However, if you have Bravo (Sky channel 124, NTL 406/104, Telewest 138) then tune in at 10pm this Friday night and you’ll see how unfair the stereotype is.

The first series of Arrested Development is being shown and it’s quite simply the finest sitcom of all time.

Lavish praise it may be, but Mitch Hurwitz’s riches-to-rags tale of the utterly despicable-yet-loveable Bluth family is entirely deserving of it.

Second son Michael (Jason Bateman) is forced to hold together the sorry collection of lazy and selfish ingrates he has the misfortune to call family after his father, George Snr, is arrested for “light treason” at his retirement bash.

Michael demonstrated his dedication to the family business by living in the attic of the model home for a planned housing development but was passed over for promotion moments prior to his father’s arrest and, in disgust, plans on taking off and starting a new life.

“Family first” is an oft-repeated mantra of the Bluth clan, however, and Michael agrees to stay and help his spoilt, intellectually-challenged siblings whilst single-handedly attempting to salvage what little is left of the Bluth Company and raise his son, the hilariously-named George Michael.

Attempts to rescue George Snr from jail prove futile when America’s newest white-collar criminal reveals he is “doing the time of my life”. Repellent gin-soaked matriarch Lucille proves little help to her son as she spends her way through crisis after crises, double-crossing all who are dear to her in the process.

Possibly the most despicable of all the players, Lucille dominates the life of youngest son Buster, the reincarnation of Oedipus, whose studies in 18th century agrarian business have left him ill-equipped to run the Bluth Company.

“Is anyone worried about an uprising?” he asks.

Buster may be a block of wood but he is a genius in comparision to oldest brother Gob, a failed magician, whose attempts to aid his father’s flight from justice lead to him being blackballed from the Alliance of Magicians, an organisation he himself established.

Then there’s Michael’s twin sister Lindsay (Portia de Rossi), a superficial clotheshorse who has dedicated her life to various dubious causes and who faces legal action by the Jewish Defence League as a result of her involvement with an anti-circumcision group.

Lindsay is married to Tobias, a phyciatrist who loses his licence and, after mistaking a group of garishly-dressed homosexual protestors for pirates, decides his future lies in acting.

Tobias is a closet-cowering “never nude” (it’s explained later in the series so keep watching) whose sexuality crisis is played out through constant double entendres and Freudian slips.

The product of this doomed marriage is Maeby, an attention-starved teenage train-wreck who George Michael tries unsuccesfully to distance himself from after developing a crush on his cousin.

The only profitable piece of the Bluth Company is the family Banana Stand, where novelty frozen bananas are sold by Michael and his son, who he names “Mr Manager” in an attempt to treat him like a grown-up.

Henry Winkler will forever be recognised as the Fonz but in Arrested Development he delivers a career-best performance as Barry Zuckercorn, the family’s sexually deviant and woefully incompetent lawyer.

AD employs a wide range of comedic devices and plots with one-liners, slapstick, visual gags, misunderstandings and intricate twists all used. Smut and satire are evident in equal measures. Swearing is not big or clever so beeps are used in place of bad words, with the allusion to profanity actually being funnier than direct cussing.

Flashbacks, historic footage, fake newspaper articles and other documents produce a huge number of laughs and the crumbling model home and its fake furniture work as brilliantly inventive props.

No scene is wasted and as the slick camerawork cuts from one short, sharp, superbly acted and directed scene to another, a tightness unprecedented in television comedy is created.

The series is high-budget and it shows but what makes Arrested Development great is the substance which actually outstrips its considerable style.

The script is hilarious and the cast deliver some of the best comedic performances ever seen on television.

Bateman’s character is the main focus of the show and his naturalistic style conflicts brilliantly with the OTT antics of the other protagonists.

David Cross’s hammed up portrayal of camp wannabe-thespian Tobias is especially noteworthy whilst Michael Cera delivers a performance beyond his years as the awkward adolescent George Michael.

The chemistry between members of the cast is just right and each actor manages to squeeze the very best out of the brilliantly devised characters.

Arrested Development is breathtakingly original, well-written, well-made and perfectly rounded. Crucially, it also delivers a ratio of laughs-per-minute that any other show could only dream of.

The more you watch AD, with the flashbacks, returning references and in-jokes, the funnier it becomes.

Arrested Development won awards by the bucketload but critical acclaim was never matched by commercial success.

It struggled in the ratings over the pond and Fox cancelled the show midway through the third season, an absolute travesty.

Bizarre scheduling on the part of BBC2 ensured it received a similarly muted reception in the UK.

People claimed Arrested Development never received the following it so richly deserved because it was too complex and subtle for most viewers.

If complexity and subtlety appeal to you when you’re getting your rib tickled then you absolutely must watch Arrested Development.

Watch it from the start and you’ll get to know the characters and understand the running jokes and witness the plants, which will be explained later in the series.

Arrested Development may be the most under-appreciated programme in the history of television but the loyalty of the die-hard is certainly rewarded.

And remember, there’s always money in the banana stand.