It was a TV moment that plenty were waiting for - only, in a sign of our times, it wasn't to take place on the telly. The reaction of fans to the all-episodes-together premiere of season four of "Arrested Development" on Netflix on Sunday has been mixed.
While some fans claim they "binge-watched" and liked it, others said they couldn't take more than two episodes at a time. An ardent fan of the show told My San Antonio that she had to stop at four episodes: ""before feeling maxed-out. The dialogue was just as quick and layered as the early seasons - wow!"
Still others felt some of the humor of "Arrested Development" had been lost in its revival season, that came after a gap of seven years.
Media reports too have been swinging either way, both on the quality of the humour and the new format.
"I have, to be clear, watched it all - and not with grim determination, but rather great, increasing satisfaction. Briefly, allowing for some minor technological upgrades, it looks like the 'Arrested Development' of yore, but it unrolls in a much different form," the Los Angeles Times reported.
Other reviews were scathing.
"Everything feels slowed down and dragged out at the same time that it feels forced and overly complicated. The longer expository scenes seem interminable. Story and character now overshadow jokes and conceptual foolery, but for all their new prominence, they're still as thin and rudimentary as they were in the first three seasons - and watching the episodes in large doses further exposes their deficiencies," an early review in The New York Times said.
In response to the media criticism, Mitch Hurwitz, the creator of "Arrested Development", tweeted on Tuesday, "Best thing about the #AD2013 The viewers and the critics have traded places. They're resisting change - you're fighting for it. Wow. Thx"
He also wrote a tongue-in-cheek handwritten letter to the fans, which was posted on Facebook the day before the premiere, addressed to "our friends, fans, supporters, detractors, haters, enemies, and arch enemies". "We are all so grateful for another chance to bring these characters to life and could not have dones [sic] so without your consistent effort to "spread the word" about it. Although obviously in the case of the enemies, the words you spread were "don't watch this show!" You know I probably shouldn't have even included them in the salutation - but I'm writing this in ink + making all sorts of mistakes. Did you notice the "s" at the end of the word "done"? What's that doing there?" read the note.
