Mockumentary Analysis - Arrested Development

Arrested Development (2003 - 2006, 2013 - ) is a TV comedy based around the Bluth family. This find themselves going from owning a successful company to being publicly shamed after the head of the family, George Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), is arrested for "light treason". The show ran for three seasons under Fox and then was picked up again by Netflix for a fourth season, with a fifth on the way.

The shows format is very different from other mockumentaries or comedies. It uses a narrator played by the show runner, Ron Howard, who could be considered a 'Detached Observer'. The narrator is played as if they also narrated National Geographic documentaries to help give it the documentary feel. These are often done in a comedic manor:

Narrator: And, so, like many people who no longer felt anything for each other, they decided to get married.

- Season 3, Episode 10, Fakin' it


Narrator: George Michael stumbled across a boy of love letter he had written, but never sent, to his cousin Maybe. One of these, entitles "If you weren't my Cousin" was particularly incriminating.

- Season 2, Episode 8, Queen for a Day


Other than simply explaining what is going on within the story, the narrator often is used to help compliment the jokes:

Michael: Okay, that would be disgusting if you'd actually slept with her, but I don't think you did.

GOB: I did. And it was disgusting.

Narrator: They didn't, but it would have been.

- Season 2, Episode 13, Motherboy XXX

Michael: You know she's amazing. You know she was in the Olympics?

Narrator: She wasn't.

Lindsay: She's that Rita Leeds? Wasn't she on the cover of Newsweek?

Narrator: No.

Michael: Yes.

- Season 3, Episode 5, Mr F

GOB: I have... feelings for you.

Tony: I have feelings... for you.

Narrator: The feeling was friendship. But, neither of them had ever experienced it.

- Season 4, Episode 11,  A New Attitude


The narrator isn't the only feature of Arrested Development that makes it a mockumentary. There are also techniques where flashbacks are shown in separate frames as if they were filmed a while ago. There is often a joke where a "footage not found." card is put on screen after a character states something:

- Season 1, Episode 22, Let 'Em Eat Cake

The entire show also has a very loose feel to it. For example, in an interview, Ron Howard stated that he wanted the camera to be very loose and not be stuck to one position. This allowed the actors to control the scene and dictate what happened. It also it so the camera was never entirely still which gave the show much more of a feel of a documentary.