186-481: Arrested Development is an American television sitcom that originally aired on Fox from November 2, 2003 to February 10, 2006. A fourth season of 15 episodes was released on Netflix on May 26, 2013, and a fifth season was released in two parts on May 29, 2018 and March 15, 2019. Created by Mitchell Hurwitz , the show centers the Bluth family. The Bluths are formerly wealthy and a habitually dysfunctional family . It
372-560: A ventriloquist act with a stereotyped African-American doll named Franklin Delano Bluth . Gob and Franklin produce an album together, "Franklin Comes Alive". He is frequently seen throughout the series getting around on a Segway which has a pouch that says "Gob" on it. Gob's often repeated lines are "Come on!" and, "I've made a huge mistake" which are also used in various forms by himself and later by other characters as well. In
558-510: A wall on the border of Mexico and the US , with the support of politician Herbert Love. His separation with Lucille becomes a real one when she realizes he has been appeasing her sexual needs by swapping himself with his identical twin brother, Oscar; Lucille consequently announces her desire for an actual divorce. Before the events of the show, George Sr. was also the inventor of the Cornballer,
744-466: A "fake" wedding ceremony to entertain Alzheimer's patients goes wrong. On her marriage certificate, her birthday is stated to be ( 1990-09-22 ) September 22, 1990 (age 34) . George Michael is the only character to remember Maeby's 16th birthday and arrange a celebration for her. Maeby is touched by the kindness George Michael has shown her; when George Michael explains how she may not be related to
930-452: A 1974 national study of sexual behavior, estimated that 2% to 4% of the married population was involved in open marriages. Bartell (1971) estimated that two percent of the married population was involved in open marriages. The lowest estimate comes from a study conducted by Spanier and Cole (1975) of several hundred people living in the midwestern United States, which found 1.7 percent of married people involved in open marriages. Following
1116-428: A Comedy Series, in which it won for " Righteous Brothers ", written by Mitchell Hurwitz and Jim Vallely . 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 ". In 2013,
1302-421: A Volkswagen Cabriolet with a vanity plate intended to say "A New Start!", which is abbreviated as "ANUSTART". This becomes a recurring nickname in season four. During this season, he falls in love with the hardcore drug addict and recovering actress DeBrie Bardeaux ( Maria Bamford ). The Russo brothers asked Cross to make a cameo appearance as Tobias in their 2018 superhero film Avengers: Infinity War , but he
1488-793: A brawl between Michael and her husband at the end of the episode. With the exception of George-Michael, the Bluths all struggle to remember Ann's name. In the high school yearbook, she is identified as "Not Pictured" under her photograph, although they did print a retraction in the spring supplement. Michael disapproves of his son's relationship with Ann, believing his son to be setting his dating standards too low, and refers to her variously (and always accidentally) as "Bland", "Egg", "Annabel", "Yam", "Ham", "Plant", "Plain", and "Ann Hog". He once abandons her in Mexico accidentally. Maeby takes pleasure in referring to Ann as "Bland". George-Michael tells Maeby that Ann
1674-484: A cement wall used by GOB for a magic trick is broken open where Buster had placed a mannequin. When the wall is broken open, Lucille Austero's body falls out while the entire Bluth family looks at Buster who finally confesses that he did it; he murdered Lucille Austero and says that she reminds him of his own mother. Entertainment Weekly selected Buster as the uncle for "The Perfect TV Family". Tobias Onyango Fünke ( /ˈfjuːŋkeɪ/ FYOON-kay ; played by David Cross )
1860-532: A child and has no respect for him as an adult; his mother Lucille openly loathes him. Gob's desperate and unsuccessful attempts to win his father's approval and become the Bluths' "favorite" son is a major theme of his character. As Michael's older brother, Gob believes he is inherently entitled to more respect, and feels threatened and insulted by the fact that he is less successful than Michael. On several occasions, Gob and Michael realize that their rivalry has been nurtured by their father and mother's manipulations. Gob
2046-530: A consequence. Studies in the 1980s found that couples report high levels of satisfaction and enjoy long-lasting open marriages. A 1995 study found that some couples drop out of the open marriage lifestyle and return to sexual monogamy. These couples may continue to view open marriage as a valid lifestyle for others, but not for themselves. A 1974 study found that other couples experience problems and report that open marriage contributed to their divorces. Strong social disapproval of open marriage may lead to
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#17327976566882232-463: A continuum from unrestricted to restricted sociosexuality. Couples with different styles of open marriage tend to self-segregate in order to find others who share similar philosophies and interests, which has likely contributed to the development of separate polyamory and swinging communities. These offer informational resources and support, even if a given couple in an open marriage cannot see themselves joining either community. Some couples may not have
2418-440: A deliberate foil to her activist mother Lindsay, but eventually re-imagined to be a troublemaker in other ways. In making Maeby an opposite to George Michael (she is bolder and not at all reverent towards her parents), Hurwitz thought this also contributed to the idea of George Michael and Maeby developing a romance. Byron "Buster" Bluth (born 1973; played by Tony Hale ) is the youngest son of George Sr. and Lucille , though it
