University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Arrested Development and the 21st century network comedy

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Arrested Development and the 21st century network comedy

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Content ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT AND THE 21 ST CENTURY NETWORK COMEDY by Anthony Baltierra A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS (SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM – THE ARTS) December 2010 Copyright 2010 Anthony Baltierra ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the following in appreciation for their tremendous support, advice and assistance: Mrs. Sasha Anawalt Miss K.C. Cole Mr. Tim Page Mr. Michael Parks Miss Deborah Star Seibel Miss Cindy Poole Mr. Ray Baltierra Mr. Paul Baltierra and Mrs. Evelyn Baltierra Mr. Mathias Resch and Mrs. Ashley Resch Mr. Kellen Baltierra University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism All of my fellow Specialized Journalism classmates iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii Abstract iv Arrested Development and the 21 st Century Network Comedy 1 References 17 iv ABSTRACT Like many programs before it, Arrested Development left the television world too soon. Hailed by critics and the recipient of six Emmy awards, the show failed to attract a mainstream audience. To the casual viewer, Arrested seemed to be a huge inside joke. While they could certainly understand the pop culture allusions, political jabs and verbal puns without knowing the show’s history, the show’s reflexive nature was a turnoff. There were simply too many running gags, callbacks and hidden comedy gems. Yet, there was a small and fiercely loyal audience that loved the overabundance of material crammed into each episode. This cult audience enjoyed the “work” that went into discovering the cleverness of the show. This thesis examines how Arrested Development was created explicitly for those viewers who willing to pay close attention to the series, those who were willing to play detective and rewatch episodes numerous times. This type of strategy may have led to the show’s early cancellation, but it also allowed it to expand its audience after it went off the air and hopefully influence network comedy in the coming years. 1 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT AND THE 21 ST CENTURY NETWORK COMEDY Despite earning widespread critical acclaim and winning six Emmy awards, Arrested Development never attracted much of an audience while it aired on Fox from November of 2003 to February of 2006. Developed in a serialized “mockumentary” format, the story of the hyper-dysfunctional Bluth family and its fall from elite status never quite caught on. Since its cancellation, though, Arrested Development has attained cult status. It often tops lists of shows that were “cancelled too soon” and it has been constantly praised among critics and fanboys for its narrative complexity and unique production techniques. The program’s radical complexity may have discouraged the casual viewer, but it truly rewarded devoted fans. Following the airing of each episode, the program’s few loyal viewers would venture online to sites like televisionwithoutpity.com (a TV review and recap site) and the–op.com (a fansite specifically devoted to Arrested Development) to discuss the hidden gags and learn of any they might have missed. 1 Every Bluthian chicken dance, reference to Portugal being in South America, stair car hop-on, utterance of “I’ve made a huge mistake,” and other repeated jokes deeply embedded within the show’s mythology were discovered and discussed. This type of episodic inspection was not an accident. “Arrested paid off with the portion of the audience who wanted to pay close attention,” said series creator Mitch Hurwitz in 2009. “I wanted there to be hidden clues 1 Sternbergh 82 2 and auguries of things to come. Those viewers who paid attention would be more rewarded than those who didn’t.” 2 In this context, Arrested Development was a network television sitcom for the digital age before network executives and viewers had realized the full potential of new technology: DVD and Blu-ray box sets, digital recorders, and online viewing through sites such as Hulu. “We’re really making a show for the new technology here,” Hurwitz told NPR in 2005. “We’re making a show for TiVo, and we’re making a show for DVD, and it really becomes part of our objective in making this thing.” 