More arresting drama for Netflix
WHEN Netflix announced that it would be commissioning a new season of Arrested Development my black little heart did a dance of joy.
After all, the misadventures of the heroically amoral Bluth family had made Arrested Development arguably the finest, certainly the smartest, sit-com since the end of the sheer genius that was Frasier (which is currently being repeated on Channel 4 in the mornings, and is well worth sticking on a series-link to record).
As we wait for season five of Arrested Development – which started shooting recently – we’ve been promised even more political parallels between the Bluths and the Trumps and it is quite telling that Donald Trump Jnr is known in some circles as Gob Bluth, the spectacularly idiotic son played with such leonine relish by the great Will Arnett.
In the meantime, however, fellow Arrested Development veteran Jason Bateman pops up tonight in Netflix’s latest drama, Ozark.
Stepping out of his comedic comfort zone, Bateman stars in this violent drama about a dodgy financial adviser who runs afoul of a Mexican drug lord and has to leg it to the Ozarks to make some money and wait things out.
It will be interesting to see how well he can shed his comedy baggage, actually – even the fact that he is dealing with Mexicans reminds me of Gob’s fear of ‘Mexicans from Colombia’, when it’s pointed out that such people are in fact usually just called Colombians, Gob responds “well, if we’re going to be all politically correct about it...” Yes, the more I think about it, the more Donald Jnr really does remind me of Gob...
Some repeats are more welcome than others and that’s certainly the case with Reginald D Hunter’s Songs Of The South (BBC4, 10pm).
A brilliant look at US Southern music from the master of the laid back delivery, this is a bit like Rich Hall’s walk through Texas, although a bit more affectionate. Hunter’s a remarkably good presenter, bringing a lugubrious but inherently curious approach to the quirks of the deep South and the amazing music it has produced.
Most intriguing documentary of the weekend comes tomorrow with Ronald Reagan – A Custom Made President (RTÉ Two, 8.15pm).
Was Reagan a stooge of organised crime? Did the mafia fund his campaign?
No and no, would be the two answers I imagine, and it will be interesting to see if they explore the real scandal surrounding Reagan’s re-election campaign in 1983 – Teddy Kennedy’s failed attempts to get the Russians to scupper his chances.
Now where have we heard that before?