Arrested Development is not a bad TV-show. It's a funny and smartly written comedy. But it stops there.

It'll be natural for me to compare Arrested Development to The Office, since those are the two most successful comedy shows over the past years. Both shows have their own hilarious moments and both shows are all around funny. But why did Arrested Development get canceled after their third season and The Office were going strong for 8? I'll tell you: it's all about the characters.

While Mitchell Hurwitz mainly cares about funny slapstick-humor and intern jokes in AD, Greg Daniels also manage to write "side-storys" in The Office. Stories that goes on over a long time (Jim and Pam, Michael Scott's loneliness etc). Those stories on the side made us care for the characters in The Office. We can relate to many of them. Hurwitz tries to do the same in AD, but fails dramatically.

Hurwitz tries to give Michael Bluth many of the same "qualities" as Michael Scott, really. We learn about his dead wife, and this alone is supposed to make us feel sorry for him. Hurwitz is also trying to tell us that this overprotective father has lady-problems, but Michael usually ends up in bed with every single woman he meets in the show. Mitchell Hurwitz tries to show the viewers Michael Bluth's loneliness, but it doesn't work.

Another situation in this series which are very much alike is the George Michael/Maeby- situation and the Jim/Pam-situation. Impossible love. Jim and Pam are two characters that we all can relate to. Again; we care about them and want them to be happy. It might just be me, but I'm not even close to feel the same way with George Michael and Maeby. Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat are great actors, but their characters are pretty bad.

As I've said; I do think Arrested Development is a very funny TV-show, but it stops there. I don't feel a connection with any of the characters as I did with many of the characters in The Office. But maybe that's not the point. Maybe Hurwitz just wants to write a funny comedy show, and nothing more. This show will not go in the history books a show that changed television, as I think The Office i capable of. Summed up: Arrested Development is something you want to watch if you want to see a car with stairs and a whole bunch of ostriches. Watch something else if you want to get more from your money.