2604-494: A desire to expand love by developing emotionally involved relationships with extramarital partners. Swinging is motivated by a desire for physical gratification by engaging in sexual activities with extramarital partners. The distinction between polyamory and swinging applies to open marriages. Delineation of polyamory and swinging has appeared in academic literature, popular media, and Web sites devoted respectively to polyamory and to swinging. (The swing sites prefer to frame
2790-506: A faulty product which has been banned in numerous countries. He has a religious awakening twice on the show, once becoming Jewish after a period of isolation and selling a video series entitled "Caged Wisdom", and once becoming a devout Christian after reading a pamphlet in a garbage bag while hiding in the attic. Lucille Bluth (née Jenkins ; played by Jessica Walter , in flashback sequences during season four by Kristen Wiig , and in flashback sequences during season five by Cobie Smulders )
2976-558: A foil for Maeby's commitment to rebellion. Ann leads the protest at Maeby's premiere of the English remake of Dangerous Cousins , originally a French movie about a sexual relationship between two cousins. Ann moves on from George-Michael after coming in third place in an "Inner Beauty" pageant . Gob, who admits a penchant for third-place pageant winners, later reveals that he is dating a Christian girl, who eventually turns out to be Ann. Arrested Development Arrested Development
3162-485: A forbidden crush on his cousin Maeby , while continually trying to meet his father's expectations. Lindsay's husband Tobias searches for work as an actor, with the aid of Carl Weathers . Michael falls in love with his screw-up older brother Gob 's neglected girlfriend Marta , and is torn between being with her and putting "family first". After seeing Michael physically fight with Gob, Marta realizes that they do not share
3348-431: A futile attempt to shock her parents and, similarly, kisses Annyong, her adoptive uncle, to shock George Michael. During her estrangement from George Michael, Maeby distracts herself by dating Steve Holt , who turns out to be Gob's illegitimate son and therefore another one of Maeby's first cousins. Maeby ends up slipping Steve one of Gob's " forget-me-nows " to avoid having sex while tricking Steve into thinking they had. In
3534-675: A home library purchase." Alison Powell of The Guardian said "As Hollywood agents worry about the demise of the town's lowing cash cow, the multi-camera, staged sitcom, here to save the day is Arrested Development , a farce of such blazing wit and originality, that it must surely usher in a new era in comedy." Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly named Arrested Development the best television show of 2005 and said in her review that "As oddball as Arrested is, it's also humane. A flawless cast—from Will Arnett's breathy, bombastic Gob to Jessica Walter's boozy Lucille—grounds it, aided by Ron Howard's affable narration. The center of sensibility
3720-412: A hospital in " Fakin' It ". They also kiss passionately after getting drunk off fake wine when George Michael, suspecting Maeby may be adopted, tells her they might not be related by blood. When his uncle Tobias, oblivious to their secret, proves to them both that Maeby was their naturally born daughter it becomes more cause for consternation to George Michael for the remainder of the original series until
3906-401: A job as a movie executive and maintaining the charade (with astounding and increasing success) for several months. She gets fired only when George Michael sends invitations for her 16th birthday party to all the other studio executives in her address book, who suddenly realize how young she really is. Her boss, Mort Meyers, though, wants her back when he realizes what a celebrity she has become as
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#17327976566884092-589: A loss of psychological and health benefits. People in open marriages may hide their lifestyle from family, friends, and colleagues. Blumstein and Schwartz note: Openly non-monogamous married and cohabiting couples often feel they are thought of as bizarre or immoral by the rest of their world. They have to work out their sex lives in opposition to the rest of society. They may have an understanding with each other, but they usually keep it secret from family, friends, and people at work. (Blumstein & Schwartz, 1983, p. 294–295)> Keeping their lifestyles secret reduces
4278-457: 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
4464-510: A mock wedding for Alzheimer's patients that 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
4650-411: 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
4836-468: A national study of several hundred women and men, Hunt (1974) reported that around 75 percent of women and over 60 percent of men agreed with the statement "Mate-swapping is wrong." A 1975 study of several hundred men and women living in the midwestern United States found that 93 percent would not consider participating in swinging. A 2005 study asked 111 college women about various forms of marriage and family. These young women viewed open marriage as one of
5022-431: A point where I think a lot of the actors were ready to move on." He said that he was "more worried about letting down the fans in terms of the quality of the show dropping" than he was about disappointing fans by not giving them more episodes. He also said, "If there's a way to continue this in a form that's not weekly episodic series television, I'd be up for it". After the series cancellation, Fox Entertainment Group sold
