“Arrested Development” — the television show that ended way too soon. And also the show that should not have came back (I will get to that later). All wrapped into one is the 4 seasons’ worth of content streaming now on Netflix.

Arrested Development is the perfect show to binge watch. Its core appeal is the long-running jokes throughout the series. The show deploys jokes continually that if you don’t remember its origin you will be left in the dark on the humor. So, to make the most of it, sit down ad nauseam (not literally) for hours on end and take in the show.  What makes this binge experience so engaging is the likeable, yet very unlikeable, characters. Told from the perspective of Michael Bluth, the show’s only sane character tries to bring together his highly dysfunctional family. The Bluths first run into trouble when their company is hit with fraud charges thanks to the CEO George Senior (Michael’s father). He is swiftly locked away and Michael has to figure out how he can keep his family together as well as the company. The hijinks that ensue between Michael’s very lazy and condescending family and him are what make this show laugh-out-loud funny each episode.

The first three seasons of Arrested Development premiered on the Fox network. The show ended after its third season due to poor ratings (Why? I truly don’t understand). That’s when good guy with a good eye for great comedy, Netflix, stepped in and bought the rights to make a fourth season. Ten years removed from its original run, the fourth season didn’t spark the same amount of witty banter. Now, the fourth season isn’t horrible but it isn’t at the same caliber. It took on a different vibe and just didn’t click well with the overall feeling of the show. The reason why I said it shouldn’t have come back is because it quite simply lets you down. The first three seasons are stunning television, which engage the entire time. The fourth season is a let down compared to the previous work.

So should you still watch this show despite an underwhelming return? A thousand times that answer is “Yes!” The show is too good to pass up on the basis of a letdown fourth season. You could skip the fourth season, but passing on available programming isn’t what binging is about, right?

Final Score: Open a new tab right now!