Guest stars include Scott Baio as lawyer Bob Loblaw (say that name fast, and you’ll realize how funny it sounds) and Justine Bateman (real-life sibling of star Jason Bateman) as a hooker whom Michael mistakenly believes to be his long-lost sister.

The only downside to this fantastic final season is the guest appearance by Charlize Theron, playing a beautiful Brit whom Michael falls for, only to later find out that she’s mentally retarded. Even for a crazy show like Arrested Development, this storyline was a little too bizarre. It doesn’t help that Theron has a really bad British accent the whole time.

Her appearance hinders the first disc episodes a bit, but her inevitable departure from the show leads to a brilliant second half. Each episode on disc two is more hilarious than the one before it. Starting with the episode called Making a Stand, which is full of twists, turns and double-crosses as Michael, Gob, Buster and George all plot to teach each other lessons. But who has the last laugh in the end? You’ll have to watch this masterfully concocted episode to find out.

Another episode entitled S.O.B.s is full of cheeky references to the show’s uncertain future and low ratings. It’s like the show is in on the joke when George Sr. exclaims at one point, “Sometimes begging is the only way to stay in the game.” To which the narrator chimes in, “Please tell your friends about this show.”

Another hilarious exchange between George Sr. and Michael pokes fun at the talks that Arrested Development might be picked up by a cable network should it get cancelled by Fox. The men are talking about how to raise money for a new family lawyer, but you can see how fans of the show might take this conversation a little differently.

“I don’t think the Home Builder’s Organization will be supporting us.”
“Yeah, the HBO is not gonna want us. What do we do now?”
“Well, I think it’s Showtime. We have to have a show during dinner.”

And that’s officially what I love about this show. It plays out like one big inside joke. Its careful attention to detail and continuity also makes it ingeniously clever.

Special features include a blooper reel full of profanity laden screw-ups, a bunch of deleted and extended scenes, a bittersweet last day on location featurette and three jam-packed audio commentaries featuring the entire cast (minus Jeffrey Tambor—but he does manage to communicate via cell-phone on one of them).

It upsets me that I didn’t discover this smart, well-written show from its very start. In the words that Gob Bluth utters so often, “I’ve made a huge mistake.” But, hey, better late then never. Tell your friends.

Season Grade: A
DVD Features Grade: A
Overall Grade: A