Season 2, Episode 16
Original Airdate: April 3, 2005
Writers: Richard Rosenstock, Barbie Adler
Director: Joe Russo
Executive Producers: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Mitchell Hurwitz, David
Nevins
Cast: Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Tony
Hale
Telling a single funny joke
is infinitely more difficult than telling a single unfunny one, and filling 22
minutes with funny jokes is nearly impossible, no matter what a laughing studio
audience would have you believe. “Meat the Veals” is as close to a perfect
comedic episode of television I’ve ever seen. Every single joke is funny, and
every time I watch the episode I am as entertained as I was the first time. And
yes, I write this fully acknowledging that the title is horrible. For me, it’s
the pinnacle of “Arrested Development,” a show with many creative peaks.
Plus, there’s Mrs.
Featherbottom.
Plus, we’re introduced to
Franklin the puppet.
Though now it seems like
everyone knows and loves the show (and likes to boast that they watched it when
it was originally on air. As if.), the series was an underground movement from
the start…the type of program that four hipsters in Brooklyn watched but were
afraid to tell others about because it would mean admitting they had a
television. Even I, the guy who watched all three episodes of “The Return of Jezebel James,” didn’t start watching until the beginning of the second season.
And, truthfully, it’s easy to see why its many eccentricities turned off new
viewers. Instead of self-contained, simple A-and-B stories, any given episode
had about ten continuing storylines going on. Instead of giving viewers easy
jumping-on points for prospective viewers, it filled its half-hours with dozens
of in-jokes new viewers would not understand. This craziness is what makes the
show great, of course – and are a huge reason why it has flourished on DVD and
Netflix (where viewers can watch from episode one and not miss a beat). But for
the show’s original audience, the inside-baseball gags were just another reason
we loved it. It was like we were part of an elite club that most of the world
was not privy to.
Of course being part of a
small, elite club watching a broadcast sitcom doesn’t guarantee it’ll have a
long and successful run, but that’s beside the point.
The main story of “Meat the
Veals” (let me reiterate how much better the episode is than its name suggests)
involves George Michael (Michael Cera), to his father Michael’s (Jason Bateman)
chagrin, wanting to get pre-engaged to his girlfriend Anne (Mae Whitman).
Meanwhile, Oscar (Jeffrey Tambor) wants to throw an anniversary party for his
missing twin brother (Tambor again) and Lucille (Jessica Walter). Meanwhile,
Tobias (David Cross) has been thrown out of the house by Lindsay (Portia de
Rossi) and, in order to see his daughter Maeby (Alia Shawkat), dons the persona
of a British housekeeper named Mrs. Featherbottom. Meanwhile, Maeby tries to
keep her dual life as a studio exec hidden from her family. Meanwhile, GOB
(Will Arnett) wants to re-introduce the family to Franklin, a racist black
puppet that mocks George Michael’s “cracker ass,” among other non-bleeped
things. Like I said, it’s a little complex for a half-hour sitcom. But then
again, half the fun is watching the multiple storylines crash into one another
in ways much cooler than “Crash.”
Like I wrote, every single
joke lands. Also, this happens, which is my favorite bit of physical television
comedy in the past decade. I can’t watch the episode without rewinding Mrs.
Featherbottom’s fall multiple times. It’s difficult to pick a favorite bit of
dialogue…maybe this one?
Lindsay (re: Mrs. Featherbottom): “You do realize that’s Tobias, right?”Lucille: “If he’s going to get into my closet, he’s going to work for it.”
Or this one?
Mrs. Featherbottom: “Who’s up for a banger in the mouth?”
I’d mention more, but then I’d
just start listing, which is only fun if it involves Roger Ebert quotes.
What struck me during this
viewing is how varied the actors’ different styles of comedy are. In series
like “Fraiser,” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” every actor seems to be hitting
the same comedic notes in any given episode. Often when a different comedic
style is introduced on sitcoms, a’la Urkel on “Family Matters” or Fonzie in “Happy
Days,” they tend to take over the show and shift the comedy to their strengths.
I don’t write that as a criticism of those shows, just an observation in order
to underline how special it is that “Arrested Development” can marry all those
brands of humor into one cohesive whole. Cera’s quiet, awkward humor couldn’t
be further removed from Cross’ broad slapstick, and yet when they are in the
same room together, it feels right.
This leads me to the question
of whether this is the best comedic ensemble in television history. Surely the
casts of shows like “I Love Lucy,” “Seinfeld” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”
were, in their own ways, perfect…but this cast is also perfect. And bigger. And
while those sitcoms ostensibly had the title star at their center, here there
is no true lead. Yes, Michael is our way into the show, but in many ways he’s
just as demented as the rest of his family (it’s just not as obvious) – and
just because you play the straight man in a comedy sketch does not mean you are
central to it. So yeah, as to the question posed above, I’ll call this troupe
the once-in-a-lifetime, lightning-in-a-bottle, other-cliché-chesnut, best cast
in the history of television.
And I’m so happy that “Arrested
Development” has crossed over garnered the popularity it always deserved. I
remember being in college when I discovered it, and putting on DVDs of the
first season for my friends while we were eating Papa Johns and whipped ice
cream. In a way, helping others discover the program and the greatness
contained therein was part of the fun – like handing a great novel to someone
and whispering “you’ll thank me later.”
“Meat the Veals” is available
on DVD, Netflix, Amazon Prime, iTunes and Hulu. And now, seven years after the
show was cancelled midseason by Fox, it has been revived by Netflix. The fourth
season will be available in May.
