TVSquad

(S01E01 / S01E02) Wow. So, within the first five minutes it becomes abundantly clear that this is not your momma's 90210. First of all, there are actual non-whites at West Beverly High! Er, well, at least one. But he's a main character! Secondly, kids at West Beverly don't just hang out at the Peach Pit or whatever before class, they perform sexual acts in their big, shiny SUVs!

Other things are the same, however, such as the fact that being a new kid still sucks: even if you're an impossibly skinny girl with perfect teeth and hair like a shiny, pretty labradoodle, like Annie Wilson. People still call you Farm Girl, and Kelly Taylor's sister posts mean blogs about you. Meanwhile, if you're her brother, even being a lacrosse star can end badly, when jealous kids get you kicked off the team.

90210's premiere is a little uneven, but also oddly entertaining. One thing that everyone can agree on though, is that Jessica Walter is still awesome.

I'm hesitant to get my hopes up, because there's always talk of TV shows making a leap to the big screen. Whether it's a great idea, as with Arrested Development, or a horrific one like Friends: The Movie, it seems that as soon as a show ends, the silver-screen talks begin. Regardless, I just about peed my pants when I read that a Veronica Mars movie may actually become a reality.

Even though Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas has two pilots in the works (Cupid and Outrageous Fortune), he still hasn't forgotten the little detective show that is singlehandedly responsible for people no longer asking him if he's the dude from Matchbox Twenty. Apparently, Thomas's production office is located on the same lot where VM star Kristen Bell is currently shooting Heroes and the two sat down for a little chat.

Talk about a mismatch: Even though there are plenty of people in the press tour audience who fit in The CW's target demographic of women age 18-34, most of the people who seem to grab the microphone and ask questions during most sessions are firmly not in that demo. In fact, their demo could be described as "men, age 35 - infinity." Hearing some of them ask questions of the young stars of 90210, for instance, sounds almost creepy.

That being said, the CW sessions are always good to attend for two reasons: 1) the comedy stylings of communications chief Paul McGuire, and 2) the frustrating non-answers given by CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff. Both are entertaining in their own way.

Thanks to the success of the Sex and the City movie -- and talk of more to come -- the rumor mill has been bubbling with other TV shows making the leap to the big screen. In the case of Arrested Development, it sure sounds like the truth.

However, the Friends feature is a rumor that has no legs. Warners owns the property and on July 4th, even though all U.S. offices were closed for the holiday, denied the rumors via the London office.

Jayne Trotman, Warner's director of publicity, said of the Friends movie, "(There's) no truth in the story."

Just to be sure, Matthew Perry's press rep also denied the rumor. She told the BBC that nothing is happening and the rumor is just that, a shred of news with no value attached to it.

Another week, another list issue of Entertainment Weekly.

I'm not sure what to make of all of these lists. We do them here too, but it seems to me the more giant lists that are done the more meaningless they become. This EW issue is "The New Classics," the 1000 best TV shows, movies, books, and music of the past 25 years. Since this is a television blog, I won't get into their book, movie, and music picks (but if I can just say as a side note, they pick both Clueless and The Naked Gun before L.A. Confidential?!), but let's talk about their TV choices.

And argue about those choices in the comments, of course.

And you thought that all that business with the WGA strike was over.

The writers for the new animated FOX show Sit Down, Shut Up have walked out, saying they were misled by Sony Pictures. They thought that under the agreement reached a few months ago they would be represented by the Writer's Guild of America but Sony actually has them covered under the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Under their rules, writers don't get all those things they fought for, including new media (online, DVD, etc) money or even residuals.

Jason Bateman is keeping himself busy. Hot off his pilot directing debut with Do Not Disturb, he has signed a deal with 20th Century Fox for a first-look at the new series. Obviously, he doesn't hold a grudge from the network's shoddy treatment of Arrested Development.

The new series will be developed under the banner of Bateman's company, F+A Productions. Do Not Disturb stars Jerry O'Connell and it was the only live-action comedy pilot Fox picked up as a new series for next season.

"He did an excellent job on the pilot visually, brought great energy and enthusiasm to it and, as an actor, he really understands how to talk to and motivate actors," said Gary Newman, 20th TV co-chairman. Bateman is also scheduled to lend his voice to the Fox animated series Sit Down, Shut Up which is scheduled to begin in the fall.

