Remember appointment viewing? That's when you actually work your schedules around being in front of the television at a certain time on a certain day of the week to watch a particular program. For me, there's only one hour of the week I consider appointment viewing and that's Sunday nights from 20:00 EST to 21:00 EST.
The first half hour is easy to justify because I've been watching "The Simpsons" for half my life. The second half hour is committed to "Arrested Development", a show I only started watching in the spring and raved about here.
"Arrested Development" is hilariously written, well acted and extremely smart. It's the funniest new show since "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and the first time I've been excited about a network show since "The Family Guy". It's such a pleasure to watch, I'm always totally bummed when the half hour ends and I know it's another week before I get to enjoy the Bluth family again. I'm not the only one who thinks this show is something special. Critics are constantly raving about it and it won the Emmy for best comedy series this year.
Unfortunately, nobody is watching "Arrested Development" and it may not be around next season as a result. This article from the San Francisco Chronicle asks the question "Why, in a television world where viewers are forever decrying a lack of quality choices, do the innovative, risk-taking, aggressively brilliant shows go unwatched?" His conclusion? Most Americans have no taste. They prefer "According to Jim" to "Arrested Development". The ratings make this clear.
Watch "Arrested Development" while you still can. It's intelligent and hilarious...even more so than "According to Jim".
