It's Arrested Development ... again

The first episode of Arrested Development aired on November 2^nd, 2003. In case you don't remember 2003, here are the Spark Notes:

• The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas, taking the lives of all seven astronauts aboard.
• The Iraq War begins.
• Mister Rogers, Katherine Hepburn, Barry White, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope pass away.
• The first diagnosed case of SARS is identified, leading to a global panic.
• A massive earthquake kills 40,000 in southeastern Iran.

2003 was not a particularly wonderful year, and rather than sit down to watch a half-hour television comedy, most people were busy hoping Earth wouldn't just spontaneously end.

While we were all terrified of the next horrible event, Mitch Hurwitz and his merry band of co-conspirators took all that worry, pain and fear and turned it into absolutely incredible comedy. They somehow took the paranoia and chaos of 2003 and made a funhouse mirror-like reflection of turn-of-the-century America:

This might be surprising -- considering I'm someone who blogs about baseball and pop culture (okay, it's not surprising at all) -- but I wasn't very cool in high school. While nerds in the 80s had Monty Python to obsess over, Arrested Development was my thing, and boy did I obsess.

It's offbeat, frantic pace was addicting and enthralling. It's risky devotion to sight gags, easter eggs and rewatchability was simultaneously of-the-moment and incredibly forward thinking.

Then, after three seasons, Fox cancelled the show to make way for Skating with Celebrities. No, really.

When I went to college, I had given up hope that the show would ever return, but as I did, Arrested Development became Arrested Development. Everyone watched it. As the energy around it grew more fervent, the powers that be started to take notice. I was just happy people were laughing when I referenced "hot ham water."

Now, 10 years after the show first debuted, it has come to be known as one of the greatest comedy programs of all time. Even more strangely, it's getting a fourth season, debuting on Netflix in XXXXX days.

A lot is going to be made about whether it's good or whether it's bad. I've basically resigned myself to the fact that whatever magic (or angst) was in the air between 2003 and 2006 is probably long gone, but whether or not it's going to be good is actually kind of irrelevant.

What matters is that we brought it back, just like we got a college football playoff and Sacramento kept the Kings.

When you think about all of the tragedy and uncertainty we've faced in 2013 -- terrorism, disastrous weather, strained relations in the Pacific -- maybe it's fitting that Arrested Development is finally coming back. Maybe it's the sort of thing we only get to see when we really need it.

It's a show that was created in a crucible of uniquely-American tension and maybe it only really functions when we're all prepared for anything. It's like group-therapy for the nerd-class.

But you know what? Arrested Development is back, and it's back because of us. Go ahead. Take a victory lap.

Just a little persistence and passion, and baby, you've got a stew going.

-- Dakota Gardner / MLB.com