CrunchyFrog
Member
*Mission Accomplished! Season 4 is a go!*
I'd had this idea in the season 4 discussion thread. There are a lot of people who've seen this series so many times. There are lots who haven't, either due to time constraints or what have you. I like many missed out on this series when it first came out, and thus didn't get that kind of week to week enjoyment and discussion like a normal broadcast show. Plus a lot of people have kind of a fetish for living vicariously through the experiences of first-time viewers. So I figured what better way to prep for this show's historic return on May 26 than to do a day by day marathon up until it's release! Catch up on arguably one of the best sitcoms to grace TV in just over 20 minutes a day! EDIT: Some people seem to be getting the wrong idea about this thread. This is a thread to rewatch the OLD episodes, not the new ones! The OT for season 4 is here, or if you'd like to stay with us there's a one day at a time thread for Season 4 now up too!
Some ground rules:
- I'd like to do this as sort of a "dry run" if you will. We're probably gonna get a few first-timers in here, so try to **keep spoilers to a minimum** (this includes favorite quotes from episodes we haven't watched yet, along with image macros and the various GIF's in that same vein). If it hasn't happened in the show order yet, don't talk about it. I understand though that this will be hard to follow with the HUGE amount of call-forwards jokes and background stuff, but at the very least keep that stuff to spoiler tags.
- We're gonna try to follow the schedule of one episode per day (with the exception of double header days). There will be people in jump in late or miss a few and will need to catch up, but that's alright. It's the advantage of doing only 1 23 minute episode per day, it makes it easier to make up for missed ones. Just get up to speed in however long it takes and jump in with us on the current day's episode, though try not to skip ahead. The daily schedule will be aligned to CDT (GMT-5), beginning at 12:00AM each day.
- Now as far as actually watching the episode, I'm not sure if people wanna set up a specific daily time for a group watching? Maybe sync watches? I'm not sure of the legality of livestreaming the episodes via Ustream or something like that. That's probably a bit complicated, but if people find a *legal* way then be my guest. In any case, though, with the daily episode come into the thread having already watched it if you don't want to get spoiled.
WHERE TO WATCH
Streaming:
Region Restricted*
- Our Lord and Savior, Netflix. Monthly watch instantly plans are $7.99USD/month, but first-timers can opt into a free 1-month trial. Additionally, Netflix is one of the few places that has the series in HD, since there is no BluRay release of the show yet as of today. Netflix is of course available on everything under the sun, from your web browser to most phones/tablets to every current major video game console. This will likely be the preferred option, not only for ease of use but the more subscribers Netflix gets and for more months likely translates into a greater likelihood of more episodes or a movie in the future.
- *While Arrested Development is unfortunately restricted to only certain regions, never fear! There are plenty of VPN's and other workarounds out there to get around this if you live in an unsupported region, just check the section below.
Region Restricted*
- Hulu actually offers one season of the show at a time for free on rotation, but unfortunately at the moment they're only offering season 3 to non-subs. For the whole series you'll need to subscribe to Hulu Plus. Hulu Plus is also only $7.99USD, and most devices that support Netflix also support Hulu. However, Hulu offers only a 1 week free trial as opposed to Netflix's full month, and Hulu's shows all have 1-2 minute ads inserted into the commercial breaks as opposed to Netflix's completely ad free experience.
- *Once again, as stated above AD is only available in specific regions via H+, but luckily there are workarounds, see below.
- Amazon Instant Video offers each episode a la carte as well as each season, but at $1.99USD/episode or $17.99USD/season you're shelling out a lot more than the previous two options. However it's also a good solution if you have unreliable or no internet connection as you can download a digital copy of each episode using the Unbox Player. Amazon is also one of the few places that has the series in HD. Amazon Prime also offers unlimited Amazon Instant access, which includes the whole AD series, but it's a yearly subscription at $79USD/year (though the numerous other Amazon benefits make it an otherwise good value). Amazon Instant also isn't terribly widely supported on various multimedia devices.
Getting around region restrictions
- There are a number of options available to you if one or more of the above isn't offered in your country/region. Including:
- Hola Unblocker (Win/Mac, Chrome/Firefox, Android) [Free]
- Media Hint (PC, Chrome, Firefox) [Free]
- Unblock-US (Any browser, PC/Mac/Game consoles/mobile) [$4.99/mo. subscription, 1 week free trial]
- and more (let me know in the thread if you've got any more suggestions or lists of region restrictions in your or any other area)
- A quick google search of the respective name should bring you to their respective pages and how to use them.
