Well, now that the season has ended, I was left with a satisfied impression.  The show had really funny moments and really boring moments as well as touching moments.  I won’t go into detail about them here as I described them throughout my blogs, but I think the balance of these three aspects made the show really memorable, enjoyable and stood out to me for others I had seen.

The blogging experience was mixed for me at times.  Due to the size of the first season it felt a bit tedious to write-up so many blogs, and at times even analyzing the episode made it less enjoyable to me.  In the end however, I realized how close I felt to the Bluth family.  I think the cast did a really good job of making their characters believable and stand out.  In fact, I don’t think there is one character in the family that felt like they barely contributed.  Even Oscar, who was there for a short few episodes, left a memorable if not a creepy impression.  Also, the part I enjoyed the most was the few episodes that I felt I could relate to.  It’s a good feeling when you could relate to what some of the characters are going through in the show; in fact I believe it makes them seem more believable.

The show had a very basic soundtrack and in a way it was relaxing.  I think compared to the over the top and over processed theme songs that most shows have this one seemed barebones and contributed to the mood very well.  The smooth sound of the ukulele had this simple and melodic effect which served to contrast the tension of the family.  Speaking of simple, I also thought it was ingenious how they described the show in a few words simply stating “Now the story of a family who lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.  It’s arrested development.”  It described the show so well and yet did not reveal any of the spoilers or key plot elements.  My English teacher from high school always said, papers should be like a woman’s skirt “short and to the point.”  As perverted as that may sound, it’s actually true and that line stands out so well because of it.  Also the show did make fun of a lot of stuff that was going on at the time such as the Iraq war, the Atkins diet, and I feel in a way that the show was close to what happened with the Enron scandal.

Another aspect of the show I liked was the narrator.  The narrator was a very important character in the show and even had funny moments where he would say something opposite of what a character would say (such as one of the episodes where Gob denies doing something and the narrator says he did do it).  My favorite episode would have to be a tie between Best man for the Gob and In God we Trust.  Those two stood out to me from the pack because they had really funny events such as the failed attempt to frame Ira Gilligan or the picture contest the family participated in.

Overall I have to say that I enjoyed this show and am glad I chose it.  For those who would like to get into the show, I would recommend watching the first episode to see what it is about and not do any background research until after they finish watching the show because it would’ve been more fun to catch some of the inside jokes, cameos ect.  I am looking forward to seeing the other seasons as well to see how the family will progress after George Bluth Sr. escapes from the hospital.

Series rating: 5/5