5208-430: A polyamorous style of open marriage. Couples who prefer extramarital relationships emphasizing sexual gratification and recreational friendships have a swinging style of open marriage. These distinctions may depend on psychological factors such as sociosexuality and may contribute to the formation of separate Polyamory and Swinging communities. Despite their distinctions, however, all open marriages share common issues:
5394-535: A result of this scandal. Many storylines featuring Maeby involve a mutual but heavily restrained sexual attraction shared with her first cousin, George Michael. Because the model home is so cramped, the two are forced to share a bedroom. This forced proximity and the American remake of "Les Cousins Dangereux" lead to their first real kiss, after which the mortified cousins start avoiding each other, though not always successfully. Maeby legally marries George Michael when
5580-516: A singing British nanny named "Mrs. Featherbottom" (an idea he gets from the film Mrs. Doubtfire ) so he can watch over his daughter Maeby. The family sees right through this incompetent disguise, but they humor Tobias since—in the guise of Mrs. Featherbottom—he does their chores. George Michael begins dating a deeply religious girl, Ann Veal , who encourages him to smash pop music CDs and to run for student body president against perennial favorite Steve Holt . Michael dislikes her and tries to disrupt
5766-458: A sizable audience. According to the Nielsen ratings system, the show's first season was the 120th most popular show among households and the 88th among viewers aged 18 to 49, averaging 6.2 million viewers. U.S. ratings in the second season averaged about six million viewers, while the third season averaged about four million viewers. Fox announced that it would halt the production of
List of Arrested Development characters - Misplaced Pages Continue
5952-466: A story about a "riches to rags" family. Howard and Imagine were interested in using this idea, and signed Hurwitz to write the show. The idea was pitched and sold in Q3 2002. There was a bidding war for the show between Fox and NBC, with the show ultimately selling to Fox as a put pilot with a six-figure penalty. Over the next few months, Hurwitz developed the characters and plot for the series. The script of
6138-542: A strong preference for either style of open marriage, feeling equally at home in either community. The partners within a couple may differ in their respective preferences. One partner may prefer a polyamorous style of open marriage and participate in the Polyamory community, while the other partner may prefer a swinging style of open marriage and participate in the swinging community. Variations in couple preferences and individual preferences thus can result in overlap between
6324-574: A successful man, and divulges to Michael that they are not biological siblings, hoping (with no luck) that she can seduce him. Creator Mitchell Hurwitz came up with Lindsay as the family's politically liberal figure, but Lindsay is also meant to represent a liberal who personally benefited from her politics more than she sacrificed , due to the image she built. This motif is continued in the series' revival and fourth season , in which Lindsay travels to India in an attempt to connect to her spiritual side and then tumultuously dates Marky Bark, another (albeit
6510-512: A swinging style of open marriage may depend on many psychological factors. One factor may be sociosexuality , an individual's willingness to engage in sexual behavior without having emotional ties to the sex partner. Individuals who are very willing to engage in sexual behavior without emotional ties are said to have unrestricted sociosexuality . Individuals who are very unwilling to engage in sexual behavior without emotional ties are said to have restricted sociosexuality . Individuals can vary along
6696-400: A synonym for sexually non-monogamous marriage. In her 1977 book The Marriage Premise , Nena O'Neill advocated sexual fidelity in a chapter of that name. As she later said, "The whole area of extramarital sex is touchy. I don't think we ever saw it as a concept for the majority, and certainly it has not proved to be." The meaning of open marriage can vary from study to study depending on how
6882-437: A taste for mammal flesh. Buster is refitted with a sharp hook , which he copes with poorly and often brandishes dangerously in social situations. During Buster's long psychological recovery, he bonds with George Sr.'s stoner twin brother Oscar, who moves in with Lucille in an attempt to rekindle a past love affair. Uncle Oscar slowly reveals himself as Buster's presumptive biological father. Eventually, George Sr. takes revenge on
7068-539: A true) liberal activist, while still married to Tobias. She later unwittingly becomes the call girl of politically conservative politician Herbert Love, eventually abandoning her long-held liberal views and finally realizing her closer affinity for conservative ones. When Love falls into a coma, Lindsay at the last minute takes up his mantle in his campaign to run for U.S. Congress. In the show's fifth season, Lindsay goes missing after no longer being able to tolerate her supposed mother's controlling attitude, but reemerges in
7254-406: A truncated fourth season as a lead-in to a film adaptation. Six years after the series had been canceled by Fox, filming for a fourth season began on August 7, 2012. Fifteen episodes of the show's revival season were released simultaneously on Netflix on May 26, 2013. Although it received generally favorable reviews, it was far less well-received than prior seasons, leading Netflix to re-edit
7440-442: Is "not bland" when forced to defend his love interest. Ann is attracted to George-Michael's Star Wars kid -like lightsaber demonstration, which leads to their reconciliation after a breakup midway through the second season. George-Michael wanted to get pre-engaged to Ann at the end of the second season, lost his resolve at the last moment, and was then asked by Ann to teach her his secular ways. Ann's strict conservatism serves as
