Arrested Development

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

My Way News - Netflix stock sinks on mixed reviews of 'Arrested'

A good time to buy stock in Netflix then.

[cody8200]

Just my 2 cents and I am sure opinions vary greatly.

I am 9 in. I watched the first 3 season episodes at least 5 times each and am a pretty big fan. First off, honestly, it isn't as good as the first 3 seasons. The pacing is slower, the craziness is subdued quite a bit in a few of the episodes and the lack of family cohesion makes things different (and not in a good way). Ron Howard is used too often as the narrator. The first episode was the worst of the series and the the George Sr. episodes haven't been great either.

Now, onto the good stuff. I think the stories of Tobias are absolutely hilarious and rank among the best in any season. Gob's episodes are also fantastic. I haven't gotten to the last 6 but up until episode 9, those are by far the best.

Another positive, even in the poor episodes there are some funny moments. They aren't gold and they move slower but I still laughed. The richer laughs come further as you watch and see some of the earlier things people were doing pay off with funny moments later on. The amount of time between a weird set up for a joke and the payoff is a bit long in some cases but the payoffs can be outstanding.

All in all, I prefer having these episodes rather than not having them. A lot of the quick banter with underlying jokes has been lost but it is still better than most tv (probably anything other than Curb). Personally, I would still love to see a movie result from this series. I think one of the main reasons the family wasn't together during an entire episode was due to availability issues. Having a movie would get rid of those problems and allow for some joke setups that begin in the beginning of the movie and pay off towards the middle and end.

[CraigSca]

Almost through episode #3, and I have to say I enjoyed Lindsey and Tobias' house shopping very much.

[IlliniCub]

The farther I'm getting into it the more I'm enjoying it. They definitely are paying off in the end.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Revived 'Arrested' a real hit with online pirates | Media Life Magazine

[RainMaker]

People can't afford $8? I mean they give you a free trial for heaven sake.

[chadritt]

People pirate free shows all the time. Theres never really been a lot of logic behind it.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by chadritt

People pirate free shows all the time. Theres never really been a lot of logic behind it.

Netflix only operates in a handful of countries, so I am not surprised by the piracy numbers. A large percentage of TV torrent downloads come from outside the US.

[Easy Mac]

Looks like about 18% came from within the US. Roughly 30,000 episodes were downloaded in the US. If you assume each person watched all 15 episodes, that's about 2,000 people.

Someone should at least inform them that its pretty easy to get a free netflix trial for 30 days.

Arrested Development Pirates Skip Netflix Out of Habit | TorrentFreak

[chadritt]

I think that proves its not about ease or logic but rather just that some people want to pirate stuff illegally. Theres probably no rational discussion to be had with them.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

Netflix only operates in a handful of countries, so I am not surprised by the piracy numbers. A large percentage of TV torrent downloads come from outside the US.

On the other side, Netflix already spends $2 Billion a year for content, so does it make sense to expand and pay for worldwide licensing just to access places with that kind of piracy culture? Should Netflix put it upon themselves to try to single-handedly change that culture and make money from those people? I'm sure they have a lot of internal debate about the international market. But they probably can't afford the licensing in any event, they struggle enough keeping a stocked library just in the U.S.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by molson

On the other side, Netflix already spends $2 Billion a year for content, so does it make sense to expand and pay for worldwide licensing just to access places with that kind of piracy culture? Should Netflix put it upon themselves to try to single-handedly change that culture and make money from those people? I'm sure they have a lot of internal debate about the international market. But they probably can't afford the licensing in any event, they struggle enough keeping a stocked library just in the U.S.

The problem is that piracy will not end unless there is a better alternative. You certainly can't read anything into the piracy rates of a Netflix exclusive in a non Netflix territory.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

The problem is that piracy will not end unless there is a better alternative. You certainly can't read anything into the piracy rates of a Netflix exclusive in a non Netflix territory.

It's not Netflix's responsibility to end piracy. They're at least not losing money off of international pirates. That wouldn't necessarily be the case if the paid the licensing fees to expand their services globally.

Edit: I'm just amused by the common refrain that people have "no choice" but to pirate if Netflix or whoever won't come to town. If that's their feeling, great, but I guarantee Netflix reads into the piracy rates of Netflix exclusives in non-Netflix territories. They can't change a piracy culture all on their own.

[Butter]

"No, I meant it was good to be out of that sweaty old hotbox... at the compound."

[Logan]

I'm through the third episode and glad to see some of you shared my thoughts at this point, but that it got better further on. My gut tells me that their choice to tell the story in this way will ultimately be a major miss, even if it does come together in a satisfactory way by the end.

I can't believe how much work Portia had done. She looks horrific compared to how she used to, when I thought she was one of the most beautiful women on TV.

[britrock88]

Had the same reaction to Portia at first. I'm pretty sure she's wearing a wig to age her appearance. Sure, she may have had other stuff done, but she looks much more like herself after the first few episodes.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by TLK

It really picked up the last five episodes. It's more like a long movie with a slow start that is needed to setup the rest of the movie.

This. It ends in fantastic fashion, with loose ends from earlier eps getting put in their proper place. It's really quite amazing. I will soon watch it again (maybe after watching "Orange is the New Black" to look again at the series knowing how the story lines end and seeing what clues I missed).

I think it's better than Season 3 and the way they've done it, in a telling everyone's story separately and it comes together in the end is fascinating and I'd like to see more of that type.

[Suicane75]

Has anyone tried any of the fan made edits?

[RainMaker]

I guess there are talks for a 5th season. Kind of torn on it. I think season 4 picked up a lot at the end, but it still didn't have the same magic of the early ones. And I do think the original stuff that Netflix has been doing is great and I wouldn't mind seeing that money go toward a new creative show.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I guess there are talks for a 5th season. Kind of torn on it. I think season 4 picked up a lot at the end, but it still didn't have the same magic of the early ones. And I do think the original stuff that Netflix has been doing is great and I wouldn't mind seeing that money go toward a new creative show.

Shows like Arrested Development will bring more new subscribers to Netflix than any Netflix original could. This is good for the Netflix bottom line, which in turn means more money to spend on creating original programming.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Logan

I'm through the third episode and glad to see some of you shared my thoughts at this point, but that it got better further on. My gut tells me that their choice to tell the story in this way will ultimately be a major miss, even if it does come together in a satisfactory way by the end.

I can't believe how much work Portia had done. She looks horrific compared to how she used to, when I thought she was one of the most beautiful women on TV.

We just finished with episode three and are unimpressed so far. It does get better?

And, yes, Portia looks horrid. I thought it was a different actress.

[Barkeep49]

It has moments and the later episodes are better than the early ones but I'm not sure it's ever good, let alone great.

[BillJasper]

Originally Posted by Kodos

We just finished with episode three and are unimpressed so far. It does get better?

The wife and I made it through eight episodes, I think, before giving up on it. It just wasn't very good.

[chesapeake]

It does get better. The later episodes pay off on a number of gags that are initiated in the earlier episodes. It never reaches the greatness of the original show, but I still thought it was fun.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

It does get better. The later episodes pay off on a number of gags that are initiated in the earlier episodes. It never reaches the greatness of the original show, but I still thought it was fun.

+1. What were there, 15 episodes? The rough framework of season 4 is that the first 5 episodes set up the next 7, and the final 3 set up whatever comes next. So the middle portion is the payoff.

[ISiddiqui]

Watch all of it. I was kind of, ok... interesting early on, but by the end, I was just like WOW, that ALL came together didn't it. Not a single wasted scene in the season. Quite amazing.