if you come into this expecting spoiler tags then YOU'RE A SILLY SAUSAGE

that was quite a cliffhanger. and then they're saying that another season might be super far down the line, if it's happening at all. If that's the case, why on earth would you leave it at a cliffhanger like that?? At least the third season ended on a fairly closed note.

I really liked where this season went. It seemed like an appropriate addition to the ending of the last seasons, what with each episode being about a different character but still somehow putting together a larger picture and feeling complete at the end.

as for the characters; maeby easily became my favorite with this season. following up is gob being gob as usual (except, with the gay thing, I think they went beyond "oh silly gob, haha look at him goof up" to some really strange and uncomfortable territory). Tobias is actually exactly as he should be, as was Buster. Lindsay is an even ****tier version of her previous self.

I gotta say, the thing I really dislike about this season is that it made many of the characters into really stupid and easily hate-able versions of their former selves; lindsay is vain, so they expand on that exponentially to the point where she isn't even slightly likeable. But I guess that means they made their point, making her into her mother's daughter. Tobias is so enthralled with theater that he is literally blinded to reality, which while I admit is sorta like him, he goes too far with this.

George-michael and maeby are the only ones I think actually underwent actual character development. George-michael became self-empowered like crazy and finally pulled away from his controlling dad, and maeby actually developed a serious work ethic.

Michael, though, holy hell. I don't like what happened to him this season. He became a bumbling idiot. He kept lying and contradicting himself, covering himself up poorly, and exploiting those that he supposedly cared about. I wonder if the writers wanted us to hate him on purpose? I suppose it could be a reflection of his need for family purely because they give him a sense of superiority to keep himself afloat. On his own, he flounders and digs himself a hole. He needs people beneath him to be a decent human being, ironically.

The actual storyline was great, nice tie-ins and a well formulated structure. I was never confused about what was going on (unless it was done on purpose, at which points I knew it would be explained soon), and the events that took place seemed very appropriate for a group of individuals who are thrown into the real world after patting each other on the backs for most of their lives.

Anyways, those are a few of my thoughts. What'd everyone here think?

I think I'm 2 or 3 episode short of the end but I've been enjoying there ride so far.

There is some wierd stuff, it feels very different from the first 3 seasons, but its a genuinely good outing.

My biggest gripe is much like yours, how they're taking some of the characters to extremes of their personalities. Michael with his freefall, GOB with the Wonder stuff, Lindsey with the extreme shallowness. I always thought George Sr. was a very cunning man, aware and smart despite his somewhat aloof, oblivious demeanor. They made him into a full on bumbling idiot with the whole "MONUMENT TO GEORGE W BUSH!" thing.

Still there's a lot good old Arrested Development laughs...

Though were the **** is the chicken dance!?

When does the original stuff get all OMGAMAZING like everyone seems to think it is? I got about halfway through the first season ages ago and sort of lost interest.

Well, speaking for myself, I absolutely adored the first three seasons. Got them on dvd and devoured them in a matter of weeks.

That being said, like almost anything in the past, there's always the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia weighting in on the memory.

This show was certainly no Parks and Recreation but it had its amazing moments.

i watched the first 3 seasons again not long ago to catch up and they were better than I remember.

Its definately the kind of show that benefits from being watched multiple times. It really seems like a basic comedy show at first, but the more you watch it and rewatch it, you begin to glimpse the true genius behind the writing.

Season 4 had new writers and it shows. They didn't "get" the characters and didn't use them quite as they should. What was once finely tuned nods to real life (Henry Winkler (Fonzie) literally jumping the shark, Burger King jokes, Ron Howard cameo) now cross a rather awkward line falling in meta territory.

But now that I'm done watching the season, I am absolutely annoyed by the cliffhanger ending. Season 5 or the movie were never a certainty, just part of the plan, and now they've undone the AD wrap-up from season 3 and left us with a really messy open ending. L2 is gone. Buster is accused? GMB punches his dad. :/

Its just all over the place and it bums me the f* out. I now think the AD revival might have been a huge mistake.

