The third and final season of Fox’s gloriously dense single-camera sitcom Arrested Development
— the comedic equivalent of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, except
entirely less fattening — hits DVD August 29, marking the official end of
its incarnation… on the small screen.
The series revolves
around Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman), the proverbial good son and
seemingly only sane adult member of the extended Bluth clan. With his
corner-cutting, approval-withholding father George (Jeffrey Tambor)
perpetually either on the lam or under house arrest awaiting trial,
Michael must run the family construction business and try to keep his
offbeat family — including, among others, his manipulative, icy mother
Lucille (Jessica Walter), self-centered, struggling magician brother
Gob (Will Arnett), self-centered, capricious sister Lindsay (Portia de
Rossi) and sheltered mama’s boy Buster (Tony Hale) — on the up and up,
all at the expense of his own relationship with his 14-year-old son,
George Michael (Michael Cera).
The joke writing on the show is top-notch, but it also mixes and
folds in all manner of humor, from one-liner zings and double entendres
to clever puns and absurdist arcs. What redeems most of the characters’
surface foibles, meanwhile, are a group of actors who understand the
material and give the hyper-realistic setting a real sense of
investment.
While the ensemble cast is spot-on, and each given emotionally
palpable and consistent through arcs, more than any primetime series in
recent history, Arrested Development also makes (I guess I’ll
have to fight through the pain and start using the past tense) smart,
hilarious use of a wild mix of guest stars. This season’s group
includes Scott Baio, Judge Reinhold, Justine Bateman, Dave Thomas and
Charlize Theron, the latter as a mentally handicapped girl with whom
Michael unwittingly strikes up an unlikely relationship. This isn’t
taking into account recurring bit players like Henry Winkler as the
Bluth family’s chronically inept attorney, Ed Begley, Jr. as a
follically-challenged business competitor and Liza Minnelli as a
vertigo-stricken neighbor of Lucille’s.
Spread out over two discs in a regular Amray case with a snap-in tray, Arrested Development: The Complete Third Season
is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, only enhancing its cinema-worthy
compositions, in which sight gags and visual humor lurk in the
backgrounds of frames. (In one especially memorable moment, Michael
returns to the company’s offices and — all while talking on his cell
phone, advancing the A-plot — wanders past a hobbling employee. We then
see a toppled ladder in front of an only partially hung and visible
sign reading “Risky Business.” Finally, in the payoff, another
shrugging employee wanders by, dressed like Tom Cruise’s sock-sliding
character.) The audio is presented in English, Spanish and French
language Dolby digital 2.0 surround sound mixes, with optional
subtitles in the former two tongues.
A nice assortment of deleted and extended scenes kickstart the
supplemental extras. A seven-minute blooper reel includes loads of
obscenity-laced gaffes and flubbed lines that devolve into various
proffered and solicited sexual favors, as well as David Cross surprising
guest star Reinhold with use of the word labia. (“So, welcome to Arrested Development,”
you hear a crew member say off-screen.) Sans only Tambor, there are
three cluttered cast commentary tracks herein, including a slightly
pining entry on the finale, all full of good-natured backbiting. There
are some very funny moments here (pointing out various visual echoes
back to the pilot, assaying Cera’s “headshot pose” in a bedside photo),
but it’s a bit wearying to sift through, to be honest. Finally, there’s
a seven-and-a-half-minute featurette on the show’s last day on location
aboard the Queen Mary, interspersed with more interview footage with
Bateman, though not series creator Mitchell Hurwitz. Mitch, how can we
believe the sly insinuation of an Arrested Development movie that the finale imparts, via narrator Ron Howard’s cameo, if you won’t flirt with us on camera? A+ (Show) A- (Disc)