3 “People who watch the show are watching it three and four times,” said Tony Hale, who played the awkward and socially inept Buster Bluth, in 2004. “They’re catching different stuff each time. It’s like a game.” 4 What does the game entail? Each episode offers plenty for fans to discover: a copious amount of pop culture allusions, political jabs (the Bush administration was a major comedic target), puns, references to past episodes and foreshadowing of future events. Scenic backgrounds become visual collages of inside jokes. References are made to the past history of the actors, both those in the main cast – Hale’s character performed a car dance to the Styx song “Mr. Roboto,” 5 just as Hale had done previously in a 1999 Volkswagen commercial – and in the supporting cast – Henry Winkler’s character once 2 Sacks 170 3 Fresh Air from WHYY: Mitchell Hurwitz interview 4 Seibel , personal interview with Tony Hale 5 Arrested Development, “The Ocean Walker” 3 struck a Fonzie-like pose in the mirror 6 and also literally “jumped the shark,” 7 both references to his time on Happy Days. And perhaps more than any other primetime network comedy in television history, Arrested Development is known for making references to the struggle of the show itself. In its second season, it referenced a legal battle over the show’s title with the hip-hop group Arrested Development. 8 It also poked fun at Fox for reducing the season order from 22 episodes to 18, moving the show to a different time slot and having pop up ads run during its primetime shows. 9 The program also devoted an entire episode (the third season’s “S.O.B.s”) to referencing its fight for survival. The title of the episode itself came from the fansite Save Our Bluths (www.saveourbluths.com) that was created to help save the show from cancellation and the URL of the site was even flashed on screen (though as www.saveourbluths.org). Also mentioned are direct references to the possibility of the show moving to HBO or Showtime. At the same time, the episode satirized ratings ploys often used by other television programs: numerous guest stars, a “major” death, use of 3D technology, a website created to promote and save a show from cancellation and a segment that aired “live.” 10 It’s an overabundance of information that can easily overwhelm a casual viewer. 6 Arrested Development, “Altar Egos” 7 Arrested Development, “Motherboy XXX” 8 Arrested Development, “Motherboy XXX” 9 Arrested Development, “Sword of Destiny” 10 Arrested Development, “S.O.B.s” 4 “You really need to see the shows in succession,” Hale said. “You need to see the history.” 11 Jason Bateman, who portrayed the main character and straight man to the family of lunatics, Michael Bluth, agreed that the ability to view and review multiple episodes at a time is the best way to watch the program, especially for newcomers to the series. “You do have to see a couple of these to sort of learn how to watch it,” Bateman said in 2004. “Because it moves at such a pace. Mitch does such a great job of hiding the comedy. “That’s why so many people like to watch the show on TiVo, because you can back it up. You gotta pay attention. You gotta be in the right frame of mind and at the right speed. You can’t have a phone conversation or run to the fridge [while you are watching].” 12 As stated in the program’s opening credits sequence by executive producer Ron Howard in his uncredited role as narrator, Arrested Development is “the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.” 13 Howard’s words may imply that the program is a simple sitcom about a family coming together to survive bleak times, but that is far from the truth. In fact, the word “simple” should probably never be associated with Arrested Development (unless one is referring to Buster, perhaps). 11 Seibel, personal interview with Tony Hale 12 Seibel, personal interview with Jason Bateman 13 Arrested Development, “Pilot” 5 Created by Hurwitz, a long time television writer, Arrested Development broke the traditional sitcom mold by incorporating highly serialized plots with numerous intertextual and reflexive references set in a quick-paced narrative and has helped set the standard of narrative complexity on network television. Filled with inside jokes, visual puns, callbacks (jokes that refer back to a prior joke or situation) to previous episodes and seasons, and “call forwards” (jokes that foreshadow something that has yet to occur – a term coined by Hurwitz) to future episodes, the program was unlikely to gain a broad audience. “I always wanted Arrested to be complex,” Hurwitz said in a 2009 interview. “I like complexity in TV shows. I like shows that challenge me as a viewer – where if I put a little more thought into it, I get more out of it. The presumption going into Arrested Development was that there might be an audience who was interested in these details.” 14 Hurwitz began his television writing career in 1990 with The Golden Girls, the award winning NBC sitcom about four single older women who shared a home in Miami. The pop-culture-filled, sexually charged program may have been produced in a traditional sitcom format, but Hurwitz views his days on The Golden Girls as an amazing training ground where he learned to write more intricate storylines, including the use of callbacks to an earlier point in the script and finding unusual ways to tie everything together. 15 After The Golden Girls, Hurwitz continued his sitcom education by working on other network sitcoms, including as a writer on The John Larroquette Show and as co- creator and executive producer of The Ellen Show. 14 Sacks 170 15 Robinson 6 After more than a decade in the business and a firm understanding of what was expected from a typical sitcom, Hurwitz went in the opposite direction when creating Arrested Development. “A sitcom audience would expect one thing, whereas the audience for Arrested expected something else,” Hurwitz said. “And perhaps that’s why Arrested Development didn’t have a bigger audience. We were trying to be as funny as could be, and perhaps we were working on a level that was too removed from what viewers wanted.” 