It's been seven years since Arrested Development's departure from the terrestrial airwaves and its digital realm return, but the cult show's beloved ensemble hasn't exactly been idle during that gap. Some have moved on to big-screen careers (most notably Jason Bateman and Michael Cera), while others have bounced from series to series, the majority of which have followed Arrested's trajectory of low-rated runs to cancellation. Unlike Arrested, though, few people are clamoring for these shows to make a comeback on network television, Netflix or even YouTube. And while it's true that the last thing the world needs is more episodes of Welcome to the Captain, Retired at 35 or Up All Night, there are a handful of shows featuring members of the Arrested cast that would merit a second chance. Here are five post-AD series we'd like to see find a new home.

Andy Barker, P.I.
Arrested Alum: Tony Hale
Lifespan: 1 season on NBC; March, 2007 - April, 2007
What It Was: A detective show spoof centered around bumbling strip mall accountant Andy Barker (Andy Richter), who moonlights as a private dick with the aid of the owner of an Afghan restaurant (Marshall Manesh), a snarky video store clerk (Hale) and an actual (retired) private eye (Harve Presnell).
Why It Should Return: One of the all-time great pilots that never went to series is 1991's Lookwell, a Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel collaboration starring Adam West as a has-been TV crimefighter who is under the impression that being deputized by law enforcement at the height of his fame gives him a license to solve actual crimes. (Watch it here.) A pre-Late Night O'Brien didn't have the juice at the time to push Lookwell past the pilot stage, but he held onto the idea of sending up traditional crime shows and tried it again when he was an established television personality, this time as a vehicle for his once and future couch jockey, Richter. O'Brien's name netted Andy Barker an actual TV tryout, plus five more half-hours than Lookwell saw; but the show came and went in the spring of '07, with the final two episodes airing in the burn-off timeslot of Saturday at 8 PM. During its brief lifespan, though, Andy Barker demonstrated an impressive knowledge for the conventions of detective fiction that allowed it to parody the genre without going too big and broad. In fact, perhaps the funniest thing about the show is that Andy solved real crimes, often by drawing on his real skills as an accountant. Andy Barker also gave Hale a chance to move beyond the socially awkward man-child he played so well on Arrested (and currently portrays on Veep); his video store clerk was a nerd, yes, but a nerd with some swagger. With O'Brien and Richter now firmly ensconced at TBS, one imagines that they could use some of their pull to bring the show back for a limited cable run -- a six to seven episode season sounds about right -- alongside Cougar Town. That seems like a far better use of the network's cash than, say, another season of Men at Work.
Where to Watch: Available via Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant and on DVD

Bent
Arrested Alum: Jeffrey Tambor
Lifespan: 1 season on NBC; March, 2012 - April, 2012
What It Was: Following her divorce, newly single lawyer and mom Alex (Amanda Peet) hires handsome, but irresponsible contractor Pete (David Walton) to fix up her home... and inevitably fall in love. Meanwhile, on his own homefront, Pete puts up with the various eccentricities of his wanna-be actor dad (Tambor).
Why It Should Return: Like Andy Barker before it, Bent lasted for only six episodes in a spring death march that had two episodes airing per week over the course of a three week period -- barely enough time to attract an audience. (The limited promotion didn't help matters.) And it's true that, at the time, the series seemed like something of a fixer-upper, with the perfunctory Peet/Walton romance eating up far too much screentime. Re-watching Bent a year after its cancellation, however, there's actually a lot there that works, particularly the unusually perceptive and amusing (for network television, anyway) parent/child relationships between Pete and his dad (this is by far Tambor's best post-Arrested regular television role), as well as Alex and her 8-year-old daughter, the latter of whom mostly avoids the cute kid syndrome that afflicts so many pre-teen characters. At the same time, though, the will-they-or-won't-they arc for Alex and Pete remains a major drag, largely because Peet and Walton have snappier chemistry when they're bickering rather than when they're mooning over each other. Were Bent to return, it should do so the express condition that these two are not allowed to ever, ever get together.
Where to Watch: Available via Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant

