Fingers Crossed On An "Arrested Development" Reboot...

As an "Arrested Development" fanatic, I'm excited at all the reports that the cast is planning reunite not just for a movie (as has been previously reported) but also for a limited-run season of new episodes to come before the movie.

Color me guardedly excited. They've been talking about this for years, and the movie never seems closer to reality. I can't imagine how they're going to put the series back together for a short run, or where it will air. (You can forget Fox--they never wanted to pay the cost of an incredible ensemble cast and did their best to kill it.)

If you've never seen this show, do yourself a favor and track down the first season. (It only ran for three, and the third season was truncated.) I would say it was the best American sitcom of all time--the highest quality, at least. (The BBC's original "The Office" still takes the grand prize.) The episodes have so much going on in them, you need several viewings to pick up on all the running jokes, the things happening in the background, the inside jokes that foreshadow plot developments, etc., etc. It's layered, and it's silly as a "Marx Brothers" comedy, with wordplay that comes close to that level. And there isn't a single character that hits a flat note.

A word of warning: Give it a few episodes to grow on you...the early part of Season 1, like so many shows, is about feeling their way along. About midway through the season, they hit their stride and never lost it again. But you need to see the early episodes to really "get" the series.

Also: You'll be hooked, and you'll watch the entire series, and you'll become an obnoxious blogger who can't stop talking about the stupid movie that they might never actually make.

No touching!