Casting a Critical Eye on Culture: Arrested Development and the Power of the Sitcom

This Olio looks at American culture and recent history through the TV show Arrested Development. Unlike many TV shows in the 2000’s, a major part of its humor and story lines,were conscious of the real world. The show cast a critical and astute eye on contemporary politics and culture. The writers successfully mined some of the biggest political events of our time, like George W. Bush’s Iraq War, for biting observations and humor (i.e. repeated use of Mission Accomplished Banners at failed events).

Arrested Development also made knowledge of TV shows a platform for its humor, playing on the broad cultural awareness and impact of TV. The show introduced a new production format for sitcoms. We’ll discuss how from the second Iraq War to the Crash of 2008, Arrested Development successfully engaged with the real world events to produce an insightful satire of our times.

Teacher: Ward Regan

Location: Berg’n

899 Bergen St, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Ward Regan has a Ph.D. in Labor and Cultural History from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He teaches history and philosophy at New York University Liberal Studies and Global Liberal Studies Program. He wrote and widely performed his own show, A Paranoid’s Guide to History.

Tickets $14