SUNDAY

Image credit: Arrested Development: Sam Urdank

The execs who want to axe this show should be 'arrested'

SUNDAY

SEASON FINALE 8:30-9PM Arrested Development (Fox, TV-PG-DLSV) Once in a decade, make that millennium, okay, once in the history of time comes a sitcom like Development — one that doesn't pander to viewers; one that rewards attentive viewing; and one that takes on Hollywood studios, Pop Secret, and the Blue Man Group with ribaldry (especially BMG, bless their indigo souls). Tonight's outing, in which — well, what happens on Arrested is often irrelevant because the humor comes from zingy wordplay, absurd gags, and stellar acting (kudos to you, Jason Bateman, Jessica Walter, and Jeffrey Tambor, left), so let's just say Marc ''Desperate Housewives'' Cherry appears and that kiss we've been dreading (read: secretly hoping for) finally happens. Here's my kiss to you, Development. A —Henry Goldblatt

SERIES DEBUT 7-8PM Home Intervention (NBC) What are the odds Trading Spaces vets Ty Pennington and HI host Vern Yip would have shows that air on the same night? As it happens, damn good.

8-10PM THS Investigates: Love Behind Bars (E!, TV-14-V) Badasses are hot, but that doesn't explain the allure of convicts like Ted Bundy, Kenneth ''The Hillside Strangler'' Bianchi, and Scott Peterson. This episode of the E! True Hollywood Story spin-off explores the coupling of desperate suckers and infamous inmates. But unlike Bill Kurtis, the charismatic anchor of A&E's Investigative Reports, host Samantha Harris' stilted style makes watching this show feel like hard time. C+ —Margeaux Watson

8-9PM The Contender (NBC, TV-PG) An injured fighter decides that boxing ain't worth it if all it gets you is beaten up.

8-9PM Nature (PBS) Look, if you're going to MTV to get information about rain forests from Cameron Diaz and Redman, you must be trippin'. What you should do is flip over to a show that actually educates viewers about the mysteries of the forest, as Nature begins a three-part series of episodes titled ''Deep Jungle.''

8-10PM Everything You Want (ABC Family, TV-PG) Abby has to choose between a fantasy beau and a real guy. It's hard! Fake men are perfect, but they never pick up the check.

9-10PM* Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (PBS, TV-PG-S) Two people try to take credit where it ain't due by falsely confessing to murder. *check local listings

9-11PM Save the Music: A Concert to Benefit the VH1 Save the Music Foundation (VH1) Stars ranging from Mariah Carey to John Legend perform to raise money to purchase instruments for music education programs. For those of you not into Mariah's comeback, non-pop star Josh Groban is slated to perform. I'm hoping for a Groban-Carey duet. It's got to be better than J-Lo and Mark Anthony's appearance at the Grammys.

9-10:02PM Desperate Housewives (ABC) Remember on Seinfeld when George's mother tells him that she's ''out there'' on the dating scene? Susan (Teri Hatcher) gets the same treatment, as she learns that her mom (Lesley Ann Warren) is also looking for love. Yikes.

9-11PM FDR: A Presidency Revealed (History Channel, TV-PG) Is it unpatriotic or the American way to speed-search through the politics to get to the naughty bits?

SEASON PREMIERE MIDNIGHT-12:15AM Tom Goes to the Mayor (Cartoon Network, TV-PG-L) The Mayor's up for reelection in 2 years. That oughta be enough time to find Ross Perot.

(Additional reporting by Charles Curtis)