‘Arrested Development’: 17 Comedy Writers Share Their Favorite Moments

How is it possible that I literally don’t remember anything from my junior year of college and yet I can effortlessly rattle off a list of deliciously absurd names, moments, and lines of dialogue from a show that I, until recently, hadn’t seen in years? Well, the short answer is “beer,” but there’s more to it than that.

When I think of Arrested Development, Sacramende, Roger Danish, Gene Parmesean, “Baby, you got a stew going,” “No touching!” — oh, and the fact that Buster spent a full 11 months in utero all spring to mind. And like countless fans of the show, I could go on and on. The way all of that delicious absurdity was woven into brilliantly crafted plots was and is, to me, one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the medium. Clearly all those weekends I’ve heard the writing staff had to work paid off.

But I think another reason people respond to Arrested Development is that, in addition to being wall-to-wall hilarious, there are these tiny, blink-and-you’ll-miss-them moments of warmth — not often, but occasionally — that remind you that this is a show about a family who, despite their pathological disfunction, genuinely care about one another.

For example, in a scene from Season 1, Michael and his son, George Michael, are literally making cornballs using a now-banned, “As Seen on TV” device called (of course) The Cornballer. As they share a heartfelt moment of rapprochement, Michael tousles his son’s hair and in that instant, you really do get how much he loves his kid. Then, of course, in the next moment, Michael burns the crap out of his hand on the Cornballer, instantly undercutting the treacle and ending the scene on a memorably hilarious moment. It’s perfection.

— R. Lee Fleming, Jr.

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There’s a moment from the first season that I think about all the time. Maeby buys a leather jacket to spite her mom (been there), then in an effort to bond with his daughter, Tobias Fünke (played to perfection by David Cross) goes to a Wilson’s Leather-type store and the following exchange takes place:

Tobias: I’m looking for something that says “‘Dad likes leather!”
Salesperson: Something that says “Leather Daddy?”
Tobias: Oh, is there such a thing?

Then in the next scene, Tobias joins Maeby and George Michael on a couch and he’s wearing a leather vest, leather chaps, and of course, a dog collar.

Now a quick word about leather jackets. As anyone who has ever worn a leather jacket can tell you, it’s impossible to just casually wear one. It requires a huge amount of emotional energy and commitment. From the moment you decide to buy one and every day you put it on thereafter, there’s only one thought that goes through your mind: Finally, everyone is going to notice and then compliment me on how fucking cool I am. That’s why when I first notice an acquaintance or potential love interest wearing a leather jacket for the first time around me, I feel the moment heavy with expectation. I’m not a monster, so of course I say something along the lines of “Cool jacket!” The leather jacket wearer then does an Academy Award-worthy bluff of looking down as if they forgot for a moment they’re wearing five pounds worth of expensive cowhide, and says “Oh, thanks?” Then I follow it up with “I’m looking for something that says “Dad likes leather!” If the person gets it, then we start talking about Tobias’ foray into the Blue Man Group and never-nudedom and it’s really fun! And if they don’t, then you have to clumsily explain the reference, and they stare at you blankly and then you tell them Arrested Development really is one of the greatest shows ever made and then they go, “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to check it out” and then you’re like, “Really, you haven’t had a spare moment in 14 years?” and then they do a fake laugh and then you think about Tobias accidentally choking himself with his leather dog collar and laugh to yourself.

— Michelle Markowitz

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When Tobias tries to join the Blue Man Group, and you just kept seeing a random blue hand print on the wall. That show really rewarded an audience that pays attention to detail and continues to influence the way I write comedy.

— Dave Holstein 

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I’m obsessed with Ann (her?) Veal. Ann aka Plain aka Egg aka Bland’s forgettability is one of the series’ most delightful runners. As the Bluth family’s resident Mariah Carey, Jason Bateman is just so good and grounded when he forgets who she is every. single. time. And Michael’s right! Is there anything more bland than an Anne with no “e?” No! The Ann (who?) storyline also deserves recognition because it set the table for so many other incredible Arrested Development moments: without Bland dumping him, we don’t get George Michael Charlie Brown walking home and collapsing to the floor. Without George Michael’s love for Egg, there’s no Lindsay wearing an engagement ring on her middle toe (roast beef). And without Plain’s love for condiments, there is no mayonegg.

So Justice for Ann. Especially because a mayonegg is basically a deconstructed deviled egg and deviled eggs are delicious.

— Lauren Ashley Smith

Almost every joke that occurs in the first three seasons of Arrested Development is burned into my brain for life. When I started thinking about what moment to talk about, a million f*cking diamonds – I mean, quotes – that I still use every in conversation (I’m very fun to hang out with) came rushing back to me. “Do I talk about Lindsay making ‘hot ham water’ because every time I’m at chain sandwich spot Jersey Mike’s and see their ‘hot ham’ I start laughing?” “Do I mention that every Halloween I think about how I could throw together a Rita costume with my own closet if I’m in a pinch?” “Or should I say that I can’t say the word “bees” or “beads” without saying both words back and forth over again?” (These all might be indicators of things that are deeply wrong with me but either way!)