- NOTE: your mileage may vary. These aren't guaranteed to work, may work one day and inexplicably not the next, and in some cases these may be part of a legal gray area depending on your circumstances.
Digital Download:
- As mentioned above, Amazon Instant has the optional Unbox Player which allows you to download a digital version of any videos you have available on the service to watch later. As a bonus, the downloads also usually include a down-res'd version suitable for mobile devices as well.
- iTunes has the whole series up a la carte at $1.99USD/episode or $17.99/season. It comes as DRM-protected media files, though, so it's really mainly convenient for only iOS devices (though there is free conversion software out there if you need/want to).
DVD:
Original Release
- The series was released as separate seasons on 3 DVD box sets, but the above link from Amazon has all 3 box sets in a bundle at a 50% discount, bringing the total to only $45.55USD + shipping. In addition to the show itself, there's a few DVD extras like behind the scenes featurettes, commentary tracks, deleted scenes, and bloopers.
2013 Re-release
- Fox has decided to capitalize on the hype of the 4th season and release a new edition of the original Season 1, 2, and 3 DVD's. Unfortunately, it looks like there isn't any new content in this release, just the same extras as the original print, and it's also $3.00 more than the older set at $48.99 (plus shipping). Still, sales of this set are more likely to show up on Fox and other relevant parties' radar as far as interest in the show goes, so if you're gonna get either set in support of the show you'll probably wanna get this one.
- Note: The show is currently NOT officially available on BluRay, but there have been persistent rumors of a BluRay release to coincide with season 4 for a while now. If you think you can hold out til then, you'll likely get a more definitive version that way.
A little music to set the mood, and without further adieu...
The Episode List
Season 1
- 04/07 - 1. Pilot
- 04/08 - 2. Top Banana
- 04/09 - 3. Bringing Up Buster
- 04/10 - 4. Key Decisions
- 04/11 - 5. Charity Drive
- 04/12 - 6. Visiting Ours
- 04/13 - 7. In God We Trust
- 04/14 - 8. My Mother, the Car
- 04/15 - 9. Storming the Castle
- 04/16 - 10. Pier Pressure
- 04/17 - 11. Public Relations
- 04/18 - 12. Marta Complex & 13. Beef Consommé
- 04/19 - 14. Shock and Aww
- 04/20 - 15. Staff Infection
- 04/21 - 16. Altar Egos & 17. Justice Is Blind
- 04/22 - 18. Missing Kitty
- 04/23 - 19. Best Man for the Gob
- 04/24 - 20. Whistler's Mother
- 04/25 - 21. Not Without My Daughter
- 04/26 - 22. Let 'Em Eat Cake
Season 2
- 04/27 - 1. The One Where Michael Leaves
- 04/28 - 2. The One Where They Build a House
- 04/29 - 3. ¡Amigos!
- 04/30 - 4. Good Grief
- 05/01 - 5. Sad Sack
- 05/02 - 6. Afternoon Delight
- 05/03 - 7. Switch Hitter
- 05/04 - 8. Queen for a Day
- 05/05 - 9. Burning Love
- 05/06 - 10. Ready, Aim, Marry Me
- 05/07 - 11. Out on a Limb & 12. Hand to God
- 05/08 - 13. Motherboy XXX
- 05/09 - 14. The Immaculate Election
- 05/10 - 15. Sword of Destiny
- 05/11 - 16. Meat the Veals
- 05/12 - 17. Spring Breakout
- 05/13 - 18. Righteous Brothers
Season 3
- 05/14 - 1. The Cabin Show
- 05/15 - 2. For British Eyes Only
- 05/16 - 3. Forget-Me-Now
- 05/17 - 4. Notapusy
- 05/18 - 5. Mr. F
- 05/19 - 6. The Ocean Walker
- 05/20 - 7. Prison Break-In
- 05/21 - 8. Making a Stand
- 05/22 - 9. S.O.B.s
- 05/23 - 10. Fakin' It & 11. Family Ties
- 05/24 - 12. Exit Strategy
- 05/25 - 13. Development Arrested
- 05/26 - Rapture
NOTE: dates are listed in MM/DD format.
- I've also tried to group together some double header days in those places where it makes sense with the show's story and to make sure we get through them all before the new season starts.
- And don't fret if you're just joining us! I'll be indexing the start of each episode-day within the above list so you can catch up on the wild adventures in the thread on your own.
Closing comments:
Finally, this OP was created by myself with some stock images and the like. If you've got any or would like to make any banners to spruce the place up a bit, feel free to send me a PM. Also let me know if I've made any mistakes or if you've got any questions or suggestions for this whole thing going forward. If people like this idea I may consider continuing this through the new season as well.