Better Off Ted
Arrested Alum: Portia de Rossi
Lifespan: 2 seasons on ABC; March, 2009 - January, 2010
What It Was: Slick, sarcastic corporate drone Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington) heads up a wacky R&D department at a major conglomerate staffed with a variety of wacky personalities, including his icy boss Veronica (de Rossi) and two kooky lab rats (Jonathan Slavin and Malcolm Barrett).
Why It Should Return: You only have to watch the first five minutes of Better Off Ted's pilot to recognize it as the heir to the late, great Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and not just because it boasts the same creator (Victor Fresco) and one of the same stars (Slavin). Both shows are expert satires of 21st century corporate culture, anchored around characters who are both creatures of that world and yet separate from it, allowing them to comment on its oddities via first-person narration (done in voiceover in Andy Richter and on camera in Ted). The show's sense of humor is driven by a pronounced love of language -- there's lots of clever wordplay and screwball-esque rapid-fire exchanges -- that owes a great deal to Billy Wilder, Christopher Buckley (Ted himself shares more than a few similarities with the self-aware corporate lobbyist at the center of Thank You For Smoking) and, of course, Arrested Development. Truth be told, de Rossi's Veronica is the weak link in the ensemble, but that may be because she's played the ice queen type so often before, going all the way back to her Ally McBeal days. The other female lead, Linda (Andrea Anders), is far more unpredictable, especially in the way her relationship with Ted unfolds, taking two steps back from romance for every step they take towards it. But the romantic stuff is thankfully secondary to the workplace stuff and that's where Ted, like Andy Richter before it, excels. Frankly, with actual corporations like Monsanto regularly in the news for pursuing their own self-interests, a series like Ted feels timelier than ever.
Where to Watch: Available via Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant and on DVD (Season 1 only)

Gravity
Arrested Alum: Jessica Walter
Lifespan: 1 season on Starz; April, 2010 - June, 2010
What It Was: After his attempt to kill himself goes grandly awry, Robert (Ivan Sergei) joins a suicide survivor's support group headed up by wheelchair bound Dogg McFee (Ving Rhames) and befriends fellow lost souls like Shawna (Rachel Hunter), Adam (Seth Numrich) and Lily (Krysten Ritter) -- the latter of whom he romances with the encouragement of his mother (Walter).
Why It Should Return: There are bad shows and then there are addictively bad shows. Gravity is an example of the latter. This one-season "wonder" -- which sprang from the mind of cab driver turned indie filmmaker Eric Schaeffer, helmer of such equally terrible movies as If Lucy Fell and After Fall, Winter -- is a misfire on almost every level and yet, the damn thing is highly watchable, if only to see how much worse it can possibly get from episode to episode. The series actually starts from an interesting place, one that's not entirely dissimilar to the recently axed Matthew Perry sitcom Go On as Robert's suicide attempt is instigated by the death of his wife, and he's not an entirely willing member of the therapy group he's subsequently joined. (Rhames is a big improvement over Go On's group leader, Laura Benanti.) And Ritter's Lily character initially intrigues as well, functioning as a kind of middle-ground between the screwed up addict she played on Braking Bad and the crazy b---- she portrayed in Don't Trust the B--- in Apartment 23. (As for Walter, she's a relatively small part of the show, relegated to recurring status. But she plays the material she's handed like a pro and doesn't have to deal with the nonsense that drags down her co-stars.) But boy oh boy does Gravity fly off the rails, with such inexplicable storylines as a deadbeat detective (played by Schaeffer himself) who is tailing Lily while dodging calls from creditors, as well as tonally challenged writing that switches from drama to unintentional comedy on a dime. It all builds to a final episode that ends on a gunshot-scored cliffhanger, with the life of more than one character possibly hanging in the balance. Sue me, but I kinda want to know what happens next.
Where to Watch: Available via Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant and on DVD

Running Wilde
Arrested Alum(s): Will Arnett, David Cross, Mitchell Hurwitz
Lifespan: 1 season; September, 2010 - May, 2011
What It Was: Overprivileged brat Steven Wilde (Arnett) learns that there's more to life than money when his old flame-turned-activist Emmy (Keri Russell) re-enters his life with her young daughter in two.
Why It Should Return: As Hurwitz's and Arnett's first live-action collaboration since Arrested Development (the animated series Sit Down, Shut Up preceded, but I still prefer not to acknowledge that show's existence), Running Wilde was inevitably going to be held to an impossibly high standard. And the show did make one major miscalculation in pairing Arnett with Russell, who is clearly out of her depth in this particular brand of comedy. But after an exceptionally rough first half, Wilde started to find its groove in the last batch of episodes, as creator and star worked harder to give Steve his own identity beyond just being GOB with a bigger bank account. The sixth episode -- in which Wilde plans a Renaissance wedding for Emmy and her easily fooled fiancée (Cross) -- marked a clear turning point quality-wise as Hurwitz brought some of the layered gags and set-up/payoff structure that had distinguished Arrested into this new milieu. Though the writers never solved the obvious disconnect between the two leads, they did make better use of the other supporting players, most notably Peter Serafinowicz as Steve's oddball pal Fa'ad and Cross, who has always served as a great foil for Arnett. With the show trending upwards towards the end of its existence, it's likely that another round of episodes would be more creatively consistent. And since Russell is busy with The Americans, she wouldn't have to be asked back, which represents a win-win for all of us.
Where to Watch: Available via Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant and on DVD

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