Jason Bateman has “officially signed on” for "Arrested Development" season 5

The Season 4 remix is a considerable upgrade. I remember not long after S4 originally dropped, a fan made a chronological edit that had some obvious problems. The fact that Ron Howard went back to do new narration for the remix covers up a lot of the awkwardness but for the life of me I don’t get the fade to white-black-white to make it look like they’re skipping commercials several times per episode. It’s jarring and really unnecessary when you think about it. Other than that it’s a considerable upgrade

 

I watched the first episode of season 5 and it played exactly like the re-edited episodes of season 4 — cutting between the characters in separate storylines, only occasionally interacting, with what felt like half of the runtime consisting of Howard summarizing earlier episodes. Does it get better? I decided I had to finish watching season 4 first but the constant recapping was driving me crazy... it’s not good storytelling if you have to keep restating what’s already happened.

 

They did that (and stuck to 22 minute runtimes) so they can sell the season 4 episodes as part of a syndication package. But then they don’t seem to have followed suit with the season 5 episodes....

 

The first episode is the only one with a ridiculous amount of unnecessary "previously on..." -type narration, as though they were concerned that we'd all forgotten the events of the previous season already. It's puzzling, but not a consistent problem throughout the (first half of the) season.

 

To be fair I think the audience forgetting the previous season is a concern when it’s been five years (not everyone is going to take the time to rewatch season 4, though getting people to was clearly part of why they redid it)... but maybe do a recap before the show starts... It also seems like the way to make up for a season that didn’t really work is not to heavily refer to it in a new season. But I need to see where it goes.

 

You would think.

 

Ok that makes a lot more sense for the season 4 remix but you’re right about season 5. I enjoyed it thoroughly but if the plan is to syndicate, all they did was create more work later on. Bizarre

 

Just finished watching the Season 4 remix. I enjoyed it quite a bit, mostly due the re-editing it to a 22-minute format. That was my only real complaint a few years ago in that each episode felt pretty bloated.

That being said, while not perfect, season 4 really is a brilliant season of writing and an incredible feat of intricacy of weaving all the storylines and jokes throughout.

Hopefully will break in Season 5 tonight.

 

Yeah the jokes really pop through in this format. I’m absolutely loving it. Just finished episode 13 a few moments ago

 

So, is this the thread for season 5 discussion?

 

Watching the remix now.... Hmmm.. some of the footage almost looks photoshopped or something. There's scenes where it is obvious that people or objects weren't really there. Anyone else notice this?

Trying to fly they season 4 so we can finally make it to 5 but 4 just isn't up to par with the first 3 seasons.

 

Arrested Development Season 5, Part 2 Coming in March - IGN

 

Oh good, I was wondering if it was back yet. We still havent finished the first part of Season 5.

 

Yes that's a problem throughout Season 4 due to scheduling conflicts. It has nothing to do with the remix as it's the way the season was originally shot, although there ARE some new clips in the remix as well as a nearly full scale overhaul of the narration from Ron Howard

 

No one's talking about the rest of season 5 yet?

Spoiler

Seems like that pretty much puts an end to the show, no? I mean, we do get a "on the next..." voiceover, but there doesn't seem to be much story left to tell. And if they do come back, it's pretty much guaranteed that Lindsay won't be a part of it. And they didn't do anything to kill her off or leave the family for good, so...? Honestly, I really got the feeling that this was the end.

Not sure I understand how the writers forgot about Mimi dying during season one. On a cruise. After trying pesto for the first time! I thought may they would play that off at the end as being something Imagine Entertainment changed to make the story more interesting or something but.. no. I guess the writers screwed up? And none of the actors remembered either? Considering how its such an important part of the (presumably final) season it seems odd. Oh, well.

 

I just finished it. It was awful. Painfully unfunny, and it made no sense. The tone and pacing were all off. Too many long stretches of dialog, not to mention the narration (especially the recapping). Truly the low point of the series, and an awful sendoff for the funniest and smartest sitcom I've ever seen.

Seasons 1 and 2 are damn-near perfect, Season 3 is fatally flawed but still good. Season 4 is underrated in my opinion, but it ultimately didn't work on account of its swing-for-the-fences ambition in its structure and the staggering scope of its storytelling. Season 5a started strong but got very cartoonish by episode 8, but I think I was reserving judgment on it until the final eight episodes came out (just to see the whole season in context). Well, that happened today, and I sat through it all, against my better judgment. What a letdown. I don't recommend this to anyone.

 

That was my exact thoughts for seasons 1-3. I thought it was one of the funniest and well written shows of all time. I eagerly anticipated season 4, and then thought it was terrible upon release. The remixed version was much better, but paled in comparison to seasons 1-3.

I really liked Gob, but by the end of season 5, I found him painful to watch. I loved the stammering Gob, but his stammering in season 5 is horrible. I thought Jason Bateman's character was pretty consistent throughout, but the others weren't the same. In my eyes, season 4 and 5 have really damaged the "franchise".
One other disappointment was the use of curse words. In the first 3 seasons, the bleeping was very humorous.
Not sure what happened to Portia DeRossi in the last half of season 5. Here's an interesting article about her.

Why Portia’s appearance in Arrested Development has fans baffled

I did enjoy seeing Egg's mom and dad. Who, her?

 

I thought it was pretty funny that the swearing was left intact everywhere except

Spoiler

when they were doing 'The Golden Girls.'

 

I enjoyed season 5, except for the last 5 minutes of the last episode.

 

Just watched the first episode of the new ones. Funny how they have most of the main cast in almost every scene, after how season it was in season 4.

 

Huh?

 

Very smart observation. I never thought that till you mentioned it. Obviously Harold’s messed up hand was dealt with
very well at the time. I’m a big HL fan, and I can’t think of a bigger compliment than the comparison. I always liked
the “way out” there humor of Buster(not unlike Lloyd’s). What was the most disfunctional behavior of them all, was just normal daily life for Buster. The fake hand was used in many jokes quite successfully, I think.

 

I like how they used this in the series (Tony appeared in the VW commercial that featured the same clip and it applies here)

 

Sorry. An auto correct I didn't notice.

I just meant how different it was from season 4 when they couldn't get that main actors together that often.

 

The reviews for the back half of season 5 have been pretty harsh but I really enjoyed it. More Lindsay would have been nice but all the other regulars had plenty of screen time and even though we didn’t get the actual Anne Veal, the references and having her parents on satisfied that itch. I guess Bob Loblaw was never going to be an option...