16 Chief among Arrested’s “sins” against the standard sitcom audience was filling the program with eight unrelatable and unlikable main characters. The characteristics and actions of the Bluth family seem better suited for daytime soap opera than primetime network comedy. Secret paternity issues, incest, embezzlement, complete manipulation, constant infidelity, treason, and alcoholism sound much more General Hospital than Everybody Loves Raymond, while the overt racism, severe Oedipus complex, sibling rivalries, criminal acts, bad parenting, narcissism, superficiality, incompetence and continual swearing place the Bluths among the most unethical and immoral examples of humanity. That doesn’t even take into account the show’s wide range of wacky supporting characters who appeared throughout. “It’s a very spoiled family,” Hale said. “All these whacked out characters, who all their lives have depended upon the family trust fund.” 17 Further going against network comedy expectations, the Bluths never seemed to learn their weekly lesson. Throughout the series characters senselessly circumvented the 16 Sacks 173 17 Seibel, personal interview with Tony Hale 7 law, manipulated each other, ignored their children and constantly whined for more money. Each episode concluded the self-contained storylines with an occasional touching moment, but these warm sentiments were usually dismissed immediately with an additional gag. Life for the Bluths, it was understood, went on as before. “We give the audience that sweet moment, and then we demolish it at the end,” Bateman said. “That’s the tone of the show, it’s not warm and fuzzy. It’s awful.” 18 Even Bateman’s character, arguably Arrested’s most likeable character who often serves as the family’s moral compass, has been considered unlikable by some viewers. 19 Still, loyal followers have found a way not only to enjoy Arrested Development’s range of characters, but also somehow a way to connect with them. “There are always executives who are going to say, ‘This isn’t going to work. You can’t have people not learn a lesson. You can’t have unlikable characters,’” said Hurwitz. “But you have to ignore all that. With that sort of attitude, you’re not going to create the best material.” 20 While the small Arrested Development audience enjoyed and praised what Hurwitz and company were making, the program lacked the required Nielsen ratings to survive. In its first season, which was the only season to produce a full order of 22 episodes, the series finished 120 th overall in the end of year ratings. It also finished a dismal 88 th among the highly coveted 18-49 demographic. 21 18 Seibel, personal interview with Jason Bateman 19 Schneider and Adalian 20 20 Sacks 177 21 Posner 1 8 During its run Arrested was regularly in danger of being canceled and some wondered if it was a sign that the recent advancements in technology had not been truly noticed by network executives, who to this day still primarily base their evaluations of programs on Nielsen numbers at first broadcast rather than giving serious consideration to the devoted fans who watch episodes online, digitally record episodes, take part in repeat viewings, and buy the DVD and Blu-ray packages. 22 Having produced television ratings since 1950, Nielsen numbers are the primary source of information in terms of television viewership. Using a small sample audience, Nielsen ratings are calculated through the use of viewer diaries and meters that are connected to television sets in selected homes. Nielsen ratings are available for a variety of specific demographics, but a program’s success is usually determined by taking into account its performance in overall viewership and with the 18-49 age group. The 18-49 demographic numbers are even more important than the number of overall viewers as it is the age range most desired by television advertisers. A program’s performance in this area determines how much a network can charge for commercials during its broadcast, and thus a weak rating in the area can lead to cancellation. Ratings for viewers who use digital recorders are available, but advertisers balk at those numbers being incorporated into network ad rates since viewers can skip commercials. Because of its Nielsen struggles during the first season, Fox requested producers to make the Arrested Development less serialized, hoping that would alienate less casual and new viewers. Whether it was an act of direct defiance or the direction Hurwitz had 22 Thompson 71 9 always envisioned, the program went on to produce even fewer stand-alone episodes in its second and third seasons. 23 “This show may not be for everybody,” Hurwitz told Variety in 2005. “You always have to consider that.” 24 With more episodes that alienated those who were not fully caught up on the ongoing narratives, the program’s viewership dropped. The second season saw an average of six million viewers per episode, while the third and final season saw that number drop to a dismal four million per episode. 