Since its earliest days, comedian David Cross' career was defined by two things: adoration by critics and disinterest by mainstream audiences. His stature in the alternative comedy world made him one of the subgenre's brightest stars, seemingly ripe for breakout success for literally decades. Highly intelligent, brutally honest, and often confrontational, Cross never seemed to care too much about conventional success. To his apparent amusement, these potential breakout roles came and went without acceptance by the general public. Nevertheless, the size of the cult following that he earned from "Arrested Development" (Fox, 2003-06) and "Mr. Show with Bob and David" (HBO, 1995-98) eventually resembled conventional success in everything but name.