Four years after the show’s cancellation, people still get excited at the slightest mention of “Arrested Development,” so I figured I’d take some small news items tangentially related to the show, add exclamation points, and see what happens.

First off, David Cross has been added to the cast of Fox’s “Running Wilde,” the new sitcom from “AD” creator Mitch Hurwitz that stars Will Arnett (watch the trailer here). Cross will appear in the first seven episodes as Emily’s (Keri Russell’s) environmentalist fiancé, replacing Andrew Daly of “Eastbound & Down” in the role. [TV Squad]

Also, for what feels like the 800th time in three years, someone close to the project has confirmed an Arrested Development movie.

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Back in December, the first couple minutes of “The Increasingly Bad Decisions of Todd Margaret” were leaked online. The show, written by and starring David Cross, was a pilot for Britain’s Channel 4 that was recently picked up for a full series run. But wait! Don’t fly to England just so you can watch the pilot — the entire first episode is right here online (first part above, second two videos below — and thanks to reader “kahlua groove” for the tip).

Anyway, watch and enjoy — you know, if you’ve got 25 minutes at work where you don’t actually need to do any work. The humor, based on awkward situations and the ineptitude of Cross’s titular character, sometimes falls flat when characters’ actions veer off into the unrealistic, but it mostly succeeds as a comedy. A helluva lot more than the average sitcom pilot in America. Isn’t that right, Michael Strahan?

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Back in June, I wrote about a new show for the UK’s Channel Four starring Will Arnett, David Cross, and Spike Jonze called “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.” It sounded awesome.

Here’s the first clip. It is awesome. You really can’t go wrong with Will Arnett swearing at people and David Cross lying like an awkward little weasel. HBO needs to buy the American rights to this with a quickness. I want more of this immediately. Like yesterday immediately.

[BuzzFeed]

Yesterday in Brooklyn, television stars gambled for charity.  David Cross (left), Michael Ian Black (right), and “This American Life” host Ira Glass (standing at table) all participated in the Honest Elimination Poker Tournament at 826NYC, a non-profit organization that provides free tutoring and various creative writing workshops for children.  Impressively, out of about forty players, Cross and Black finished third and fourth, respectively, while Glass busted out early but stuck around to deal to the final table.

I was called into service for the event because apparently, people who run non-profits in Brooklyn aren’t degenerate gamblers — but if they’re lucky, their volunteers are!  So I ended up dealing for a couple hours before turning to glorified tasks like changing out chip stacks and shuffling the second deck for Glass.

All three were friendly, engaging, and funny (as well as adroit poker players).  Cross downed beers and cheerfully interacted with his table, while Black’s familiar mannerisms came through in everything he did.  And both of the comedians made fart sounds, which is something I can always appreciate.  Black also took his loss with good humor: he was big-stacked until his pocket aces lost to pocket fives (four spades on the board gave the underdog a flush), and he reacted with a shrug and merely said, “It’s okay, I sucked out earlier today.”  (Though he later tweeted, “Poker literally ate my dick today. Literally.”)

Since the event was for charity, no cash prizes were given, but the three celebs did sign the trophies for the top two finishers (Cross: “F-ck you.”  Black: “JEWS!”).  More pictures of the event are here, and you can see me sweating out the previous night’s booze here.  And remember, it was all for the children.  I’m such a selfless functioning alcoholic!

David Cross is one of those excellent acerbic comics who will never attain mainstream popularity in the United States unless he lowers himself to do crap projects like Alvin & the Chipmunks movies.  (What?  Oh no.)  And while comedy geeks will worship him forever for “Mr. Show” and for playing Tobias Fünke in “Arrested Development,” his humor always seems like it might be a better fit in the drier comedic climate of Great Britain.

And with that lengthy intro aside, we can segue seamlessly into his new project: a comedy series for the United Kingdom’s Channel 4 called “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret,” co-starring Will Arnett and Spike Jonze (in his first big acting role since Three Kings).

American Todd Margaret (David Cross) bluffs his way into an apparently great job opportunity, heading up the sales team in his employer’s London office. All he has to do is sell several thousand energy drinks before his boss visits him in a week. Simple. Apart from the fact that he knows nothing about British culture and nothing about sales. This is further complicated when he lies continuously to cover his ignorance and spectacularly fails to impress Alice the first beautiful girl he meets. [RDF Media via /film]

BBC America needs to pick this up ASAP, because you know who wants to watch this show? ☛ This guy ☚