Jason Bateman has come a long way since Silver Spoons. I'm still eagerly waiting for the new season of It's Your Move.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

(S03E13) Originally aired February 10th, 2006 -- I could roll out about a dozen clichés when describing the series finale of Arrested Development, but I'm honestly not sure that saying "this was the end of an era" does it enough justice. For those that own the DVD sets, take a look at the cover for season two. There's a quote from Entertainment Weekly on it: "Once in the history of time comes a sitcom like Arrested Development."

Too bad FOX never saw it that way. Not only did they delay the airing of the final four AD episodes, but when it came time to show them, they got bundled together and aired 'em in a row - on a Friday night in the middle of winter! As I've said before, it sucks that Emmy wins don't dictate a show's future. But we really can't blame FOX because those Emmys are arguably why we were lucky enough to get three seasons period. Blame the people who watched Skating with Celebrities (AD's time-slot replacement) instead.

A lot of hilarious, yet terrible, things run in the Bluth family--huge mistakes, catchphrases, and unconventional modes of transportation. In honor of TV Squad's Arrested Development week, let's take a look at some of the qualities that make the Bluths unique.

Drinking and Drug Problems - Lucille's drinking problem is world-famous, but the other Bluths have been known to use alcohol and drugs on occasion. Lindsay had some issues with Zanatab back when she was part of "The Solution," and Buster can't get enough juice. G.O.B. frequently used roofies (known to him as forget-me-nows) on other people during his magic career. In the clip below, the Bluth siblings and Tobias got drunk to prepare themselves for an intervention. Michael only lets loose when he's drunk, and it's a wonderful thing to see. I love that he's wearing a Franklin wig.

So, after three seasons of GOB's greatest moments, I found I had so much more to say about my favorite character. GOB has so many great lines over the course of three seasons of Arrested Development. Furthermore, Will Arnett does an incredible job with the delivery. To finish off my tribute to GOB, I compiled a list of some of my favorite lines from the show. One could even say it's the final countdown.

After the jump, you have "GOB: The B-Roll." Let the eldest Bluth take you through important matters like race, women, business affairs, and family.

A high profile family like the Bluth clan requires a large staff to meet its needs. They need to keep up the image (make that illusion) of their lifestyle, after all. Yacht crews, maids, and Segway repairmen are basic necessities. The skilled professionals were the ones that kept the Bluths going. Here are a few of my favorites:

Gene Parmesan (Martin Mull) - As private eyes go, Gene was not a top-notch detective. If he spent more time investigating and less time on his disguises, he might have discovered George Sr.'s infidelity back in the day. I can't decide which is funnier: Gene's satisfied smirk whenever he took off his disguise, or Lucille's screams when he tricked her. It's a shame that Martin Mull only stuck around for a single episode. Perhaps the writers wanted to let Gene leave on high note after locating George Sr. and hanging out with G.O.B.

This week TV Squad has been paying tribute to Arrested Development with special Retro Squad pieces. I decided that I would highlight my favorite character from the show, GOB. After watching several episodes of Arrested Development, I realized that I couldn't just narrow it down to the five greatest moments. I would have to do a list for each season.

You've already seen Five greatest GOB moments (season one) and Five greatest GOB moments (season two). After the jump, I have my favorite moments from season three.

When you make a living online and a big part of your job is to spend the entire day surfing around a hundred web sites, you begin to think that you've seen everything there is to see on the web. At least the good stuff. But sometimes you come across a site that makes you smile and say to yourself, "this is great!"

That's what I thought when I found the Sound of Young America podcast.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

I will admit, I was super late to the Arrested Development game. It had been canceled and I'm pretty sure everything was on DVD. Actually, I remember the first time I watched an episode, it was on G4. There was that guy from Teen Wolf Too and he was talking to David Cross, who was painted like a Smurf for some reason. And then he did some things that didn't really make sense, and I laughed nervously because I was worried I had become too stupid to keep up with sitcoms. I gave up after another ten minutes of confusion and switched over to Flavor of Love or something equally brain-numbing to make myself feel better.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

(S03E05) To borrow a phrase from Saved!, "Mr. F" is the episode that confirmed fans' suspicions about Rita's "differently-abledness." George Michael celebrated a birthday, Maeby continued her double life as a studio executive, and Tobias got the wrong idea yet again.