Michael!

[It`s Your Move]

SORRY!!!! I didn't mean to attack anybody. I think Jason is the greatest & I was just a little upset everyone was saying bad things about him. please forgive me.

& yes, Jason was in lots of things in the 80s ... Silver Spoons, Little House, and my favorite, It's Your Move . so I'm very happy to see him do so well in ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT.

[stupid bitch julie]

User 'It's Your Move' = Bateman.

[Guest]

I know that in A.D Michael is the son who gets them out of trouble and keeps them together.But does that really has to mean 99%screen time with Jason?I kinda wish they reduce his role I want more screen time for other actors not always with him.That kinda buggs me.

[bananastand]

Very true. Michael is great, but the entire cast is so talented you want to see more of them all! Maybe they could make it an hour show.

[Steve Holt!]

Oh, thanks folks. I didn't realize the fireman article was from the National Enquirer.

I'm not a huge JB fan, but Michael is important for the balance of the show. You know: to make things feel less crazy. Come to think of it, that's what the Narrator does too.

[chipper]

I know it's not real life but, is it bad to want Micheal to have one good thing in his life? I know RL is mostly a b!&$# and then you die but there are some good things. He looked happy for a second with Sally but then, boom! they took it away. I almost wish I could see some flashbacks of him and his wife to see more smiles.

and I'm done my rant. And reading upthread it seems to be Jason-centric. Isn't this a Michael (as in character) thread?

[Beatrice]

i think the point is that michael can never get happiness.
he couldn't have marta, sally, maggie, beth.etc.
it makes you want to root for him.

also, i know there is a lot of michael screen time b/c he is trying to keep the family together and solving problems. but have any of you been noticing how many problems he has been causing? and how manipulative he's becoming? what with the selling of the stock to buy a car, and then trying to get buster and lucille back to gether just so michael can have the company back?
similary, he set up lindsay and uncle jack so the company could be saved, even though lucille 2 and stan weren't planning a takeover?
michael put the idea in everyone's head that lucille 2 was going to take over the company, but it wasn't true, but in the end, that screwed him.

i like that michael isn't so noble and perfect anymore. even thought he still thinks he is. that flaw makes him more real, and a more tragic character.

yeah, even GM and michael have been more distant, but michael isn't even trying anymore.
it seems that michael cares more about the company than the family.

i still think he's great, despite the imperfections and the fact that he is more manipulative. maybe that makes me like him even more.

[chipper]

Hey, where's Michael's bike this season? I don't think I've seen it yet. D'ye think that he'll be back on it because of the Corvett sale?

[SteveHolt!]

It's true, that this season Michael has been knocked down a few pegs from his "good guy" status. I think it's been ever since ep. 0201 ["The One Where Michael Leaves"], and we find out that he's threatened to leave the family several times before. In the end, he always comes back, probably because thinking that he's the only one saving the family is comforting to him.
But, his character's become pretty dark this season: from becoming more selfish (the corvette), to making more problems than he solves (imagining luceille 2's "takeover" of the company), to just becoming a shoddy father (almost the entire episode of "Hand To God"), we are starting to see that Michael's just as messed up as everyone else in the family.
It's almost funnier, seeing Michael starting to screw up a lot. I was getting a little irritated at the end of Season 1 that Michael was never wrong and always did the right thing. Sometimes doing the wrong thing's even funnier. He's starting to unravel, along with the family and company. The funny thing is, he's just as oblivious as everyone else in the show, and doesn't even know it.

[cms]

It's true, that this season Michael has been knocked down a few pegs from his "good guy" status. I think it's been ever since ep. 0201 ["The One Where Michael Leaves"], and we find out that he's threatened to leave the family several times before. In the end, he always comes back, probably because thinking that he's the only one saving the family is comforting to him.
But, his character's become pretty dark this season: from becoming more selfish (the corvette), to making more problems than he solves (imagining luceille 2's "takeover" of the company), to just becoming a shoddy father (almost the entire episode of "Hand To God"), we are starting to see that Michael's just as messed up as everyone else in the family.
It's almost funnier, seeing Michael starting to screw up a lot. I was getting a little irritated at the end of Season 1 that Michael was never wrong and always did the right thing. Sometimes doing the wrong thing's even funnier. He's starting to unravel, along with the family and company. The funny thing is, he's just as oblivious as everyone else in the show, and doesn't even know it.