25 As odd as it sounds, Bateman wouldn’t have had it any other way. “We don’t want to be number one,” Bateman said in 2004. “When you become number one, you have to appeal to a much broader audience and you become much more of a commodity.” 26 Other cast members agreed that the risk of being unpopular is what made the show special. Jessica Walter, who portrayed the manipulating matriarch Lucille Bluth, stated that the edgy writing and the idea of doing a show that is “not your father’s old sitcom” was the only reason she auditioned. 27 23 Schneider and Adalian 20 24 Schneider and Adalian 20 25 Goodman 1 26 Seibel, personal interview with Jason Bateman 27 Seibel, personal interview with Jessica Walter 10 “It seems to me to be a very modern show because it’s not a traditional sitcom,” added Jeffrey Tambor, the actor behind the “lightly” treasonous patriarch George Bluth (as well as twin brother Oscar). “I’m a little nervous [about people saying], ‘Oh, is this an elitist little cult show?’ And it’s not. It’s just a silly show, but there’s a lot of bang for your buck.” 28 Arrested Development’s ability to have an overabundance of material in each episode can also be attributed to its resourceful production techniques that at the time were unusual for a network comedy. In the attempt to produce the program in a pseudo-documentary format, the production crew shot on location with a single, hand held camera set up instead of the traditional in studio three camera system, used digital video instead of film, relied mainly on natural lighting instead of artificial, discarded any notion of a laugh track and used Howard as the narrator. It also created a visual documentary-type back story through the use of “archived” flashbacks from within the fiction of the show by presenting old family photos (such as yearbook pictures from the 1980s), recorded “footage” of moments of the Bluth children as adolescents that occurred well before the series began. Also incorporated were “security videos” of Bluth events that were captured by unmanned surveillance cameras found in such places as traffic lights, ATMs and elevators. These bizarre production ideas were conceived by Howard, who argued in 2002 that the 28 Seibel, personal interview with Jeffrey Tambor 11 time saved by shooting in digital video with natural lighting could be spent sharpening jokes and making a more ambitious production. 29 This incredible density helped seal the show’s broadcast fate, but it made multiple viewings the ideal way to experience the series. 30 Hurwitz and the show’s other writers crammed as much material as possible into each episode because they were always intended them to be watched many times over. 31 Thus, it has amassed a cult following through the release of the entire series on DVD and its current syndication on the Independent Film Channel, which airs episodes without commercial breaks and usually in marathon blocks at a time. The type of viewing experience offered through these avenues is a much better fit for Arrested Development than the schizophrenic attitude Fox had towards it. The network didn’t seem to know what to do with Arrested as the program was constantly moved between various timeslots. By the final season, Arrested was airing against Monday Night Football and went a month between episodes on three different occasions. When Fox aired the final four episodes of the series on 10 February 2006, it did so against the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, which helped land the finale with a pathetic 3.3 million viewers. Even after it won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in September 2004, Fox didn’t launch the new season of Arrested until nearly two months later. It was a move that did not sit well with Hurwitz. 29 Robinson 30 Thompson 71 31 Sacks 170 12 “It’s personally very frustrating to me,” Hurwitz said at the time. “That’s a real frustration and we’ve talked to everyone we can talk to. I’ve gotten so many e-mails and calls from people I haven’t seen in years who saw the Emmys and are calling saying, ‘Please, I want to see it. Where is it?’” 32 It was a case of network scheduling hurting the survival chances of a show and denying viewers the opportunity to see a program that had a considerable amount of buzz. From the beginning of network television in the late 1940s, the viewer had always been at the mercy of network scheduling. The networks established when a certain program would air and that particular set period was the only time the program was available to the television audience. Over the last few decades, however, television has become very much viewer controlled, especially since the turn of the century. Thanks to TiVo and digital recorders that now come in standard cable and satellite packages, hundreds of hours of television can be stored at a time. Recent episodes can be found online at sites such as Hulu or at official network sites. DVD and Blu-ray box sets allow not only full seasons, but the entire run of a program to be viewed in marathon