I have a bad habit of adopting TV shows long after they have been given the axe. I've never been that much of an avid watcher to begin with. But for a few shows, I haven't followed that many programs with an unwavering sense of loyalty. That and I'm a doubting Thomas when it comes to premises. As a result, I've missed a lot of great programs for my bad timing and worse concept-prejudice. A part of me regrets waiting for the clipped DVD release of Firefly instead of supporting the show in its initial run and something tells me I would have enjoyed The West Wing had I been interested in politics as a teenager. I've decided to rectify this habit of mine, at least partially, by devoting the Summer to a new feature on TV World called Catching Up. For this feature, I'll be covering chunks of episodes from some sorely missed series, particularly those that could have used more viewers when they originally aired. Two of the shows I'm covering are from a few years back, but one is from this past season.

Today, I'm starting with the regular Tuesday feature, Mitch Hurwitz's modern cult classic Arrested Development. This show, like the aforementioned Firefly, is as famous for being canceled as it is for being excellent. The good people at Hulu have the entire run of the series, so I'll be covering three episodes per week. Let's get into it.

Episode 1: Pilot

It's the task of all pilot episodes to introduce the central characters and the main theme of the show. This is especially important in an ensemble comedy like AD. The problem here is that this show has a huge cast populated by very prominent, talented performers. Naturally, some of them are going to get short shrift in the name of plot. Some characters, like Buster and Maeby, don't get much to do. Still, we get to know many of the main characters, most importantly Justin Bateman's Michael Bluth.

Episode 2: Top Banana

I wasn't sure until long after watching this episode that Jeffrey Tambor would be delivering most of his comic excellence on AD via fun lines and great delivery in the prison visiting room. The challenge of this show, I can already tell, is finding a way to balance the weight of each character without spending too much time with, or neglecting, any one of them. To this end, I think the first season of AD doesn't give Michael Cera near enough room. His character George Michael Bluth, is one running gag (an incest gag, no less), so he only gets tiny moments to prove his abilities as a bright, young comedian.

Episode 3: Bringing Up Buster

It's not really until this episode that Tony Hale gets to properly introduce Buster. Arrested Development is definitely cartoony, but Buster might as well be tap-dancing next to Fred Astaire. This isn't a bad thing in small doses, which is how we mostly get him. Jessica Walter plays off of Hale fairly well as Lucille Bluth, as well as giving us a window into how the family grew to be so dysfunctional in the first place.

So far, I'm enjoying Arrested Development immensely. Part of my coverage here will concern just why this show got canceled, or at least why it couldn't pull in enough viewers to justify a fourth season. For now, I'm firmly in the space that got AD renewed for a second go, so that part of the analysis will have to wait.