Arrested Development (season 3)

The third season of the television comedy series Arrested Development aired between September 19, 2005 and February 10, 2006, on Fox in the United States. It consisted of 13 episodes, each running approximately 22 minutes in length. The third season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 29, 2006, in region 2 on April 23, 2007 and in region 4 on December 6, 2006.

The show's storyline centers on the Bluth family, a formerly wealthy, habitually dysfunctional family and is presented in a continuous format, incorporating hand-held camera work, narration, archival photos, and historical footage.

Plot

Michael again searches for his runaway father, George Sr. Gob receives an invitation to a father/son reunion outing, and believes it to be George Sr. trying to contact him. In reality, the invitation was meant to reunite Gob with Steve Holt, son of Eve Holt, a girl Gob slept with in high school. Meanwhile, George Michael and Maeby deal with their kiss by avoiding each other. Gob is excited to find out that he managed to get his puppet, Franklin, officially "in the system", meaning Franklin may be called for jury duty or be called to testify at a trial.

In an attempt to remain in disguise, George Sr. joins the Blue Man Group. Michael discovers this and arranges to have his father placed under house arrest. George Sr. claims that he was set up by an underground British group. Michael goes to Wee Britain, a fictional British-themed city district, to investigate, where he meets Rita Leeds (Charlize Theron). Michael and the audience are led to believe that Rita is a mole for the underground British group, working for a man named "Mr. F". However, love-struck Michael proposes to her, and the couple run off to wed. Finally, it is revealed that Rita is actually an "MRF", or "mentally retarded female". Despite Rita's "condition", the family pushes him to go forward with the marriage because Rita is wealthy and they want her money. Michael is not persuaded and gently ends the relationship just as he and Rita are about to walk down the aisle. Meanwhile, Tobias and Lindsay seek legal help from Bob Loblaw (Scott Baio) concerning their troubled marriage.

With the family's retainer used up because of Lindsay's and Tobias's advances, Bob Loblaw chooses to no longer represent the Bluth family. Attorney Jan Eagleman offers to take over, on the condition that they participate in a mock trial in a new reality courtroom show called "Mock Trial with J. Reinhold". Musical accompaniment for the show's theme song and perceived jokes from testifying witnesses is provided by "William Hung And His Hung Jury". Michael uses an illegal threat from prosecutor Wayne Jarvis to have the mock case "dismissed". Gob and Franklin briefly appear in another courtroom show presided over by Bud Cort. Meanwhile, Maeby and George Michael perform a mock wedding for Alzheimer's patient which is accidentally conducted by a real priest; the two become legally married.

The family members are afraid to testify at the mock trial and at the real deposition; Buster fakes a coma, Lindsay and Lucille fake entering rehab, and Gob flees the country to perform in a USO Tour in Iraq. The deceptions are all uncovered by the prosecution, and in Iraq Gob is arrested for inadvertently inciting an anti-US riot. Buster and Michael travel to Iraq to rescue Gob, and while there, uncover evidence that the mini-palaces George Sr. built in Iraq were actually ordered and paid for by the CIA for wiretapping purposes, but the operation was accidentally mothballed and forgotten due to a lack of internal communication in the organization. After this discovery, the US government drops all of the charges against George Sr. In the general confusion, everyone except George Michael forgets Maeby's sixteenth birthday. But this also causes him to unwittingly get her fired from the job as film-executive she had conned her way into, as he letters invitations to the studio revealing her real age. Trying to console Maeby, George Michael ends up passionately kissing with her, making things even more awkward between the two.

To celebrate their victory in Iraq, the Bluths throw a shareholders' party on the RMS Queen Mary. During preparation for the party, it is revealed that Lindsay was adopted, meaning that George Michael and Maeby are not blood relatives. At the party, the Bluths' other adopted child, Annyong, reappears. He reveals that he is there to avenge the Bluth family's theft of his grandfather's frozen-banana idea and the cause of his subsequent deportation, an event orchestrated many years earlier by Lucille Bluth. Annyong has turned over evidence implicating Lucille in the Bluth Company's accounting scandals. Before the police arrive, Michael and George Michael flee on Gob's yacht, the C-Word, and depart to Cabo with half a million dollars in cashier's checks, finally leaving the family to fend for themselves. However, it is revealed in the epilogue that George Sr. is also on the yacht, having lured his brother Oscar into taking his place once again. Also in the epilogue, Maeby tries to sell the television rights to the story of the Bluth family to Ron Howard, who tells her that he sees it as a movie rather than a series.

Cast

• Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth
• Portia de Rossi as Lindsay Fünke
• Will Arnett as Gob Bluth
• Michael Cera as George Michael Bluth
• Alia Shawkat as Maeby Fünke
• Tony Hale as Buster Bluth
• David Cross as Tobias Fünke
• Jeffrey Tambor as George and Oscar Bluth
• Jessica Walter as Lucille Bluth
• Ron Howard as Narrator (uncredited)

Episodes

Reception

Awards and nominations

In 2006, the third season received four Emmy nominations, for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Will Arnett), Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the series finale "Development Arrested".^[11]

Home media releases

The third season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 29, 2006,^[12] in region 2 on April 23, 2007^[13] and in region 4 on December 6, 2006.^[14] Special features include commentary by creator Mitchell Hurwitz and cast members on "Forget Me Now", "Mr. F" and "Development Arrested"; deleted and extended scenes; blooper reel; "The Last Day on Location" featurette.^[15]

References

External links

• List of Arrested Development episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of Arrested Development season 3 episodes at TV.com