Since Arrested Development went off the air in 2006, the hearts of fans have leapt with every new rumor that a comeback might happen. Needless to say, it was big news when co-creator and executive producer Michael Hurwitz officially announced a 10-episode and movie reboot slated for 2013.
But another millennial favorite, Flight of the Conchords, is also whispered to be making a return. During promotions for The Muppets, for which he wrote music, Bret McKenzie hinted that a big studio feature might happen--or at least that he would like it to. HBO responded in that gruff corporate way that they currently had no plans for a FofC movie. Hopes dashed, our generation continues to pine, as it is wont to do.
But critically speaking, a Flight of the Conchords movie might seriously outperform an Arrested Development movie quality-wise.
The AD canon is a wonderful thing (though that Charlize Theron story arc could have never been written and the world would be fine). The question is whether picking it back up six years later can maintain that same level of freshness and absurdity.
Michael Cera's nervous but lovable George Michael effectively never left our screens thanks to Super Bad, Juno, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Youth in Revolt. Will Arnett has never been better than he was as Gob, so a return to that would be fantastic. But Hurwitz has explained that the forthcoming episodes would each focus on a character and what he or she has been up to in the intervening years, culminating in the final movie. Plus, watching the original Arrested Development was like pulling on a string, waiting for the next Never Nude joke or Alopecia repetition. Movies generally have one beginning, middle and end. That doesn't sound like the loopy, not-of-this-world narrative that we know and love and a big, Hollywood finale sounds like the last thing Lucille Bluth was intended to do.
Flight of the Conchords, on the other hand, was made for the big screen. Their career ambitions and searches for love are ideal for a two-hour movie anchored by goofy song and dance numbers. Bret and Jemaine could get a new job, a new fan or even a new bike and as a film, it would still be the show it always was. Hurwitz has been working on the new Arrested Development script for a while and he is a genius, but pardon the skepticism.
