Following a role in the critically panned unaired Fox pilot "The Grubbs" in 2002, Cera successfully auditioned for a part in another Fox sitcom, "Arrested Development", which began airing in November 2003. The show follows the formerly wealthy and dysfunctional Bluth family, with Cera playing George Michael Bluth, the teenage son of Jason Bateman's character Michael Bluth. After three seasons, Fox canceled the series in 2006 due to low viewership despite critical acclaim. In 2006, he created and starred in a parody of "Impossible is Nothing", a video résumé created by Aleksey Vayner. Cera and his "Arrested Development" co-star Alia Shawkat guest starred as a pair of college students in the teen noir drama "Veronica Mars" in the episode "The Rapes of Graff" in 2006. Along with best friend Clark Duke, Cera wrote and starred in a series of short videos released on their website. The idea came from Duke, who was enrolled at Loyola Marymount University and did it for his film school studies. In 2007, they signed a deal with CBS Television to write, produce, direct, and act in a short-form comedy series entitled "Clark and Michael". The show featured guest stars such as David Cross, Andy Richter and Patton Oswalt, and was distributed via CBS's internet channel, CBS Innertube.