--- title: "Arrested Development: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/arrested-development/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/tv/arrested-development" critics_score: 74 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Arrested Development (2003): what the critics said Critics' score 74 from 7 reviews: 6 positive, 0 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics like it, and the warmth is concentrated on the original run. The reviews from its first years describe a comedy that sets out to mock the sitcom and largely gets away with it: the writing is called sharp and fast, the ensemble is picked out repeatedly, and the hand-held, documentary-style shooting is credited with giving the show its energy. The premise of a rich family stripped of its money and crammed into a model home is found to be a reliable engine, and Jeffrey Tambor is singled out more than once. The reservations are almost all about the later seasons, so the spread is wide. The AV Club finds the fourth season bloated and hard to love, however ambitious. IndieWire thinks the fifth is worth it for the women and Gob but senses an ending. The Telegraph, the one outright dissenter, calls that season tired and smug and says the show has outstayed its welcome. Even The Guardian, broadly approving, admits it is fun rather than laugh-out-loud funny. ## The Hollywood Reporter — Barry Garron Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). The critic calls it the smartest, funniest and most original new comedy of the season, praising its dysfunctional Bluth family and documentary-style approach. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/arrested-development-first-episode-thrs-816034/) ## The Times Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 19 March 2005. The review praises the razor-sharp writing, rapid-fire jokes and one of the best ensemble casts on television, calling it the best American sitcom since Seinfeld. It highlights the strong characters and politically incorrect humour delivered with gusto. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/arrested-development-season-1-vk2c6rqcn7g) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 29 October 2003. The series reinvents the sitcom with inspired goofiness and mocks conventions within the undernourished genre. It delivers terrific energy through its verite style, hand-held cameras, and a dysfunctional rich family dealing with corporate scandal. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2003/scene/markets-festivals/arrested-development-3-1200538261/) ## The AV Club — Emily St. James Rating B. 28 May 2013. The fourth season is a bloated boondoggle that is occasionally hilarious and sometimes boring but masterful in places. It is staggering in ambition yet hard to approach with real affection, more like loosely intersecting short films than the original series. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/arrested-development-the-complete-fourth-season-1798176925) ## IndieWire — Ben Travers Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 May 2018. Season 5 is worth watching for the women and Gob even as an ending feels imminent. The best new bits come from great women and Gob amid complicated viewing due to recent events. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/arrested-development-review-season-5-ending-spoilers-1201969167/) ## The Guardian — Nancy Banks-Smith Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 30 September 2004. The critic finds the premise of the dysfunctional Bluth family living together in a model home after financial ruin engaging and lucid. The show is not laugh-out-loud funny but definitely fun, with strong performances especially from Jeffrey Tambor. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/sep/30/television.artsfeatures) ## The Telegraph — Ed Cumming Rating 2/5. 24 May 2018. The critic finds season 5 an improvement over the disastrous fourth but still tired, smug and self-referential, with the show having outstayed its welcome. Some character dynamics and flashes of old energy are singled out positively amid the overall fatigue. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/0/arrested-development-season-5-review-world-has-moved-and-should/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/tv/arrested-development.md