Instant Streaming My Life: Arrested Development

The other day, as I was discussing with friends about the state of the economy and American Imperialism, normal conversations for any college student, we started talking about blogging. Being part of a journalism school most of us are required by our professors to blog regularly. And I began saying how I try to blog as regularly as possible (which is a bald faced lie if I ever did tell one). But we began talking about ideas for blogs and cool themes that people could do and I, being as incredulous and ironic as is humanly possible, said that I should start blogging about my favorite past time, Netflix.

That's when I got the idea. To actually blog about Netflix.

As you all know, or should know after reading this post, I have an addiction to this particular online streaming site, Netflix. So I have decided to incorporate one of my past times into blogging, like I started to incorporate the reading list (which is still going strong, I just lost track of Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store and had to start another book). This is also great, because blogging will give me motivation to actually watch the series on my "Netflix Watch List" and watching Netflix will give me an excuse to blog! Win-Win-Win!

The general idea of this post series is to watch a TV series on Netflix, and share what information I have found out about said series. As you can tell this post is about the television show, Arrested Development. So without further blathering on my part, TO THE ACTUAL POST!

Series: Arrested Development

Photo courtesy of theverge.com

Netflix Synopsis: "It's the story of a wealthy family that lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. It's 'Arrested Development,' the Emmy Award and Golden Globe-winning series starring on of the funniest ensembles in TV comedy."

Began watching series on: April 16, 2013

Finished watching series on: May 7, 2013

Total amount of time watching series (start to finish): 22 days

Number of Seasons/Episodes: 3 seasons, 53 episodes

Average Length of Episodes: 21 minutes

Average Number of Episodes watched in a day: 3 episodes per day

Most episodes watched in one day: 9 episodes on April 20, 2013

Favorite Episode: "S.O.B.s" (Season 3/Episode 9)

Best snack for instant streaming: Homemade popcorn, with butter and salt.

Thoughts: "Arrested Development" has definitely stood up to its reputation. I had only ever heard people on tumblr discussing the show, as well as the accompanying .gif sets and stills that would go along with any tumblr post. The show, as a whole, had great continuity and felt whole, unlike many shows where there are plot holes or plot points that don't really hold up within the universe of the show. Thankfully, this show didn't have much of that, at least, not that I noticed. Things also moved along in a manner that was very easy to follow, or as easy as it can for the Bluth family. This was extremely nice for a comedy show, which can sometimes feel disjointed and as if the writers are trying to find the next joke. That rarely came across in "Arrested Development."

And the jokes were well crafted; I definitely had laugh-out-loud moments in a room full of people. Needless to say, the weird looks I got were worth it. The wit and attitude behind the writing was very refreshing, and something that I thoroughly enjoyed. The long standing jokes have been some of the best. I now know how to accurately do every Bluth family member's chicken dance, and I will never be able to look at the Blue Man Group the same again. The writing definitely stood out amongst some of the other shows that I have instant streamed on Netflix.

This was definitely apparent in my favorite episode listed above, "S.O.B.s" (which actually means Save Our Bluths) where the writers were taking a facetious approach to saving the show that was obviously going to be taken off the air. As the narrator blatantly begs people to watch the show, such lines like "HBO will never take us" and "I guess it's ShoTime then," were other great, not-so-subtle ways to make comments on the situation the writers and producers were facing.

The cast of the show did a great job portraying their characters as well. Lucille Bluth is now my favorite fictional mother, and I aspire to achieve her greatness one day. But that never would have been without Jessica Walter's fabulous performance as the alcoholic, uncaring Lucille. I had only really ever seen Jason Bateman in "Juno" so I was completely unprepared for the performance he gave as Michael Bluth. In his performance we found a father that was completely dedicated to keeping his family afloat, but ignored the family member that needed him the most, despite his best attempts. Speaking of which, it was nice to see where Michael Cera got his start, but as his usual, George Michael Bluth was probably what led him to playing the same character in every movie he would subsequently appear in. Which, consequently, have all been an older version of George Michael.

