far, but there have been plenty of memorable moments. Ron Howard BBQ, Maebe and George Michael, everything Buster, Tobias's acting, Gob's confusion/award speech, all the Michael and George Michael stuff. All fantastic; all better than season 3's Wee Britain episodes.
I wanted more Lucille and Lindsay, although they both had some fun moments, and I'm surprised by how much I'm missing Kristen Wiig's Young Lucille. I thought Seth Rogan was a lousy Young George, but Wiig practically feels like a cast member to me at this point. George feels a bit directionless and underutilized so far, and Kyle Mooney's character feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Hopefully they'll both be developed in stronger directions in the second half of the season. Those are really my only complaints.
Overall, I'm very happy, and can't wait for more.
I wanted more Lucille and Lindsay, although they both had some fun moments, and I'm surprised by how much I'm missing Kristen Wiig's Young Lucille. I thought Seth Rogan was a lousy Young George, but Wiig practically feels like a cast member to me at this point. George feels a bit directionless and underutilized so far, and Kyle Mooney's character feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Hopefully they'll both be developed in stronger directions in the second half of the season. Those are really my only complaints.
Overall, I'm very happy, and can't wait for more.
Stan tried to adopt Lindsay before the Bluths could but wasn't her actual grandad. We don't know about her birth parents.
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The whole stopping in the middle of the season is weird. Either you give us the whole season, or give an episode or two every week to build hype. This way you just get this weird cut-off, and I'm going to forget everything until the next half drops. Pick a lane, Netflix.
The current method allows them to inflate the number of new titles coming to netflix this month. But yeah, it's like they're trying to mimic broadcast patterns (Fall Season -> ~Two Month break during the end of the year -> Spring Season) in a completely nonsensical way.
It was a callback to George Michael realizing that they had a direct feed from the prison.
"Am I the boy?"
If they were interested in the Emmys they'd probably have worked a little harder on the writing.
Finished the 3rd and 4th episodes, still barely any laughs. Maebe is the only character that's working for me, the rest just feel really tired. The spark just isn't there, the scene with Michael and George Michael meeting in the hallway felt like it went on forever and there wasn't a single laugh until the Matrix bit at the end. Likewise the scene with Michael and George Sr in the model home.
Watching these I feel like I want the show to end now, which I never thought I would say. The budget has obviously been cut back a lot, energy of the old seasons isn't there any more and everyone looks so incredibly old. This chubby, wrinkled version of Will Arnett just isn't the same.
Watching these I feel like I want the show to end now, which I never thought I would say. The budget has obviously been cut back a lot, energy of the old seasons isn't there any more and everyone looks so incredibly old. This chubby, wrinkled version of Will Arnett just isn't the same.
The narrating and flashbacks seem a lot more frequent compared to previous seasons.
Gob looks like he's been out of the magic game for some time, they should followed that as a story instead of pretending everything was the same. It's like having Mac from always sunny but nobody commenting on how different he looks.
The family interaction isn't the same and as mentioned everyone is knackered, the actors are all good but aren't given anything to show off with. Tobias now comes across like a parody character he would play in earlier seasons, along with a sidekick.
Making old references doesn't make up for not having quality writing. It is disappointing, given how brilliant this show used to be - I hope they don't do another season.
Gob looks like he's been out of the magic game for some time, they should followed that as a story instead of pretending everything was the same. It's like having Mac from always sunny but nobody commenting on how different he looks.
The family interaction isn't the same and as mentioned everyone is knackered, the actors are all good but aren't given anything to show off with. Tobias now comes across like a parody character he would play in earlier seasons, along with a sidekick.
Making old references doesn't make up for not having quality writing. It is disappointing, given how brilliant this show used to be - I hope they don't do another season.
Man this was rough. I don't even know if I'm gonna bother with part 2 when it comes out tbh. It's crazy that there's more new AD episodes on the way and I might not care enough to even watch them.
Just watched the first 5 episodes and it's nothing short of terrible. I don't even remember half the callbacks from season 4, so obscure, they should have just started fresh.
What really annoyed me was it was incredibly obvious Portia de Rossi wasn't in 90% of the scenes with the rest of them and used body doubles. In the scene in the apartment, her head was conveniently cut off as she stood in the background, just horrible scene framing, they didn't fool anyone.
Buster was also completely under-used and of course, that was just a trick because he was likely filming veep or something. Really bad use of his character.
Maeby is absolutely the star of the season, they actually gave her stuff to do and she rose to the occasion.
What really annoyed me was it was incredibly obvious Portia de Rossi wasn't in 90% of the scenes with the rest of them and used body doubles. In the scene in the apartment, her head was conveniently cut off as she stood in the background, just horrible scene framing, they didn't fool anyone.
Buster was also completely under-used and of course, that was just a trick because he was likely filming veep or something. Really bad use of his character.