7626-399: Is a bully. His storyline in the fourth season ends with him being arrested for Lucille Austero's murder after being seen around the staircar where her body went missing. In season 5, Buster is arrested for the murder of Lucille Austero. He participates in a float parade participating as an inmate. Oscar breaks Buster out of jail by escaping from the parade and leads Buster to believe that this
List of Arrested Development characters - Misplaced Pages Continue
7812-573: Is a lack of content regarding studies and educational programming in open marriage and diverse relationship structures. Due to this, there is much uncertainty regarding the topic. Common misconceptions of nonmonogamy include that it violates principles of all religions, and that it is equivalent to polygyny (one man having multiple wives) or polygamy (a marriage of many). The impact of open marriage on relationships varies across couples. Some couples report high levels of marital satisfaction and have long-lasting open marriages. Other couples drop out of
7998-576: Is a self-diagnosed "never-nude" (a disorder comparable to gymnophobia ), whose language and behavior have heavily homosexual overtones to which he seems oblivious and which are the center of much tongue-in-cheek comedy throughout the series. Their daughter, Maeby, is a rebellious teen with an opportunistic streak, who seeks to defy her parents for the sake of attention, and otherwise pursues boys and power, and furthers her complicated relationship with George Michael. Several other characters regularly appear in recurring roles. George Bluth Sr., patriarch of
8184-483: Is abruptly nullified when Buster's left hand is bitten off by a "loose seal " (pun on "Lucille"), when he impulsively gets the courage to jump into the ocean one day after years of being afraid to swim. In subsequent episodes he wears a trans-radial prosthetic on his left arm that is sometimes a hook and other times a prosthetic hand. In season 4, Buster reenlists in the Army for a sense of purpose after his mother Lucille
8370-527: Is accustomed to an opulent and decadent lifestyle, which she funds with misappropriated Bluth Company money. She treats herself to repeated spa treatments and face lifts, and is known to abuse alcohol and prescription drugs. She is condescending and verbally abusive towards her long-suffering housekeepers, and she has never made eye contact with a waiter. Lucille is extremely manipulative, narcissistic, amoral, domineering, and emotionally abusive to her children—some more than others. She furtively wrests control of
8556-400: Is an American satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz . It aired on Fox for three seasons from November 2, 2003, to February 10, 2006, followed by two seasons on Netflix ; season four being released on May 26, 2013, and season five being released on May 29, 2018, and March 15, 2019. Arrested Development follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family . It
8742-424: Is arrested and Lucille Austero rejects him for being unable to have a relationship rather than view her as a surrogate mother. In the Army, Buster is unwittingly made a UAV pilot (thinking he is merely playing a video game), but is "wounded" after falling out of his chair, receiving several commendations and being fitted with an oversized robotic hand that makes more powerful motions than he can control. Realizing for
8928-522: 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. 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. To celebrate their victory in Iraq,
9114-452: Is arrested in the first episode. George goes to considerable lengths to manipulate and control his family in spite of his imprisonment, and makes numerous efforts to evade justice. His wife, and Michael's mother, Lucille ( Jessica Walter ), is ruthlessly manipulative, materialistic, and hypercritical of every member of her family, and constantly drinks alcohol. Her grip is tightest on her youngest son, Byron "Buster" Bluth ( Tony Hale ), who
9300-416: Is competitive with Michael and bullies Buster. Michael's twin sister, Lindsay ( Portia de Rossi ), is spoiled and materialistic, continually seeking to be the center of attention and espousing various social causes for the sake of vanity. In the finale, it is revealed that she and Lucille are sisters. She is married to Tobias Fünke ( David Cross ), a discredited psychiatrist-turned-aspiring actor. Tobias
9486-456: Is completely unwilling to accept any responsibility and most of his family regard him as an idiot. He is also the original creator and inspiration for the Mr. Bananagrabber character. Although he retains most of the rights to the character, he gave away the animation rights to Michael. It was later made into an animated television series that became an infrequent background joke . He also briefly had
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#17327976566889672-432: Is considered an immutable reason for a dissolution of marriage. The Jewish religion hold similar values as Christianity in these matters. Muslims or Islamic teachings however allows for polygynous marriages albeit for the male partner only. Islam prohibits this practice for the female partner. The perceived validity of these objections depends entirely on individual faith. Arguments about faith and rationality lie outside
9858-458: Is convinced that her husband is gay. His self-help book, The Man Inside Me , is a success, though only in the gay community, due to the fact that he replaced all gender-related pronouns with only male pronouns, to avoid confusion. He has experienced sexual difficulties with his wife. This leads to their joint decision to try an "open" marriage, even though Tobias himself acknowledges that this path never works. Tobias doesn't really follow through with
