The first season of the

television comedy Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...

series ''

Arrested Development The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, ''circa'' 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be use ...

'' aired between November 2, 2003 and June 6, 2004, on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

in the United States. It consisted of 22 episodes, each running approximately 22 minutes in length. The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on October 19, 2004, in region 2 on March 21, 2005 and in region 4 on February 23, 2005. The show's storyline centers on the Bluth family, a formerly wealthy, habitually dysfunctional family and is presented in a continuous format, incorporating hand-held camera work, narration, archival photos and historical footage.

Cast

Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor, director and producer known for his roles of Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox/Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development (TV series), Arrested Development'' and of Mart ...

Michael Bluth Nichael "Michael" Bluth is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American television sitcom ''Arrested Development'', created by Mitchell Hurwitz, and portrayed by Jason Bateman. Michael serves as the series straight man, and leads his ...

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series '' Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for wh ...

as Lindsay Bluth-Fünke *

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor, comedian and producer. He is best known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix series ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and as the titular charact ...

as Gob Bluth *

Michael Cera Michael Austin Cera (; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, voicing the character of Brother Bear on the children's television show ''The Berenstain Bears (2003 TV series), The Berenstain ...

as George Michael Bluth *

Alia Shawkat Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom ''Arrested Develop ...

as Maeby Fünke *

Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role in the Fox comedy series ''Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth. Hale played Gary Walsh on the HBO comedy ''Veep'' from 2012 until its ...

as Buster Bluth *

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...

as Tobias Fünke *

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank Kings ...

as George and Oscar Bluth *

Jessica Walter Jessica Walter (January 31, 1941 – March 24, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in over 170 film, stage and television productions. In film, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc jockey in t ...

as Lucille Bluth *

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

as Narrator (uncredited)

Episodes

The episode list below is ordered the same as on the season 1 DVD collection and not in their original broadcast order.

Reception

Critical reception

In its first season, ''Arrested Development'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the season has an approval rating of 100% with an average score of 10 out of 10 based on 24 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Arrested Development'' puts an ambitiously complex, brilliantly fast-paced spin on dysfunctional family comedy, anchored by the efforts of a tremendously talented ensemble." On the review aggregator website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the first season scored 89 out of 100, based on 24 reviews, indicating "Universal acclaim".

Awards and nominations

In 2004, the first season received seven

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations, and earned five wins: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing and Writing for a Comedy Series for the pilot episode written by

Mitchell Hurwitz Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom ''Arrested Development'' as well as the co-creator of ''The Ellen Show''. He is a ...

and directed by brothers

Anthony and Joe Russo Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo brothers (), are American directors, producers, and screenwriters. They direct most of their work together. They are best known for dir ...

, Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series.

was nominated that year for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Home media

The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on October 19, 2004, in region 2 on March 21, 2005 and in region 4 on February 23, 2005. Special features on the sets include the unaired and uncensored full-length pilot episode; commentary by creator Mitchell Hurwitz and cast members on the extended pilot, "Beef Consommé" and "Let Them Eat Cake"; deleted and extended scenes; "Breaking Ground: Behind the Scenes of ''Arrested Development''" featurette; The Museum of Television & Radio: Q&A with Creator Mitchell Hurwitz and the cast of ''Arrested Development''; TV Land – "''Arrested Development'': The Making of a Future Classic"; TV Land Awards — The Future Classic Award; Ron Howard Sneak Peek at Season 2; ''Arrested Development'' Promo – "Blind"; Easter Egg — Tobias Outtake.

References

External links

* {{EmmyAward ComedySeries 2001–2025 2003 American television seasons 2004 American television seasons