A big part of Catching Up is figuring out why a show has left an indelible mark on TV history. There are hundreds of shows that air on American television every year and the vast majority of them are forgotten before anyone even notices they've aired. The fact that fans are eagerly awaiting the story-closing movie of Arrested Development (Winter 2010, by the most recent estimates) more than three years after the last new episode aired is a clear indication that there's something special about this series. Aside from the excellent cast, what really makes AD work for me is its classic but updated sensibilities. There's something vaudevillian about the show's word play and willingness to milk costume gags and silly voices.

Ready, Aim, Marry Me

Martin Short is the kind of all-in performer who actually succeeds in inhabiting his characters, no matter how outlandish. From Ed Grimley to Jiminy Glick, he's always managed to up the ante when it comes to comic insanity. Playing "Fake Uncle" Jack Dorso in what may be the best episode of Season 2, Short manages to make the overtly silly principle characters into a cavalcade of straightmen. I imagine working on the set of Arrested Development provided a lot of people with an unusually thick skin for funny. Still, I imagine the days when Short was on set cost the production company a lot of extra film from cast crack-ups. Even without him this episode already has Tobias enjoying body chocolate, more Stan Sitwell and another wonderfully tangled endgame.

Out on a Limb

I'm glad Julia Louis Dreyfus got to reprise her role as Maggie Lizer in Season 2. She was such an interesting character and this show is nothing if not a list of interesting but under-used characters. The core of her reprisal's joke is not just her (fake) pregnancy by Michael, but the fact that Arrested Development is the only show I've ever seen that would actually commit to a real pregnancy. This show has never really hewed close to the status quo. No matter how game-changing a plot point may be, the show follows through. This willingness to play chicken with a joke is what kept AD vital.

Hand to God

And speaking of a commitment to game-changing jokes, how about Buster's hand? When the seal took the manual chunk of Buster in the "Next time" bit at the end of "Out on a Limb" I just assumed they would eventually give Buster back his hand. Nope. He's got his hook for the remainder of the series and somehow it never stops being funny.

Also, I want to mention Jay Johnston as one of the recurring police officers on AD. A veteran of Mr. Show and a regular on the not-so-regular Sarah Silverman Program, Johnston specializes in playing straight-laced characters who have a deep well of silliness just beneath the surface. I don't think Arrested Development used him to even a fraction of his talents, but it's nice to see him on TV anyway.