4. Arrested Development (2003 - 2006)

Starring:
Will Arnett as George "G.O.B." Bluth II
Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth
Michael Cera as George Michael Bluth
David Cross as Tobias Funke
Tony Hale as Byron "Buster" Bluth
Portia de Rossi as Lindsay Bluth-Funke
Alia Shawkat as Maybe Funke
Jeffrey Tambor as George Bluth Sr
Jessica Walter as Lucille Bluth
and Ron Howard as the Narrator

Arrested Development is the single greatest modern sitcom since, well I don't know. It's a mockumentry about a dysfunctional upper-middle class family called the Bluths. The series starts with a party celebrating George Bluth Sr's retirement from his development company and the promotion of his middle (and dependable) son Michael to the position of COE. But things go awry and the family ends up in significant trouble. Michael is forced to try and keep things going for the family, but as the members of his family are unpleasant, self-absorbed snobs who often cause problems with their own ignorance his job is far from easy.

Arrested Development has been called "the best sitcom you've never seen" and aired on Fox between 2003 and 2006. Where it was treated with the same criminally bad handling that also crushed Firefly and Futurama (amongst other shows). The show is critically acclaimed and won an Emmy amongst its many awards. But the American public just didn't want to watch the show and as Fox is ratings before content the second and third season were shortened and the series was axed.

Arrested Development is a very rare kind of comedy show, it makes extensive use of fantastic foreshadowing and callbacks to a degree that's never been seen before (more so than even Seinfeld managed). Providing a wonderful plot that feels natural. Of particular note are the events that happen to Buster Bluth in the second season, rewatching those is a great pleasure as you can see a whole level of jokes that you couldn't appreciate before.
That's one of the other spectacular things about this show, not only do they provide jokes that are funny the first time you watch the show. But there are jokes you can only get the second or third time you see it. The show is so deep in it's comedy that it becomes better with additional rewatching.

While the show was canned prematurely by Fox (a theme that occurs in much quality programming) there is light at the end of the tunnel for fans. I'm thrilled to announce that the show will be returning for a feature film in 2009. I'm hoping that it brings a whole new generation of fans to discover Arrested Development and maybe relaunches the series. But even if it doesn't I will be content to see the Bluths out for one last spin.

If you haven't seen this show, you should.

imdb: 9.7
tv.com: 9.2

That's a phenomenal score from IMDB, I don't think I've ever seen a higher one, but there is one other show that's tied with it and that's coming up...