But I landed on “what a fun, sexy time for you!” because I say this…a lot. In the third episode of the third season, George Michael says this to Maeby, his cousin, who he is in love with. At the time, she also has a crush on him but is trying to avoid him by dating Steve Holt who is also their cousin. It’s part Michael Cera’s delivery, part the context of its use and part just a really funny grouping of words that makes this one stick out for me so much. I highly recommend using this phrase as a response to anything for which you are only feigning excitement.

It’s really disarming to people and it works very well whether they know what you’re referring to or not.

— Erin Mallory Long

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I don’t know how to choose a favorite Arrested Development joke. It changes daily and I’m preemptively pissed at myself for not picking every time Judy Greer says “Say goodbye to these!” But today I’ll go with Tobias telling Michael “I know you’re the big marriage expert. Oh, I’m sorry — I forgot your wife is dead.”

The idea that a spouse dying means you failed at marriage is so awful and so funny. My second favorite joke is anything Lucille Bluth has ever said. “Luz, that coat costs more than your house!” / “Oh, that’s how we joke. She doesn’t even have a house!” Also the choice to make her so thoughtless and cruel but then so completely charmed by Gene Parmesan is amazing. Jessica Walter is the greatest.

— Mike Scollins

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The first thing that popped into my head when you asked this was the old-timey “Motherboy” theme song from Season 2’s “Motherboy XXX.”

You only get a little taste of it during a cutaway in the episode proper, but they play the whole thing over the end credits, something I probably didn’t catch until rewatching on DVD. The existence of an event like Motherboy is in and of itself a perfect joke — as is the hair-metal band with the same name — but there’s something about that musty, wax-cylinder sounding song that ties it all up wonderfully: of course this sick family takes part in a pageant like this. Of course Lucille loves it. Of course Buster is jealous that he can’t attend. Of course.

— Dan Chamberlain

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Every time Lucille was surprised by Gene Parmesan, a little more joy, a little more goodness went out into this (sometimes garbage fire of a) world. It’s the perfect Arrested Development bit and here’s why. On the surface, it’s seems like it’s in total contrast to the rest of Lucille’s character — unbridled joy and appreciation? Lucille? For this terrible private eye? But then it’s played with such commitment from Jessica Walter — ratcheted up so elegantly each time — that it just gets folded into the fabric of who Lucille is. And that’s the show at its best — these unpredictable-predictable characters who are each a little world unto themselves — each one an absolute beautiful dense mess of opinions and logic.

And on a meta level each time it happens you’re ALSO surprised and then delighted because that thing you love — this stupid running bit — is happening again. Gene!

— Nicole Drespel 

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My all-time favorite moment that has stuck with me for the past 15 years is when Buster finally talks shit about his Mom “withholding” and takes it WAY too far.

I definitely have a sick sense of humor, which is why this show and clip always speaks to me. There’s something special about when a seemingly innocent and underestimated character suddenly reaches their limit and bursts in the most inappropriate way. It’s so relatable and cathartic. It’s those tipping point moments [in which] comedy thrives. If you can make those moments unique and unexpected, combine them with the amazing straight man skills of Jason Bateman, then you get a brilliant show like Arrested Development.

I can personally relate to Buster’s character because I was the youngest, shy, and always felt totally underestimated. I wanted to prove myself, but I was chubby and had to wear an eye patch so I didn’t have the confidence until years later. Eventually I went full-blown pirate and had many inappropriate outbursts which included lots of swear words.

I think we should all channel a little Buster from time to time.

— Abby Holland

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I didn’t experience Arrested Development until college, when my best friend took me with her into the Netflix void and I became so obsessed I never shut up about it. (An admirer would later gift me the DVD boxset. DVDs. In 2013.)

After rewatching it all the way through a handful of times, I found myself returning to one specific episode when my depression was particularly relentless: the appropriately titled “Good Grief!”. “Good Grief!” is a showcase of pretty much every perfect Arrested Development gag: the sad Charlie Brown walk, the never-ending mentions of eggs, “her?”, a “Final Countdown” routine. It’s an episode stocked with plenty of jokes independently hilarious, sure, but it’s also rife with gags totally reliant on setups from installments past.

I could go on and on about the belly laughs I’ve experienced from Pop-Pop in the attic and “army had half-a-day” and “the new Poof” for days, but the moment forever etched in my mind is a six-second exchange between Buster and G.O.B.:

“You mean you can wear stripper clothes when you’re not stripping?”

*dramatic ripping of pants*

“You tell me.”

It’s so stupid, so simple, but it gets me every damn time. Few people can deadpan like Will Arnett. Even fewer can work tear-away pants (and convince a prudish Florida college girl that she might also need a pair too).