sittings. This extreme change in the television experience has altered how programs are now produced. Extended cuts of episodes are offered online and other content that is never aired on the network is available through “webisodes” (short episodes produced 32 Seibel, personal interview with Mitch Hurwitz 13 directly for the online audience) and “mobisodes” (short episodes that are broadcast to mobile phones – the term “mobisode” is actually a registered trademark of Fox). In May of this year, the medical drama House recently took the logical next step by spinning off the miniseries “Nurse Jeffrey,” which was initially only available through free “appisodes” to iPod, iPhone, and iPad users through the inHouse application. Beginning the week after the House season finale, the “appisode” season consisted of thirteen weekly episodes that were around three minutes in length. Though the Nurse Jeffrey series mostly contained minor characters from its parent series (main character Lisa Cuddy appeared in the final episode), its creators took advantage of the InHouse application to give devoted fans new material to digest during the summer months. These technological advancements allow television programs to cater specifically to their loyal audience. The Office has produced six different sets of “webisodes.” Recent Emmy darling 30 Rock (a series which only averaged 5.88 million viewers in the 2009- 2010 season 33 but is solidly backed by NBC) created 30 Rock 360, an online extension of the series which enabled fans to interact with the program’s main characters. Yet, at the time of Arrested Development, aiming for an explicit audience is what led to its cancellation. Nonetheless, the uniqueness of the program was noticed by others involved in network television. For other sitcom writers at the time, Arrested Development was viewed as a gauge for the future of the genre. 34 33 Gorman 34 Posner 2 14 Jeff Greenstein, producer of such hits as Friends, Will & Grace and Desperate Housewives, told The New York Times in 2004 that he loved how fresh and different the show was. Greenstein also stated that the writing community was pulling for the program to succeed because it would then give hope to writers who would also want to do shows that broke the mold. 35 “Breaking the mold” for Hurwitz turned out to mean quick cancellation. By going against comedic expectations, Hurwitz created a program that at the time was too different and too much of a challenge for a traditional network audience. 36 With so many coinciding plots, narrative twists, continuing stories, and hidden or thrown away jokes, it was difficult for viewers to follow during an initial viewing. It seemed to be a 21 st century comedy for a medium that was still stuck in the 20th century. Arrested’s legacy, though, is firmly secure in television history. In addition to multiple Emmy wins and a Golden Globe victory for Bateman, the genius of the program has been recognized one of the greatest shows in television history despite its short, 53 episode run. In 2007, Time listed the show among the 100 Best TV Shows of All-Time, labeling it as “The self-referential, language-besotted, in-joke-packed love child of The Simpsons and Christopher Guest movies.” 37 Its high quality of comedy and adaptability to current technology has enabled Arrested Development to thrive in cancellation. It has enjoyed strong DVD sales and the entire first season is currently available on Hulu. 35 Posner 2 36 Schneider and Adalian 20 37 Ponewozik 15 One-liners and catchphrases have become a perfect fit for Twitter, videos and parodies (such as a recent pseudo-trailer for an Arrested Development action film 38 ) can be found on YouTube and Wikipedia has an article for every single episode that lists trivia, pop culture connections, callbacks, running jokes, cameos and other various episodic notes. Critics and fans often use Arrested Development as a barometer by which new shows are measured. Whether it is declaring 30 Rock as “the next Arrested Development” 39 or reigning Emmy champ Modern Family as “The Arrested Development for the hard-of-thinking,” 40 it is apparent that the Bluths are still on the mind of those television viewers who have actually seen the show. The comparison with Arrested will no doubt arise with any witty, social satire with a dysfunctional family (whether it be a literal or figurative “family”). Arrested has also helped usher in the movement towards single camera, non-laugh track comedies for primetime network comedies. While it was not the first series to employ these production techniques, it was not a major trend on network television at the time. Now they are the norm, as the entirety of ABC’s Wednesday night and NBC’s Thursday night lineups use the single camera, non-laugh track, ensemble cast, pseudo- documentary style. The influence of his creation upon other television shows isn’t lost on Hurwitz. His show may have been cancelled prematurely, but he has helped network television 38 Arrested Development Action Trailer HD TV 39 Braun 40 Baur 16 comedy embrace the newest technology and to reward those viewers that crave more than a cheap laugh. “I hope it will be [influential],” Hurwitz said. “I can already sort of see the influence it’s had on other sitcoms – the vérité style, the quick cuts, the more than fifty scenes per episode and so forth. “If young humor writers enjoyed Arrested Development, and the show somehow got them interested in comedy, then that’s really, really exciting to me.” 41 The work of Hurwitz and company may not have been appreciated by many during its broadcast life, but with it being preserved through DVDs, syndication, the online community and hopefully with the long-rumored film adaptation, those who desire quality television will always enjoy it. For years to come fans will be unfolding the program’s metajokes, rediscover hidden gags and bring others into the mix by explaining what things like “analrapist” mean (that of course refers to someone like Tobias who combines the professions of analyst and therapist into one job title). And if Arrested fans include future sitcom writers and creators, then the future of 21 st century network comedy is in good hands. 41 Sacks 179 17 REFERENCES “Altar Egos.” Arrested Development: Season Two. Twentieth Century Fox, 2005. DVD “Arrested Development Action Trailer HD TV.” YouTube, user 205rady. 29 May 2010. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpKhUnVotGM&feature=youtu.be> Baur, Joe. “Modern Family is the Arrested Development for the Hard-of-Thinking.” Gawker.TV. 10 March 2010. < http://tv.gawker.com/5489179/modern-family-is-arrested-development-for-the- hard+of+thinking> Braun, Kyle. “30 Rock Season One DVD Review.” UGO. September 2007. < http://www.ugo.com/ugo/html/article/?id=17785> Goodman, Tim. “Die-hard ‘Arrested Development’ fans already feeling sting of loss.” SanFrancisco Chronicle. 14 November 2005: C-1 Gorman, Bill. “Final 2009-2010 Broadcast Primetime Show Average Viewership.” TV By The Numbers. 16 June 2010. < http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/06/16/final-2009-10broadcast-primetime-show- average-viewership/54336> “Motherboy XXX.” Arrested Development: Season Two. Twentieth Century Fox, 2005. DVD NPR. Fresh Air from WHYY. Mitchell Hurwitz interview. 3 November 2005. “The Ocean Walker.” Arrested Development: Season Three. Twentieth Century Fox, 2006. DVD “Pilot.” Arrested Development: Season One. Twentieth Century Fox, 2004. DVD Ponewozik, James. “The 100 Best TV Shows of All-Time: Arrested Development.” Time. <http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1651341_1659188_1652056, 0.html> Posner, Ari. “Can This Man Save the Sitcom?” The New York Times. 1 August 2004: 2.1 Robinson, Tasha. Interview: Mitchell Hurwitz. AV Club 9. 9 February 2005 <http://avclub.com/articles/mitchell-hurwitz,13913> 18 Sacks, Mike. “Mitch Hurwitz.” And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with 21 Top Humor Writers on Their Craft. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 2009. 166-179. Schneider, Michael and Josef Adalian. “Broadcast viewers nix crix pick.” Variety. 21-27 November 2005: 18-19. Seibel, Deborah Starr. Personal Interview with Jason Bateman. 7 October 2004. Seibel, Deborah Starr. Personal Interview with Jeffery Tambor. 7 October 2004. Seibel, Deborah Starr. Personal Interview with Jessica Walter. 7 October 2004. Seibel, Deborah Starr. Personal Interview with Mitch Hurwitz. 7 October 2004 Seibel, Deborah Starr. Personal Interview with Tony Hale. 7 October 2004. “S.O.B.s.” Arrested Development: Season Three. Twentieth Century Fox, 2006. DVD Sternbergh, Adam. “Getting the Hook.” New York Magazine. Volume 38, Issue 13 (18 April2005): 82. “Sword of Destiny.” Arrested Development: Season Two. Twentieth Century Fox, 2005. DVD Thompson, Ethan. “Comedy Verite? The Observational Documentary Meets the Televisual Sitcom.” The Velvet Light Trap. Number 60 (Fall 2007): 63-72.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Like many programs before it, Arrested Development left the television world too soon. Hailed by critics and the recipient of six Emmy awards, the show failed to attract a mainstream audience.

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Creator Baltierra, Anthony (author)

Core Title Arrested Development and the 21st century network comedy

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism (The Arts)

Publication Date 09/13/2010

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Arrested Development,Jason Bateman,Mitch Hurwitz,network comedy,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Anawalt, Sasha (committee chair), Cole, K.C. (committee member), Page, Tim (committee member)

Creator Email baltierr@usc.edu,tonybaltierra@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m3430

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Identifier etd-Baltierra-4081 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-384149 (legacy record id),usctheses-m3430 (legacy record id)

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Dmrecord 384149

Document Type Thesis

Rights Baltierra, Anthony

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

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Repository Location Los Angeles, California

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