Maeby is absolutely the star of the season, they actually gave her stuff to do and she rose to the occasion.
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Finishing this half season and I'm fairly down on the whole thing. Season 4 didn't hit completely for me either but I can excuse that with the circumstances of the whole thing and how they still made something that was really smartly put together, with intertwining plots that made for good payoffs if you could keep it all together.
Season 5 feels like the opposite. The plot is just so meandering and confusing, I don't think I could summarize succinctly what is even happening anymore. The gags are also not hitting with the same punch they used to. It's just not as laugh out loud funny as the previous seasons and I'm not sure I can point out specifically why, though it seems I'm not alone in the sentiment.
I never thought I'd say this but perhaps they shouldn't make anymore after this season.
Season 5 feels like the opposite. The plot is just so meandering and confusing, I don't think I could summarize succinctly what is even happening anymore. The gags are also not hitting with the same punch they used to. It's just not as laugh out loud funny as the previous seasons and I'm not sure I can point out specifically why, though it seems I'm not alone in the sentiment.
I never thought I'd say this but perhaps they shouldn't make anymore after this season.
I really enjoyed season 4 (more than 3), but season 5 is for me the weakest season so far. Some storylines worked well, like Maebe's. I really enjoyed what we got of GOB, though I suspect a lack of availability of Ben Stiller is partly why we didn't get more of it. The stuff with the beach house didn't work. It's *very* not like Arrested Development to have a reveal like that early on in the season, and then all of a sudden everyone is accidentally blowing the existence of the beach house when we've never caught wind of it before.
And why does the beach house need to exist again? I'm not sure I really understand the purpose it serves. Maybe it'll pay off later. I'm hoping a re-watch increases how I feel about it, as a rewatch of season 3 did, but I'll probably wait until the second half drops.
And why does the beach house need to exist again? I'm not sure I really understand the purpose it serves. Maybe it'll pay off later. I'm hoping a re-watch increases how I feel about it, as a rewatch of season 3 did, but I'll probably wait until the second half drops.
I feel like there's gonna be some reveal later concerning Michael's wife
So I just finished episode 8 and yep... I'm on board with this season. The latter 4 episodes were better than anything in S4 for me.
It's not as good as the first three, but I doubt any show will ever come close to that for me. The plot in this season has been a bit all over the place and not as tight as the earlier stuff. But the gags are working for me and I laughed out loud a LOT this season, whereas I think I got a couple of chuckles out of S4.
They seem to have momentum with the episodes too, the second 4 were a lot better than the first 4 so yeah... excited to see what's coming next.
I think the biggest compliment I can give this series so far is that I genuinely feel like watching it again straight away, which is exactly how I felt about the first 3. I hadn't touched S4 since it released until they did Fateful Consequences, which shows just how much I disliked it.
It's not as good as the first three, but I doubt any show will ever come close to that for me. The plot in this season has been a bit all over the place and not as tight as the earlier stuff. But the gags are working for me and I laughed out loud a LOT this season, whereas I think I got a couple of chuckles out of S4.
They seem to have momentum with the episodes too, the second 4 were a lot better than the first 4 so yeah... excited to see what's coming next.
I think the biggest compliment I can give this series so far is that I genuinely feel like watching it again straight away, which is exactly how I felt about the first 3. I hadn't touched S4 since it released until they did Fateful Consequences, which shows just how much I disliked it.
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Man, I really wish they didn't have to cut the season in half. The last 3 episodes was AD at its best. Although the first few episodes really dragged on because it was trying to wrap up stuff from season 4 while also adjusting the story base on the availability of the actors while also dealing with lindsay being written of the show. It was weird all around. Thank god it found its groove again on episode 6. I'm really looking forward to the next half of season 5.
There's something really off about the make up and lighting this season.
Finished 5 episodes so far and... This is kind of awful.
I won't get into all my problems until I finish the rest, but like, the first 3 seasons are pretty remarkable in terms of the directing talent (Anthony and Joe Russo, Greg Mottola, Patty Jenkins, Paul Feig, Jay Chandrasekhar, etc). Ever since Troy Miller and Mitchell Hurwitz took over with season 4 though (which at least tried to ape the established style), and now just Troy Miller on season 5, the visual execution is a fucking mess.
The series is just straight up ugly and unintentionally cheap looking now. Worse, the staging does almost nothing to sell the jokes. It's generic, stationary mid-shots, and the cheeky handheld, cutaway, closeup and zoom shots that made up the visual identity of the previous seasons are almost completely gone.
I don't know why they even bothered if this was all they were going to bring to it :/
EDIT: I went through the remix of S4 before these episodes released, and it was significantly stronger than this.