As the original series is along the FGR Comedy Great Favourites along with Scrubs, Seinfeld, Monty Python's Flying Circus, A Bit of Fry and Laurie and whatnot, I'm glad that the new series was for most of the time pretty good! Gonna warrant a few more times for me to watch through it, though, perhaps even start from the very first episode. Yet it was obvious that the new series couldn't have been like the old one.

As far as things I didn't like go: Tony Wonder became way too overused (even if it was for one episode only) and G.O.B. in general was made too pathetic. Also, the Tobias = Sex Offender thing seemed like something that could have probably been cleared off-screen but admittedly it was a bit funnier this way. Geez! Also, I was under the impression that Ron Howard was just going to make one cameo appearance in the show, so him having quite more significant involvement felt quite annoying at times TBH.

Weird thing: With all the promotion etc. related to the Bluth family Banana Stand... I was surprised to not seeing it this season! (At least the first time I watched it)

New gags that were pretty good: The Indian COINCIDENCE? chorus, anustart

Absolutely favorite revisited thing: YOU'RE A CROOK, CAPTAIN HOOK

Stuff that I liked seeing/hearing again: MR.F, Bob Loblaw, Carl Weathers, a new take on the combination of analyst and therapist, the "Oscar is Buster's father!" leitmotif [also, "I wouldn't put all my anns in that basket" stealthily hit me only about a week later >_> ]

Stuff that definitely cracked me up: first on-screen appearance of Gene Parmesan, Tony Wonder's answering machine message and GOB's reaction to it

I think I've already forgotten a lot of the new stuff so I have to watch through this season a few hundred times, just like the previous 3.

Oh, and I was under the impression that they were gonna make up the final wrap-up movie after all. At any rate, they better make one because ever since I saw the series 100% for the first time in 2007 and read about how/why it was cancelled, I thought that one day it should have been given a decent 100% wrap-up kinda-thing. Oh well.

At any rate, I think I'll watch through the season again over the weekend.

[Second Time Thoughts] Alright, rewatched the season. This time (probably naturally) it seemed a lot smoother, kinda reminds me of The Dark Knight and how the movie only opened up to me on the second time I saw i. This time I kept on noticing a lot of more subtler gags (like George Michael saying 'ciao fathero' Bluth-style (like 'brothero' from S2)). And the "do I seem like a clown to you?" scene (especially when it's shown from GM's POV in ep. 13) has become one of my definite favourites.

I finished the series a couple days ago, and have let it digest a couple days.

First, I would still probably give it an A- overall (with s1-s3 being a solid A), in terms of density of the jokes, writing, the cast, etc. It's still just incredible to witness as you are watching it, knowing that there really isn't another show like it that is this ambitious. However, I do have my quibbles, and most of them really stem from one problem I think:

The episodes are just too, damn, long. 37 minutes is just ridiculous. Some of the characters I think CAN pull off this length. I found Lindsay's episodes to be quite engrossing for the entire duration of the episode, as well as Gob's, Tobias', George Michael's, Maebe's, Buster's and Lucille's. But I found that the early Michael episodes were not that great, as they tweaked with his character a bit too much for my liking. I get the depressed and low-point arc for sure, I just think they made Michael a tad TOO aloof, at least relative to how aloof he was in s1-s3. George's plot also wasn't really that great until later in the season, I'd say. I think that had these episodes been trimmed down to 25 minutes each, that Michael and George's episodes would've been much more tolerable and not spread so thin.

The guests for the most part were really awesome this season as well. John Slattery as one of Oscar's hippy friends was just awesome casting, and I was really happy to see Roger Sterling have such a big "guest" part. Kristen Wiig as young Lucille was incredible, but unfortunately Seth Rogen's George Sr. wasn't.

Bottom line is that there is just so much I like about this season, and relatively little that I don't. And from what it sounds like, a season 5 or movie is definitely going to happen, so the abrupt ending makes a bit more sense as a cliffhanger.

omfg yes

http://www.davidschwartzmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Get-Away-Master.mp3