10044-399: Is good son Michael (Jason Bateman) and his even better son, George Michael (Michael Cera). Bateman and Cera give the best reacts around—the former all weary exasperation, the latter adorably bunny-stunned. Together, they're the sweetest, awkwardest straight men on the smartest, most shockingly funny series on TV ... which is likely canceled, despite six Emmy wins. It's a perversion not even
10230-406: Is greeted with "Hey, uncle-father Oscar." Steve Holt is greeted with "Hey, possible nephew"). Buster seems to have inherited many personality quirks from his biological father Oscar, such as his cluelessness, doughiness, and propensity to give shoulder massages. Despite his obvious personality flaws, Buster does care about the rest of his family more than many of the other Bluths, shown when he, unlike
10416-399: Is known to be the womanizer of the Bluth family, though he often exaggerates his romantic encounters in what he believes is an intense competition with Michael (though Michael does not reciprocate these competitive feelings). In fact, Gob loves Michael more than anyone else in his family and is surprised whenever Michael does not express such feelings in return. Eventually, Gob discovers that he
10602-497: Is last seen being arrested on such charges. Maeby is portrayed by Alia Shawkat . Shawkat tried out for the part with Michael Cera , who plays George Michael, in Los Angeles, and the creators thought they both did well. The two were the first to join the cast. For her role as Maeby, Shawkat won a Young Artist Award in 2005. Creator Mitchell Hurwitz named the character after his daughters Maisy and Phoebe. Hurwitz acknowledged
10788-560: Is later revealed that his biological father is actually George Sr.'s identical twin brother, Oscar . As indicated by the narrator in season 2, despite being typically childish, Buster is probably more intelligent than his siblings Gob and Lindsay. He has frequent panic attacks, hates both closed and open spaces , is terrified of sheep, seals, and birds, and is wrathfully rivalrous toward his Korean -born adopted brother, Annyong . Buster demonstrates various childlike nutritional sensitivities as well: for instance, he becomes hyperactive from
10974-441: Is more trouble than it's worth, he and Michael escape to Cabo with $ 500,000 and a house waiting for them, not knowing that George Senior has escaped to the same destination with the same plan. Besides his crush on his cousin, George Michael is also shown to be extremely close to his father, Michael, presumably with the two bonding more after his mother's death. In season 4, George Michael is now in his early twenties and in college at
11160-569: Is not, in fact, gone. After faking his death in Mexico by paying off the cops, George Sr. returns to the family model home, where George Michael discovers him hiding in the attic . To protect his son from legal implications, Michael hides George Sr. in Gob's prop Aztec Tomb, orchestrates a diversion, and tells the family that George Sr. has escaped once more. Throughout the rest of the season, Michael sneaks George Sr. provisions, and George Sr. keeps tabs on
11346-419: Is often reluctant to date, thinking that his son would disapprove, and most of his relationships have featured misunderstandings or outright deception. His wife's death is usually the subject of tasteless and unaware jokes made by his family members. His role in the story is that he is the one son who has no choice but to keep the family together, and he serves as the straight man in the comedy series. Throughout
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#173279765668811532-437: Is only slightly less for women, where of 3,520 married women, 801 had an agreement with their spouses allowing extramarital sex, and 22 percent (or 176 women) actually engaged in extramarital sex during the previous year. This means about 5 percent of married women were actively involved in open marriages during the previous year. Those estimates are slightly higher than those from other researchers. Hunt, based on interviews from
11718-561: Is overeducated on various random subjects but lacks emotional intelligence or common sense. Buster is also a mother's boy who has dependency issues and is prone to panic attacks . Michael's older brother is George Oscar Bluth II ( Will Arnett ), known by the acronym Gob, which is pronounced in the series like the Biblical figure Job ( / dʒ oʊ b / ). An unsuccessful professional magician whose business and personal schemes usually fail or become tiresome and are quickly abandoned, Gob
11904-407: Is part of the parade and later tells him that they are on the run from the police and must remain in hiding. Buster is not told that he has already been cleared for release from jail after the charges against him were dropped because of a lack of evidence, namely Lucille Austero's body was not found. He later reveals that he figured out that he was not on the run from the police. At the end of season 5,
12090-409: Is portrayed as extremely resentful towards her sexually uninterested husband Tobias, with whom she ultimately agrees to an open marriage . During this time, Lindsay flirts and pursues relationships with many other men, with little or no success. She sometimes dates successful actors, such as Moses Taylor and Tom Jane . In season 3, Lindsay becomes interested in the family's new lawyer Bob Loblaw . In
12276-461: Is presented in a continuous format, and incorporates hand-held camera work, narration, archival photos, and historical footage. The series stars Jason Bateman , Portia de Rossi , Will Arnett , Michael Cera , Alia Shawkat , Tony Hale , David Cross , Jeffrey Tambor , and Jessica Walter . In addition, Ron Howard serves as the series narrator and an executive producer on the show. The main characters of Arrested Development can be divided into