I'd had this idea in the season 4 discussion thread. There are a lot of people who've seen this series so many times. There are lots who haven't, either due to time constraints or what have you. I like many missed out on this series when it first came out, and thus didn't get that kind of week to week enjoyment and discussion like a normal broadcast show. Plus a lot of people have kind of a fetish for living vicariously through the experiences of first-time viewers. So I figured what better way to prep for this show's historic return on May 26 than to do a day by day marathon up until it's release! Catch up on arguably one of the best sitcoms to grace TV in just over 20 minutes a day! EDIT: Some people seem to be getting the wrong idea about this thread. This is a thread to rewatch the OLD episodes, not the new ones! The OT for season 4 is here, or if you'd like to stay with us there's a one day at a time thread for Season 4 now up too!
Some ground rules:
- I'd like to do this as sort of a "dry run" if you will. We're probably gonna get a few first-timers in here, so try to **keep spoilers to a minimum** (this includes favorite quotes from episodes we haven't watched yet, along with image macros and the various GIF's in that same vein). If it hasn't happened in the show order yet, don't talk about it. I understand though that this will be hard to follow with the HUGE amount of call-forwards jokes and background stuff, but at the very least keep that stuff to spoiler tags.
- We're gonna try to follow the schedule of one episode per day (with the exception of double header days). There will be people in jump in late or miss a few and will need to catch up, but that's alright. It's the advantage of doing only 1 23 minute episode per day, it makes it easier to make up for missed ones. Just get up to speed in however long it takes and jump in with us on the current day's episode, though try not to skip ahead. The daily schedule will be aligned to CDT (GMT-5), beginning at 12:00AM each day.
- Now as far as actually watching the episode, I'm not sure if people wanna set up a specific daily time for a group watching? Maybe sync watches? I'm not sure of the legality of livestreaming the episodes via Ustream or something like that. That's probably a bit complicated, but if people find a *legal* way then be my guest. In any case, though, with the daily episode come into the thread having already watched it if you don't want to get spoiled.
WHERE TO WATCH
Streaming:
Region Restricted*
- Our Lord and Savior, Netflix. Monthly watch instantly plans are $7.99USD/month, but first-timers can opt into a free 1-month trial. Additionally, Netflix is one of the few places that has the series in HD, since there is no BluRay release of the show yet as of today. Netflix is of course available on everything under the sun, from your web browser to most phones/tablets to every current major video game console. This will likely be the preferred option, not only for ease of use but the more subscribers Netflix gets and for more months likely translates into a greater likelihood of more episodes or a movie in the future.
- *While Arrested Development is unfortunately restricted to only certain regions, never fear! There are plenty of VPN's and other workarounds out there to get around this if you live in an unsupported region, just check the section below.
Region Restricted*
- Hulu actually offers one season of the show at a time for free on rotation, but unfortunately at the moment they're only offering season 3 to non-subs. For the whole series you'll need to subscribe to Hulu Plus. Hulu Plus is also only $7.99USD, and most devices that support Netflix also support Hulu. However, Hulu offers only a 1 week free trial as opposed to Netflix's full month, and Hulu's shows all have 1-2 minute ads inserted into the commercial breaks as opposed to Netflix's completely ad free experience.
- *Once again, as stated above AD is only available in specific regions via H+, but luckily there are workarounds, see below.
- Amazon Instant Video offers each episode a la carte as well as each season, but at $1.99USD/episode or $17.99USD/season you're shelling out a lot more than the previous two options. However it's also a good solution if you have unreliable or no internet connection as you can download a digital copy of each episode using the Unbox Player. Amazon is also one of the few places that has the series in HD. Amazon Prime also offers unlimited Amazon Instant access, which includes the whole AD series, but it's a yearly subscription at $79USD/year (though the numerous other Amazon benefits make it an otherwise good value). Amazon Instant also isn't terribly widely supported on various multimedia devices.
Getting around region restrictions
- There are a number of options available to you if one or more of the above isn't offered in your country/region. Including:
- Hola Unblocker (Win/Mac, Chrome/Firefox, Android) [Free]
- Media Hint (PC, Chrome, Firefox) [Free]
- Unblock-US (Any browser, PC/Mac/Game consoles/mobile) [$4.99/mo. subscription, 1 week free trial]
- and more (let me know in the thread if you've got any more suggestions or lists of region restrictions in your or any other area)
- A quick google search of the respective name should bring you to their respective pages and how to use them.
- NOTE: your mileage may vary. These aren't guaranteed to work, may work one day and inexplicably not the next, and in some cases these may be part of a legal gray area depending on your circumstances.
