…And ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT is its prophet. Or something like that.
‘Arrested Development’ and How the Rise of Binge Watching Is Changing TV – by John Lichman
Everyone, it seems, has the TV show they’re working on. We’ve gone from expecting a new episode of our favorite show every week and appointment viewing to having a favorite show years after it first aired. Binge viewing is now the way of life.
“Arrested Development” is seeing a spike in new binge viewers. The revived cult sitcom is currently filming alongside a flurry of twitpics and social media updates that are fitting for a program that returns next spring after seven years off the air thanks to Netflix’s continuing experiment with original programming. But just what has binge viewing done to us as consumers since the days The Bluth Family was thrown around Fox scheduling from Sundays to Friday nights and then taken from us completely?
Well, let’s back up. Binge viewing is the coined term du jour for when new viewers are catching up with hopelessly complex shows, or programs open for cultish debate — ones ranging from “Lost” to “The Wire” to the reimagined “Battlestar Galactica” — that have given many not just an enduring second life on home video or streaming but has allowed for a different viewing experience that the original staggering out of episodes over weeks and months.
The biggest difference that this original programming from Netflix represents, starting with “Lilyhammer” and continuing with “Arrested Development” and upcoming new series “House of Cards,” “Orange is the New Black”and “Hemlock Grove,” is to forego traditional concepts of release and provide instant gratification for viewers. Speaking recently to Vulture, “Arrested Development” co-creator and showrunner Mitch Hurwitz went into detail about the fluid nature of the streaming development:
Our initial order is for ten, but the beauty of Netflix is that we theoretically have an opportunity to provide more material for them. We’re definitely shooting some special material just for them. But their whole outlook completely mirrors the ambitions of this show.
LILYHAMMER? LILYHAMMER? They mentioned LILYHAMMER in the same article as ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT? What’s wrong with those H’wood Reporter people? Why can’t they get it? Of all the lameass–
Sorry, sometimes our principles just carry us away. We kinda binge on ’em, you know?