12462-467: Is presented in a serialized format , incorporating handheld camera work, voice-over narration, archival photos and historical footage, and maintains numerous running gags and catchphrases . Ron Howard served as both an executive producer and the omniscient narrator and, in later seasons, appears in the show as a fictionalized version of himself. Set in Newport Beach, California , the series
12648-424: Is revealed that George Michael and Maeby have agreed not to further their relationship, though their feelings are still strong for each other; however, when George Michael is assigned to tutor Maeby in mathematics, he takes the opportunity to try and seduce her, but fails. After Maeby, now desperate for money, tried to kickstart his FakeBlock business, she puts too much pressure on him (since she has lost her own job at
12834-461: Is revealed that he is under the control of his wife, Lucille, and that the CIA have in fact set him up as a "patsy". He escapes to Cabo with Michael and George Michael following the party at the conclusion of season 3. In season 4, George Sr. and Lucille pretend to be separated while he establishes a sham sweat lodge for wealthy CEOs on the border of Mexico, while planning his larger project of building
13020-449: Is revealed that there is a typo on his birth certificate, which reads Nichael Bluth . Michael's wife Tracey died of ovarian cancer two years prior to the first season. Possibly as a result of this, he is very close to his son, George Michael, which is shown partly because, whenever an opportunity to spend more time with his son presents itself to him, he will jump at it (although this time is almost always immediately interrupted). Michael
13206-527: Is sent to a country-club-like prison for women, where her prison identification number is "07734" (which upside down reads "hELLo", a reference to Annyong's real name). The Narrator (voiced by executive producer Ron Howard , who went uncredited in the role for the first three seasons) narrates much of the Bluth family's lives, and often interjects quick explanatory (and sometimes humorous) comments before, after, or while characters speak. He frequently brings up past footage to illustrate his points, and along with
13392-434: Is the father of the teenage jock Steve Holt . Toward the end of season 1, Gob, in a series of escalating dares, marries a woman who deals in trained seals (played by then-real-life wife Amy Poehler ). The two immediately and permanently become estranged from each other and she later becomes infatuated with Tobias Fünke , Gob's brother-in-law, and joins the army in the hopes of avoiding her attraction. A running joke throughout
13578-499: Is the husband of Lindsay , father of Maeby Fünke , and uncle of George Michael Bluth . He was the chief resident of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital until he lost his license for giving CPR to a man who was not actually having a heart attack. At one point, he was licensed as both an analyst and a therapist , supposedly making him the first licensed "analrapist" ( / ə ˈ n æ l r ə p ɪ s t / ə- NAL -rə-pist ), which he later changes to "theralyst". Tobias
13764-547: Is the husband of Lucille Bluth , and father of Gob , Lindsay , Michael , and Buster (and, much later, the adopted Annyong ). George Sr. was born in Cleveland , Ohio. He was the original CEO of the Bluth Company , which he founded; however, after years of " creative accounting " practices, he became the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was imprisoned or in hiding during
13950-446: Is the matriarch of the Bluth family. She is the mother of Gob , Michael , Buster , and the adoptive mother of Lindsay and Hel-loh "Annyong" Bluth , as well as wife to George Sr . Her grandchildren are George Michael Bluth , Maeby Fünke , and Steve Holt (Gob's son), with the former two affectionately calling her "Gangie" / ˈ ɡ æ ŋ ɡ i / . She carries on an affair with George Sr.'s identical twin brother Oscar . Lucille
14136-658: Is the oldest child of George Sr. and Lucille Bluth. By trade a part-time magician , he is a founding member of the "Magicians' Alliance", a group that was formed to preserve magicians' secrets; however, he was later blacklisted by them for revealing such a secret in the pilot episode. He is known for incorporating over-the-top theatrics into his magic shows, including pyrotechnics , dance routines, wind machines, and Europe 's " The Final Countdown ". Gob's illusions (which he adamantly never calls "tricks") rarely work and he often shoots lighter fluid accidentally from his shirt sleeve or collar. George Sr. paid little attention to Gob as
14322-582: Is the son of Michael Bluth . He begins the series as a student at Balboa High School, and works at the family frozen banana stand, where he is "Mister Manager." He is straight-laced, quiet, awkward, and obedient. He is reunited with his cousin Maeby in the first episode, and develops a crush on her after she forcibly kisses him (to teach their parents a lesson for not letting them spend more time together, although it fails because their parents are entirely oblivious to it). His nervousness around Maeby and his wrestling with his sexual emotions for her become one of
14508-516: Is unhappily married to Tobias and together they are the neglectful and self-absorbed parents of Maeby . Lindsay never finished college, believing herself to be a dedicated activist , though she is actually vain, greedy, selfish, and materialistic (much like the rest of her family), mainly supporting current trendy causes for the social status and regularly holding extravagant charity drives that waste more money than they make. These causes have included opposing circumcision , anti-Iraq War protests ,
14694-429: Is very fond of awkwardly rolling or somersaulting into and out of certain situations mainly to show his supposedly catlike agility and balance, though this often backfires. At the beginning of the series, Tobias decides that his destiny is to become an actor, and he pursues this career throughout the series with very little success. Highlights of his "career" include being turned down for the role of " Dr. House "; landing