I won't get into all my problems until I finish the rest, but like, the first 3 seasons are pretty remarkable in terms of the directing talent (Anthony and Joe Russo, Greg Mottola, Patty Jenkins, Paul Feig, Jay Chandrasekhar, etc). Ever since Troy Miller and Mitchell Hurwitz took over with season 4 though (which at least tried to ape the established style), and now just Troy Miller on season 5, the visual execution is a fucking mess.
The series is just straight up ugly and unintentionally cheap looking now. Worse, the staging does almost nothing to sell the jokes. It's generic, stationary mid-shots, and the cheeky handheld, cutaway, closeup and zoom shots that made up the visual identity of the previous seasons are almost completely gone.
I don't know why they even bothered if this was all they were going to bring to it :/
EDIT: I went through the remix of S4 before these episodes released, and it was significantly stronger than this.
AD always had to work on a budget but there are shots in these new episodes that are eye-poppingly bad. Lucille watching Tobias out of the beach house window, George Sr. sitting on the balcony, the terribly composited green screen is just distracting. Like you say, the variety in the camera work isn't there and the lighting on the sets makes every single actor look haggard, even the unbeeped swearing feels wrong and unfunny. It honestly feels like a fan-made web series with the original actors. The music is the only thing that feels the same.
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Same. Lots of back of head shots and very little visual identity and gags. It feels like a shell of its former self, including Season 4.
If this is what the show is going to be from now on, I'd rather they just stopped. I guess I have two episodes left of this season.
Edit: Ahh. Watching episode 6 as I typed this and at the party with Ron Howard, there's a terrible shot of his back to the camera talking to someone, and then an over the shoulder shot of Bryce Dallas Howard talking to Michael, but you can't see her lips moving even though she is speaking. And, there's sound issues!
The eyelines as Michael talks to Ron's dad....
(Ok. the joke with the swan head at the end was good).
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Yup, yup, yup
I was honestly shocked at how terrible this season looked. You'd think a show of this pedigree could secure some talented directors.
Man, the obvious ways they wrote out most of the Season 4 characters is painful.
I groaned when "Marky" drove up and drove off without ever actually being on camera, and Herbert Love face down in the shadows was unfortunate, too.
I'm legitimately surprised they bothered to bring back DeBrie and they're doubling down on the Rebel Alley storyline?
Weird choices all around.
Oh, and where's Lucille 2's brother? You'd think he'd be in the mix with the overarching missing person/murder mystery storyline.
I groaned when "Marky" drove up and drove off without ever actually being on camera, and Herbert Love face down in the shadows was unfortunate, too.
I'm legitimately surprised they bothered to bring back DeBrie and they're doubling down on the Rebel Alley storyline?
Weird choices all around.
Oh, and where's Lucille 2's brother? You'd think he'd be in the mix with the overarching missing person/murder mystery storyline.
Tony wonder in the suitcase was painful. I thought we would get some payoff for that but nope, that was literally the whole gag.
5 episodes in and it's super "meh" so far. Even season 4 was better at this point.
Hoping it gets better as it goes on
Hoping it gets better as it goes on
Disappointed overall. I watched the Season 4 remix right before and loved it, but this just felt half-baked. There were definitely a fair amount of laugh out loud moments, but the plot is a mess, and the way they JUST. KEPT. hiding people's faces/green-screening them, etc was annoying beyond belief.
I'll still watch the 2nd half just because the scenes that ARE good are really good.
I'll still watch the 2nd half just because the scenes that ARE good are really good.
Michael and Ron (pretending to) talk to each other at the party was fucking painful to watch. They could have at least make a meta-joke of it or something... but nope, it was played straight and the whole time I was like "really???! We're supposed to believe from that goofy montage that those two guys are in front of each other?"
I thought it was great. I perhaps should have put </Tobias> at the end of my post.
Lmao, I didn't realize that anything was off in that scene...
Overall I liked it, probably because I'm incapable of paying close attention to stuff like that. I still find the season 4 characters kind of whatever. The Maebe and George Michael stuff is all pretty great so far, and I actually laughed at Michael and his son spontaneously defending themselves in the hallway. I wish the police/murder mystery aspect would be a little more prominent though.
I really dislike that they're trying to double down on George Michael being the silicon valley-esque personality (for a joke, I know). These recent two seasons really showed how integral Michael Bluth was to the show as a straight man for the absurd characters to bounce off. The show's gone really downhill now that Michael is just another Bluth, but if they can somehow shift George Michael into that position, maybe the jokes would start landing again.
That's the point.
Portia de Rossi left the series after episode five.
The season does honestly get better after the Best Family/Lindsey Leaves arc.
Speaking of George-Michael, it's a shame the Fakeblock stuff didn't really go anywhere yet. He's clearly still involved—he defrauded Rebel in the name of it. Also means the unceremonious disappearance of P-Hound :(