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I’m sure it’s a popular choice, but I have to say my favorite AD bit is Bob Loblaw. The Bob Loblaw Law Blog, the Bob Loblaw Law Bomb, Bob Loblaw: no habla Español — it will never not be fun to say those things out loud. They’re both brilliant and infuriatingly stupid and I will cherish them forever.

— Diana McCorry

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I know the third season of Arrested Development gets (or at least “got”) a lot of criticism for maybe being too meta — and inaccessible, which then became part of the meta aspect — but I’ve alway adored it. Especially when it reached the peak of that meta-ness in the form of the “S.O.B.s” (“Save Our Bluths”) episode.

There is a lot I love about this particular episode —“Okay we’ll just tell you now. She’s the one who dies.” is an all-time great Ron Howard line reading — but the one part that’s really stuck with me all these years is everything about Lindsay’s domesticity plot. Specifically the very concept of “hot ham water,” which is possibly the dumbest thing anyone has ever said (without having the power to destroy the world) yet something I want to defend with my life when Michael tries to call it “soup.”

This dumb concept literally has an Urban Outfitters blog post about it. Why is there even an Urban Outfitters blog? It’s far from the most advanced joke in Arrested Development, which is part of what makes it so brilliant. Just the combination of Lindsay’s satisfaction with herself for her ability to “cook” and then Buster losing his mind over the taste of it is… This is the perfect time to bust out a *chef’s kiss* isn’t it?

— LaToya Ferguson 

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The first moment on Arrested Development that comes to mind is Tobias trying to pry something out of a container and saying, “You have to be some sort of She-Hulk to get this…” Sadly George Michael cuts him off there so it’s not a clean quote, but Tobias defaulting to She-Hulk rather than Hulk is a top-notch, character-logical joke.

— Michael Hartney

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Liza Minnelli as Lucille 2 is one of the great guest starring roles of all time. Introducing this legend to an entirely new audience of comedy nerds who only knew her as a weird Broadway lady was a stroke of genius. The comedy nerds realized what we gay people had known all along: Liza is fucking funny. Also the vertigo? Come on! That’s great!

— Aaron Jackson

I can’t possibly pick a favorite moment from Arrested Development, but I’ll never forget how the Rita-walking-on-water misdirect (S3, E6) broke my ankles. For the two seconds the screen fades to white after Gob tells Michael that it wasn’t his trick, I deeply, miserably believed that AD had catapulted over the shark into magical realism. But then came the twist, then the fire, and by the time Tobias was shrieking that he couldn’t go underwater I was mentally begging this flawless show to forgive me for ever doubting it.

— Zhubin Parang

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The Season 1 finale of Arrested Development births G.O.B.’s series arc with bees. The exchange:

LINDSAY: …for your information, I have a job.
MICHAEL: Really? What kind of job?
LINDSAY: Beads!
G.O.B.: Bees?!
LINDSAY: Beads.
G.O.B.: Beads?!

The fact that G.O.B. is more incredulous that Lindsay is working with beads than bees is just so quintessentially Arrested Development. In my writers room, we’ve watched the clip about a hundred times. Anytime that anyone says anything even close to the word “bees” (beans, fees, Drew Brees), the rest of the room erupts with an incredulous “BEES?!”

It’s somehow more delightful than it is annoying.

— Samantha Martin

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I didn’t get into Arrested Development when it first came out. And every single annoying writer friend I knew would scream at me for not seeing it. It was like The Wire of sitcoms – and I didn’t watch The Wire either. It was the early-2000s and I was too busy watching The OC to care about anything else going on in the world (Seth + Summer 4 LIIIIIIIIIIIIFE).

It wasn’t until Mitch Hurwitz and the rest of the cast came on Inside the Actors Studio (a show I worked on for 200 years) that I finally fell in love with the series. I was James Lipton’s assistant at the time (there’s a show if anyone’s buying) and he was a big fan of the series (because he was on it) and Arrested Development was just about to come out with Season 4 on Netflix (I don’t have an aside here but I’m a rule of three guy and I needed one more parenthetical to make the trifecta happen — moving on!).

In preparation for the interview, it was my job to order all the DVDs and go through every episode looking for the best clips that would air during the taping. It was during that “research” (“laughing so hard I spit soup on my computer”) that I finally understood why all my annoying writer friends were always annoying me about this show. It was f*#@ing great. The callbacks. The flashbacks. The never-ending easter eggs that I’m STILL catching. It made the job less of a job and more of a… well, job. I mean, I was an assistant so I was still getting coffee, but you know what I mean. Arrested Development made my day — while I made the coffee. And then to meet the cast at the taping in real life and share an awkward elevator ride with Mitch Hurwitz and Jason Bateman while holding in a fart? Dreams really do come true, folks.

My favorite episode of the series is “Afternoon Delight” because of the Colored Man scene. I feel like if you had to show a stranger one scene to encapsulate the entire show, it would be that one: A seemingly racist statement from Lucille + judgement from Michael + an inside joke + a flashback + a callback = Arrested Development.

— Daniel Shepard 

Watch "Afternoon Delight" on Netflix