14880-463: 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, and in the process meets a new love interest, Rita Leeds ( Charlize Theron ). Michael and the audience are led to believe that Rita is
15066-509: The pilot episode was submitted in January 2003 and filmed in March 2003. It was submitted in late April to Fox and was added to the network's fall schedule that May. Alia Shawkat was the first cast in the series. Michael Cera , Tony Hale , and Jessica Walter were cast from video tapes and flown in to audition for Fox. Jason Bateman and Portia de Rossi both read and auditioned for
15252-468: The public school system. She frequently directs her efforts at new ways to shock her woefully neglectful parents, which inadvertently turn her into a rather successful con artist. In one instance, Maeby swindles her peers out of charity money by pretending to be a disabled girl named "Surely" who suffers from a rare, debilitating illness called "B.S." In the third season, Maeby actually prospers professionally despite her academic failures, conning her way into
15438-419: The removal of the 10 Commandments from a courthouse , the right to die (specifically regarding her brother Buster), and awareness about graft-versus-host disease (which her husband was afflicted with due to unnecessary hair transplants). Despite her outward confidence, Lindsay has rather low self-esteem as a result of her mother's constant hints and cruel jokes that she is overweight, which are untrue. Lindsay
15624-401: The "Adam" muscle-suit for the "Living Classics Pageant" mistakenly assuming they have the same phobia (in reality, George Michael is trying to impress his cousin, Maeby ). He conquers this for a time in the middle of Season 1, but after a close-up picture of his genitalia is shown on the evening news (where it has been mistaken for a photo showing evidence of WMDs in Iraq ), he is driven back to
15810-467: The "fixed-set, studio audience , laugh track " style long dominant in comedy production. The show makes heavy use of cutaway gags , supplementing the narrative with visual punchlines like security camera footage, Bluth family photos, website screenshots, archive films, and flashbacks. An omniscient third-person narrator (producer Ron Howard) ties together the multiple plot threads running through each episode, while humorously undercutting and commenting on
15996-517: The "open relationship", and often stalks his wife covered in Blue Man Group blue paint, following her around on her attempted dates hiding in areas that are blue in color in order to remain unseen. Although he continually takes very expensive acting lessons from Carl Weathers , he mainly gets tips on frugality from Mr. Weathers. Lindsay continually pokes fun at Tobias' desperation to become an actor, and they split up and reconcile many times over
16182-434: The 1960s, researchers used "closed marriage" to indicate the practices of communities and cultures where individuals were intended to marry based upon social conventions and proscriptions, and open marriage where individuals had the ability to make their own choice of spouse. Open Marriage: A New Life Style for Couples was a best selling book published by M. Evans & Company in 1972 by Nena O'Neill and George O'Neill. It
16368-512: The 1972 publication of Open Marriage , the popular media expressed a belief that open marriages were on the rise. However, Hunt concluded the incidence of extramarital sex had remained about the same for many years: Among wives under 25, however, there is a very large increase, but even this has only brought the incidence of extramarital behavior for these young women close to—but not yet on par with—the incidence of extramarital behavior among under-25 husbands. (Hunt, 1974, p. 254). Hunt attributed
16554-636: The AIDS scare. The two most frequently mentioned changes were being more selective with whom they swung and practicing safer sex (e.g., using condoms). Almost 7% said they had quit swinging because of the AIDS epidemic. Finally, one third said that they had not changed any of their habits, and, of these respondents, more than a third said nothing, not even AIDS, would get them to change." Several authors considered open marriages to be psychologically damaging. They claimed sexual non-monogamy proves too difficult for most couples to manage, and their relationships suffer as
16740-407: The Bluth ( / b l uː θ / BLOOTH ) and Fünke ( / ˈ f j uː ŋ k eɪ / FYOON -kay ) families. † denotes a deceased character Dashed lines denote adoption Michael Bluth (played by Jason Bateman ) is the second oldest Bluth son and the main protagonist of Arrested Development . He is the father of George Michael Bluth and widower to Tracey Bluth. In season 3, it
16926-534: The Bluth Company board from Michael. She has a tight emotional grip on her youngest son Buster , who, as a result of his mother's dominance and sheltering, is unstable, socially inept, and prone to panic attacks. She frequently insinuates that her daughter Lindsay is fat and lazy, and makes no attempt to hide her dislike for Gob. She repeatedly lies to her children to keep them fighting amongst themselves, fearing they will turn on her if they are getting along. In
17112-432: 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
17298-510: The Bluth family through the ventilation system. George Sr. also faces an onslaught from the outside world; the press begins looking for him in Iraq , fumigators surround the house while he's still in the attic, and Kitty returns to steal a sample of his semen to make her own Bluth baby. Buster meanwhile joins the army, but escapes serving in Iraq when his hand is bitten off by a loose seal (a play on "Lucille") Gob had mistakenly trained to develop
