Arrested Development gives life new meaning

By Anthony Lauriello     10/5/11 7:00pm

As the President of the Rice Conservative Forum, people often ask me when I first became involved in political activism. It was my freshman year in high school, when FOX network decided to replace "Arrested Development" with "Dancing with the Stars" for its television show line-up. I knew I had to do something. A lot has changed since my friends and I ran a Save "Arrested Development" booth, but my love for the greatest show to hit the airwaves has stayed the same. After years of waiting, the announcement finally came that "Arrested Development" would return to network programming, and I am overcome with emotion.

For those who have not had the opportunity of knowing the joy of the seminal sitcom, "Arrested Development" follows the exploits of the morally and financially bankrupt Bluth family. Despite winning countless awards, a lack of popular support led to FOX canceling the show in 2006. The writers of the show, never ones to miss a joke, made the last scene of the show drop a large hint that a movie would soon follow.

For five years we fans waited, painfully watching as "Arrested" actor Michael Cera essentially replayed his character of George Michael in a series of movies that never came close to capturing the magic of the show. Every couple of years someone involved with the show says some ambiguous comment about a new "Arrested Development" project, but nothing ever came to fruition.

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Then, this Sunday, the news hit the Internet. Executive producer Mitch Hurwitz said at a New Yorker Festival event that "Arrested Development" would return as a series and a film.

After my initial euphoria and calling my friends and family, I started to have second thoughts. What if this is just like all of the false press releases, and the promised season never comes, or — even worse — isn't good?

However, after some soul-searching, I realized that it would be improper not to welcome this news with open arms. With all the terrible things happening in the world and the misery in our headlines, it is easy to become cynical about all things.

In some ways, the collective anger over the cancellation was what brought "Arrested Development" fans into a sort of brotherhood over the years. We would be lying to ourselves if we said we didn't take some sort of grim self-satisfaction whenever we point out that a lesser show stole an "Arrested Development" joke or talking about how the American public simply wasn't smart enough to appreciate the comedic genius in front of them. Yet, letting this acquired cynicism ruin this moment would be, as Gob would say, "a huge mistake."

While the information is far from certain, the fact that there is a real and credible chance that the Bluths may return to the airwaves is an opportunity to rejoice.

Anthony Lauriello is a Wiess College junior.

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