Development Arrested

If you needed any further proof of the sheer excellence of top sitcom Arrested Development, all you need to do is look at the timeslot. Yep, it's hidden in the graveyard that is Sunday night/Monday morning. The Beeb pulled the same trick with Seinfeld and Larry Sanders - and we're expected to be happy they're showing it all. Stupid license fee - having me pay for utter tripe all day, having to video the only 50 minutes of public service broadcasting I want to watch all week.

It can't be that untrue that by burying the best sitcoms away in the middle of the night, the Beeb is protecting it's own meagre efforts at comedy by keeping anything vaguely funny from the British public. There are more gags in the first five minutes of Arrested Development's third season debut, than in the entire run of Ricky Gervais's Extras so far. Plus, AD kicks Extras' arse when it comes to handling guest stars. Charlize Theron as a retarded British woman, Ben Stiller as a rubbish magician, Liza Minelli as a vertigo-stricken temptress, Heather Graham as a Sadam Hussein-loving teacher. Bonkers but brilliantly funny.

I could rant about the sheer greatness of this sitcom and it's non-stop running gags (of loose seals, analrapists, freebies, Poof magazine, the Blue Man group), but it's best just to watch, enjoy, watch again, again and again. It's a shame Fox axed the series in America after three seasons, but it's worth noting that it wouldn't have survived more than six episodes if it had been produced over here...