The show as a whole has been great to watch. Not only does the show provide a wonderful look into this whacky family that we have all fallen in love with, it also provides a deeper look at family ties and corporate corruption, which as everyone knows is what the entire show is about. Good job, I won the prize. The obligation of Michael to save not only the dying business but also his failing family, is the overarching theme of "Arrested Development". But it's obvious that Michael needs his family just as much, if not more, as they need him.

If you haven't watched this show, then you should. It's funny and witty, and will have some guaranteed laugh-out-louds. You should definitely catch up now because there will be a new season premiering on Netflix on May, 26. The new series, if you've been living in a cave and haven't heard, will be a Netflix only series, that will ultimately culminate in an "Arrested Development" movie.

Enjoy and hurry! You'll only have a couple of weeks before the newest episode premieres.

The Best (and Worst) Thing to Happen During My College Career

As well as being a lover of books, I am an avid lover of good television shows. I'm just going to throw that out there now. But I never really got to watch any TV my freshman year at college. If I did it would be an episode of Glee (thank God that stopped after first semester) or shows like Weird Addictions or Call of the Wildman. This was partly due to the fact that my roommate and I were generally not watching TV while working on homework, or hanging out with friends. TV was something we turned on right before we turned the lights off to wind down from the day.

I still don't watch a lot of TV now that I have an apartment, and a TV to myself. The only show I follow religiously is Parks & Recreation and if you don't watch that show, then you are wrong. The irony of the whole situation is that, while I don't watch a lot of TV, I watch a gigantic ton of TV shows.

The answer to the conundrum: Netflix.

One of my roommates hooked me up with his subscription when I was trying to watch the 90s version of X-Men on Youtube and it wasn't working out. After that, it all went down hill. I became hooked to the site, and began to log a solid five to six hours in front of the computer screen watching cartoons, British sci-fi shows (five guesses on what show I'm talking about) and comedy shows like Parks & Rec and 30 Rock.

I'm still a little tender over the series finale.
Photo courtesy of Netflix via Google Images

This all seemed great! Finally, I had a database where I could find the shows I wanted to all in one place. I started compiling a list of shows that I wanted to see. A list, might I add, that is still in existence today, while I am writing this post. This show list coupled with my addiction to Netflix began to run my life, and dictated how much time I spent in front of the computer. There was even one day that I stayed in my room the entire day, marathoning the entire second season of Avatar: The Last Airbender (woops don't tell my professors. I still got an A in the class I missed, it was one time). My friends knew that if I was laughing at something on my computer I was generally watching a show on Netflix. It was bad.

My Netflix addiction took a peak during the summer. While I was living in Columbia working towards getting residency in Missouri, I could spend close to 7 or 8 hours straight of watching Battlestar Galactica, Charmed, and any other tv show that I could stream. After getting off work I would walk in to my apartment and go straight to my laptop. Before I knew it, the day would be gone and I would have gotten through half a season of Torchwood.

To this day I have been unable to stop my continual use of Netflix. But I have embraced it, and am no longer ashamed of how often I use it. Netflix has become a way for me to relax after a long day of class, studying and writing. It provides an outlet for me to unwind during the week while still being entertained and without having to deal with pesky commercials and advertisements. The most important thing is that I have found a way to balance my Netflix use and ensure that I don't watch anything before my work is done. And that's what college is all about, finding the balance between school, work and life.

Netflix has become part of my life. I use the streaming service everyday, and I have practically gotten rid of conventional television in my life. This has become true for many people in my generation, I believe. Especially among the group of people I spend most of my time with, the TV doesn't play a major role in our everyday life. We use the television for video games, and using consoles to get Netflix on the TV so that we don't have to watch movies or shows on our laptops all the time.

I know that I am a Netflix junky, but I also know that I am not alone with this particular vice.