Digital Download:
- As mentioned above, Amazon Instant has the optional Unbox Player which allows you to download a digital version of any videos you have available on the service to watch later. As a bonus, the downloads also usually include a down-res'd version suitable for mobile devices as well.
- iTunes has the whole series up a la carte at $1.99USD/episode or $17.99/season. It comes as DRM-protected media files, though, so it's really mainly convenient for only iOS devices (though there is free conversion software out there if you need/want to).
DVD:
Original Release
- The series was released as separate seasons on 3 DVD box sets, but the above link from Amazon has all 3 box sets in a bundle at a 50% discount, bringing the total to only $45.55USD + shipping. In addition to the show itself, there's a few DVD extras like behind the scenes featurettes, commentary tracks, deleted scenes, and bloopers.
2013 Re-release
- Fox has decided to capitalize on the hype of the 4th season and release a new edition of the original Season 1, 2, and 3 DVD's. Unfortunately, it looks like there isn't any new content in this release, just the same extras as the original print, and it's also $3.00 more than the older set at $48.99 (plus shipping). Still, sales of this set are more likely to show up on Fox and other relevant parties' radar as far as interest in the show goes, so if you're gonna get either set in support of the show you'll probably wanna get this one.
- Note: The show is currently NOT officially available on BluRay, but there have been persistent rumors of a BluRay release to coincide with season 4 for a while now. If you think you can hold out til then, you'll likely get a more definitive version that way.
A little music to set the mood, and without further adieu...
The Episode List
Season 1
- 04/07 - 1. Pilot
- 04/08 - 2. Top Banana
- 04/09 - 3. Bringing Up Buster
- 04/10 - 4. Key Decisions
- 04/11 - 5. Charity Drive
- 04/12 - 6. Visiting Ours
- 04/13 - 7. In God We Trust
- 04/14 - 8. My Mother, the Car
- 04/15 - 9. Storming the Castle
- 04/16 - 10. Pier Pressure
- 04/17 - 11. Public Relations
- 04/18 - 12. Marta Complex & 13. Beef Consommé
- 04/19 - 14. Shock and Aww
- 04/20 - 15. Staff Infection
- 04/21 - 16. Altar Egos & 17. Justice Is Blind
- 04/22 - 18. Missing Kitty
- 04/23 - 19. Best Man for the Gob
- 04/24 - 20. Whistler's Mother
- 04/25 - 21. Not Without My Daughter
- 04/26 - 22. Let 'Em Eat Cake
Season 2
- 04/27 - 1. The One Where Michael Leaves
- 04/28 - 2. The One Where They Build a House
- 04/29 - 3. ¡Amigos!
- 04/30 - 4. Good Grief
- 05/01 - 5. Sad Sack
- 05/02 - 6. Afternoon Delight
- 05/03 - 7. Switch Hitter
- 05/04 - 8. Queen for a Day
- 05/05 - 9. Burning Love
- 05/06 - 10. Ready, Aim, Marry Me
- 05/07 - 11. Out on a Limb & 12. Hand to God
- 05/08 - 13. Motherboy XXX
- 05/09 - 14. The Immaculate Election
- 05/10 - 15. Sword of Destiny
- 05/11 - 16. Meat the Veals
- 05/12 - 17. Spring Breakout
- 05/13 - 18. Righteous Brothers
Season 3
- 05/14 - 1. The Cabin Show
- 05/15 - 2. For British Eyes Only
- 05/16 - 3. Forget-Me-Now
- 05/17 - 4. Notapusy
- 05/18 - 5. Mr. F
- 05/19 - 6. The Ocean Walker
- 05/20 - 7. Prison Break-In
- 05/21 - 8. Making a Stand
- 05/22 - 9. S.O.B.s
- 05/23 - 10. Fakin' It & 11. Family Ties
- 05/24 - 12. Exit Strategy
- 05/25 - 13. Development Arrested
- 05/26 - Rapture
NOTE: dates are listed in MM/DD format.
- I've also tried to group together some double header days in those places where it makes sense with the show's story and to make sure we get through them all before the new season starts.
- And don't fret if you're just joining us! I'll be indexing the start of each episode-day within the above list so you can catch up on the wild adventures in the thread on your own.
Closing comments:
Finally, this OP was created by myself with some stock images and the like. If you've got any or would like to make any banners to spruce the place up a bit, feel free to send me a PM. Also let me know if I've made any mistakes or if you've got any questions or suggestions for this whole thing going forward. If people like this idea I may consider continuing this through the new season as well.
