Seven years after its cancellation on Fox, “Arrested Development” forges new ground on Netflix, allowing viewers to instantly stream 15 new episodes from their new season. It became available Monday, May 26, and has already sparked discussion amongst critics and fans.
After the great success of series like “House of Cards,” members are begging for more original Netflix content. Netflix is creating content that supports the model – which it created – where TV shows can be watched religiously without commercial breaks. By providing additional material for people who already enjoy their service, they are increasing profits.
Even if people don’t like the show, Netflix doesn’t lose much profit as they are currently dominating the market for streaming movies. “Arrested Development” already had a cult following on Netflix, which made their decision to film a new season a very low-risk decision. By tagging their name to the show, they gain publicity and hope for new audience members who want to see the new show.
Vince Klain, an advertising student at DePaul, is a fan of the show and watched all three previous seasons on Netflix. At first, he was disappointed with the new season because the characters seemed to lack development and felt like the jokes were pointless and not funny. He liked that there were running jokes brought in from previous seasons, but thought that it was too long of a break to start back up again.
When he heard that they might release another new season, he was unsure if that was a good idea.
“If they keep filming, they should just make a movie and then be done – end it on a high note,” said Klain.
Perhaps a movie would give the writers a chance to sum everything up and finally end the dysfunctional family’s troubles. Critics agree that the storyline seemed disjointed, because of the frequent flashbacks and retellings of things that already occurred in previous seasons.
The season was very disjointed as episodes were clustered based around individual characters. With no central meeting grounds, the characters run around like chickens with heads cut off, weaving through dozens of famous guest stars. Even a replica of Conan O’Brian’s show made it onto “Arrested Development.” Although this was fun at times and there could not be a more hilarious choice than Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogan as Lucille and George Sr., respectively, in the past, the characters drag on throughout the season without much purpose – as if the show had much substance before.
It begins to feel like the actors are tricking us, going through the motions of their characters but they no longer have the spark. Even Tobias’ acting as a bad actor starts to get old, and sadly ironic.
One character who never fails to deliver is Buster. The awkwardness between he and Lucille escalates as he inhales the smoke that she exhales from her cigarette to release it outside.
Although reviews are shaky, perhaps this is because of the binge-watching that it entails, which is sometimes not the most pleasant way to view a television show. In time, this could become the new cult classic, which clearly worked for the show the first time. The dense and fast-paced dialogue would perhaps be better digested after a few weeks or months, when we aren’t hungover with our initial reaction to the show.
The uneasy reaction to the show caused Netflix stock to drop, which caused its CEO to comment that this type of programming is not designed for instant reviews. It will go through peaks and valleys as more people hop on the “Arrested Development” bandwagon.
CEO of Netflix Reed Hastings said in an interview with CNBC that his company is willing and ready to create more original content. That seems to be the direction the company is heading, and the country seems to be pleased. As streaming sites become increasingly popular, our standard form of network television is about to be drastically changed.