Watch This Space

Author: Sheila Seles

My fellow TV-watchers, ask not what your television can do for you. Ask what you can do for your television. (I can't hear you asking since this is a newspaper column, so I'll just assume you did ask.) I'll tell you what you can do for your television - join the fight to save "Arrested Development."

"Arrested Development," which airs on Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on FOX, is one of those rare shows that makes even the most hardened cynic believe in the beautiful, restorative power of network television. By beautiful and restorative I mean the funniest and best-crafted show on television. The show follows the struggles of Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) who is trying to save his family business after his father is arrested for cooking the books. Michael's crazy family constantly thwarts any of Michael's productive efforts.

I have no reservations saying that the Bluth family is the most self-absorbed group of people to ever grace the small screen. They make Larry David and company look like "The Waltons." Since the Bluth company has fallen on hard times, most of the family lives together in a Bluth model home in the middle of a field. Jessica Walter as the alcoholic Bluth matriarch, Lucille, treats her children with what could be described as disdain if it didn't closer resemble apathy. Her husband, George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor), has escaped from prison and is secretly living in the family's attic, where he tried to install a hot tub. Michael's twin sister, Lindsay (Portia DeRossi) and her husband Tobias Funke (David Cross) struggle to keep their marriage afloat after Tobias loses his medical license and decides to become an actor. Tobias suffers from a rare condition that prevents him from being naked - he's a "never nude" meaning he never takes off a pair of denim cutoffs. Tobias and Lindsay's high-school aged daughter, Maeby (Alia Shawkat) has recently convinced a major Hollywood studio that she works for them as a movie producer. Michael's son, George Michael (Michael Cera), has a crush on his cousin Maeby and a fondness for "The Jerky Boys" albums. The oldest Bluth son, Gob (Will Arnett), is a womanizing magician who rides a Segway. A SEGWAY. Brilliant. Youngest son, Buster (Tony Hale) is a mama's boy and self-proclaimed scholar who has an addiction to fruit juice. Even Michael, the show's straight man, isn't only a straight man. He's a fully developed character with all the quirks one would expect of someone who came from such a dysfunctional family. Perhaps the funniest of Michael's tics is his refusal to acknowledge his son's girlfriend, Anne. Michael always forgets her name and insinuates that she's ugly. He even left Anne in Mexico. The show's story arc is as airtight as its character development.

I hope you're curious about the show if you haven't seen it because The Bluths need your help. In February, FOX reduced the show's episode order from the typical 22 episodes to a mere 18. "Arrested Development" fans have launched a massive effort to keep the show on the air. FOX received so many messages pleading for "Arrested Development's" life that it issued a statement via the FOX Web site assuring fans that "Arrested Development...is NOT CANCELLED." "NOT CANCELLED" doesn't mean that the show is safe, however. Networks don't reduce episode orders arbitrarily.

In its statement, FOX tells "Arrested Development" fans: "You can help make the show a bigger success by getting as many people as possible to start watching the show this Sunday and every Sunday." I have chosen to answer FOX's call. We may not be able to stop the war in Iraq, make Jon Stewart president of the United States or even keep Proctor open on weekends. But I hope we can keep "Arrested Development" from going to the too-brilliant-to-stay-on-the-air TV graveyard. (A brief moment of silence for "Wonderfalls" and "Freaks and Geeks" please.) Watch "Arrested Development." And if you love it, tell FOX. Check out www.saveourbluths.com to find out how to join the cause.