Dear Mitch Hurwitz@@http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0403804/@@,
Annyong.@@means hello in Korean. it’s a joke in the show when the family’s mother adopts a Korean boy and they think it’s his name.@@ Longtime fan, first-time writer. You recently shared some news that kind of shook things up in the television world, and I felt that I had to let you know how I feel.
You are the creator and executive producer of one of the greatest and most inventive television shows ever made, “Arrested Development.” The show won 23 awards and was nominated for another 38. Critics loved it, but it struggled to rein in a reliable audience. It ran for three seasons, from 2003 to 2005, before it was canceled by those idiots at Fox.
The show follows the Bluths@@http://www.bluthfamily.com/@@, a well-to-do family in Southern California that gets thrown into chaos after patriarch George Bluth is thrown in prison for tax fraud. The cast was hilarious and fresh and the storyline was intricate, incorporating long-running jokes in ways that caught the audience off-guard. The mockumentary-style camerawork was mimicked by “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation@@http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1266020/@@,” among others. The show’s influence on comedy has been palpable ever since its cancellation.
In the last six years, the audience for the show has only grown and whispers of a movie have been circulating. On Oct. 2, you announced that there would indeed be a movie as well as a 10-episode miniseries to catch audiences up on the lives of the Bluths these past six years. And to that I just have one thing to say:
You better be serious.
Don’t play with our hearts here, Mitch. We’ve heard these rumors before. People have been talking about it ever since that series finale when Ron Howard decides he sees the story “more as a movie.” There have been false alarms in the past, and even some in your cast have said that they didn’t ever think a movie will be made. So, when the news was confirmed by Jason Bateman@@http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000867/@@ and Will Arnett@@http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004715/@@, two of the show’s stars, I felt fairly certain that I could get my hopes up without fear of disappointment.
“Arrested Development” has defied the odds and actually gained followers after its cancellation. In fact, it probably has more fans now than it ever did while it was on the air. You guys didn’t have enough episodes for it to be eligible for syndication, but Netflix and Hulu have made the show available to a whole new generation of viewers.
When “Arrested Development” debuted, I was only 12, and the wit and intelligence inherent in the show went way over my head. I discovered the show when I was in high school, and I’ve probably watched the seasons 10 times over — at least. Many of my friends were introduced to the show after its cancellation as well.
“Arrested Development” demands a certain level of intelligence from its audience, and my generation has finally reached that level of intelligence. We read the paper (some of us), watch the news (some of us) and nearly all of us want desperately to appear cooler. And let’s face it: There’s no cooler show these days than “Arrested Development.” It was the underdog, the show that was just better than all the rest, but nobody paid attention to it. That’s how we feel about ourselves, and that’s how we like our TV, damn it!
The point is, you have a special opportunity here. This may well be the first time ever that a television show is revived with the same cast after its cancellation. This is like if Led Zeppelin brought its drummer, Bonzo,@@http://www.thediviningnation.com/bonzo.htm@@ back from the dead and started touring again. Or if a hidden vault of unreleased Shakespeare plays was suddenly discovered in Stratford-upon-Avon@@http://www.stratford-upon-avon.co.uk/soawshst.htm@@. Think I’m exaggerating? Unfortunately, I’m not; my generation has mighty slim pickin’s when it comes to quality pop culture nowadays. We’ve embraced our parents’ movies and music because we’ve realized we don’t get much stimulation from Katy Perry@@http://www.katyperry.com/@@ and “Transformers 3.” A show that was canceled in 2005 is about as close as we can get to “The Godfather: Part II.”
Wait — that’s not a bad comparison. “The Godfather: Part II” expanded on the events in the original, won Academy Awards and became a classic. That’s not too much to ask, right?
Basically, I really don’t want you to mess this up. If this movie/miniseries idea works out, who knows what other TV revivals we could see? This movie is giving us hope that smart, complicated television could be making a revival. It’s giving me hope that next year won’t suck despite both the presidential election and the “Zoolander@@http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196229/@@” sequel. So I hope you realize just how big this whole thing is.
And I hope I don’t leave the theater thinking, “I’ve made a huge mistake.”
Sincerely,
Her?
Brown: ‘Arrested Development’ movie gives me hope for the future
Daily Emerald
October 18, 2011
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