As an ex-psychology major, it's amusing to see the dysfunction made manifest with all of these characters. Michael is the typical martyr. I like the way the narrator says "..and the one son who *had* to keep them together."

His leaving(s) are bids for attention (cf, faux-Dr calls to see if the family's missed him yet), and his "Nice Guy" persona is a bid to show he's 'better' than all the craziness around him. Vain, when you think about it. GOB is is almost healthier in that he does not mask his self-interest.

Michael's search for some imaginary "normal" is slowly killing him.

Buster has it down when he says that George Michael still has a chance.

We've talked a lot here about the characters being oblivious to their dysfunction- I think this goes doubly so for Michael.

Yes, he's cute, but I wouldn't want to date him!!

[Kiarnit]

While I enjoy Michael's snarkiness tremendously and totally identify with his need to "take care of" and nag the more hapless people around him, he's not really all that nice a guy - he just thinks he is. And he thinks that apologizing when he realizes he's done something not-so-great is enough to set him firmly in the good-guy camp. I'm starting to agree with the people who think that Buster is the most self-aware of all the Bluths (although Buster did lose a lot of adorableness points with me when he called Starla a whore, even though I realize that she did make love terrifying).

[TheMagician]

I think the way Michael has changed this season has hurt the show and his character. While he did have imperfections last year, it still felt like we were seeing the show from his perspective and he remained the character we could relate to relative to the rest of the Bluths. This season, it's like we're watching a cast of characters and their faults, and while the scenarios are just as funny, losing Michael as that inner voice has faded a bit of the sensibility of the situations.

I'm not saying this is a MAJOR change, but enough to notice the shift in perspective. It's gotten to the point where the only likeable, normal character this season is George Michael.

[Kiarnit]

Oh, I still find Michael highly likeable, but his facade is beginning to show wear and tear from the stress of dealing with his family situation. I actually appreciate this - it makes it easier to understand how he fits into his family dynamic and why other members of his family find his superior attitude rather irritating (and did so back in S1, when he looked like more of a good guy). I agree that sweet little George Michael is the sanest one in the bunch (and he's not all that sane either).

[Premiere]

I am oblivious as to how Michael has become less relatable this season. I f anything, he's showing more natural human flaws, most of them due to his parents. His father's continuous distrust and trying to get his kids to fight for his approval has led Mikey to some bad decisions, which he apologizes for or makes right (making sure Buster goes back to Starla). To me, he really is a good guy, he's just far from perfect. If that makes him LESS relatable, I have no idea what world ya'll are living in.

[mrs.michaelbluth]

Im a HUGE Jason Bateman fan, but i dont really like to watch interviews with him either. I dont know why, I will watch them but, i dont really love them as much as I love watching him play michael. I guess I just have a thing for michael, who knows? All I know is he is so so so hot!! I love in the "Missing Kitty" episode where he finally takes off his dress shirt. Yes, he is wearing a t-shirt under it but, its so hot. I love the messy hair look he has, like he just got out of bed after a wild night. I did read that article about how he was making racial comments to that guy on the beach during the taping of Arrested, but you have to concider the source It was a tabiloid mag, trash! It was one of those magazines that if Jason was to say Hi, could you wait till we are finished filming to let your kids run and scream, it would be turned to "I hate you your a (insert your racial comment here). Besides, would the production team go and talk to this guy about the noise, I doubt that an actor would go do it. It all sounds a little fabercated. Lets just leave it at JASON BATEMAN IS A TOTAL HOTTIE, and I LOVE HIM!!!