17484-445: The Bluths at all, the two share a passionate kiss (and, it is mentioned, reach "second base" ). In the final episode of the original run, " Development Arrested ", it is confirmed that they are indeed not blood related at all (her mother, Lindsay, was actually adopted), allowing the two to be finally together, but George Michael has second thoughts after Michael explains that despite not being blood relatives, they are still family. Again,
17670-570: The Bluths deserve." In 2012, Entertainment Weekly listed the show at No. 2 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years", praising its "fast, delirious, interlocking jokes that don't pander to the masses; winky gags (e.g. fake preview scenes for the following week's episode); and a cast of absurd characters". In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it No. 16 on their list of the 101 Best Written TV Series. The 2018–2019 revival of
17856-593: 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 Bluth's 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
18042-820: The United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, and the Nordic countries. Several actors who had recurring roles in the original series returned to reprise their roles, including Carl Weathers as himself, Henry Winkler as Barry Zuckerkorn, Ben Stiller as Tony Wonder, Mae Whitman as Ann Veal, Scott Baio as Bob Loblaw, Judy Greer as Kitty Sanchez, and Liza Minnelli as Lucille Austero; while new characters are played by Debra Mooney , John Slattery , Tommy Tune , Terry Crews , Isla Fisher and John Krasinski . Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen appear as Lucille and George Sr., respectively, in flashbacks. All episodes of
18228-499: The United States disapprove of extramarital sex. Similar levels of disapproval are observed in other Western societies. Widmer, Treas, and Newcomb surveyed over 33,500 people in 24 nations and found 85 percent of people believed extramarital sex was "always" or "nearly always" wrong. Much of the disapproval is attributed to "religious and moral reasons." A few studies have shown more direct disapproval of open marriage. In
18414-513: The University of California, Irvine. He works on new software called "FakeBlock", together with his roommate Paul "P-Hound" Huan, which was initially intended to be a wood block app but, through several lies he has told, is now believed to be an anti-piracy and anti-hacking software, or "anti- social media ". George Michael is dismayed when his father moves into his college dorm room with him to attend college, through an online university. It
18600-426: The adulterous Oscar and Lucille by kidnapping Oscar, knocking him unconscious, exchanging appearances with him, and sending him to prison in his place. Lindsay and Tobias continue their disastrous open relationship. Lindsay tries—but fails—to secure a lover, while Tobias paints himself blue each night in a futile attempt to join the Blue Man Group . When Lindsay kicks him out of the house, Tobias disguises himself as
18786-409: The amount of social support available to people in open marriages. In 1983, Blumstein and Schwartz determined that out of 3,498 married men, 903 had an agreement with their spouses allowing extramarital sex; of these, 24 percent (217 men) actually engaged in extramarital sex during the previous year, and overall 6 percent had been actively involved in open marriages during the previous year. The number
18972-532: The attic of the Bluth model home. Early in season 3, after being discovered among the Blue Man Group in Reno, Nevada , he is placed under house arrest . He tells Michael that he has been set up to build homes in Iraq by a group of British contractors operating out of "Wee Britain" in Orange County, California , but ultimately admits that he may be guilty of "light treason." By the end of the series, however, it
19158-462: The book describes approaches to revitalizing marriage in areas of trust, role flexibility, communication, identity, and equality. Chapter 16, entitled "Love Without Jealousy", devoted 20 pages to the proposition that an open marriage might possibly include some forms of sexuality with other partners. Fueled by frequent appearances of the O'Neills on television and in magazine articles, the redefinition entered popular consciousness, and open marriage became
19344-415: The cameramen can be excluded from the events of the story at times, in the style of a documentary narrator. The Narrator's personal feelings often inform his narration, for example in the episode " Spring Breakout ", the narrator repeatedly criticizes the narrator of the television show Scandalmakers for having no talent and paying no heed to facts. Likewise, Howard's own career is occasionally referenced. In
19530-432: The campaign as a poster child against wasteful government spending. She later sleeps with Buster in retaliation for photos she finds of Herbert and Lindsay, but then breaks it off with him after Herbert ends his affair and wants to make the marriage work. At Cinco de Cuatro, Buster knocks Herbert unconscious with his prosthetic hand after being told by Perfecto Telles (an anti-bullying squad member defending Maeby) that Herbert
19716-409: The characters. Arrested Development developed self-referentiality through use of in-jokes that evolved over multiple episodes, which rewarded longtime viewership (and in turn may have discouraged new viewers and contributed to the show's ratings difficulties). Because of scheduling conflicts, the fourth season used a different format with longer episodes focusing on one character. The season
19902-462: The company's money for " personal expenses ". His wife Lucille becomes CEO, and immediately names as the new president her extremely sheltered youngest son Buster , who proves ill-equipped, as his only experience with business is a class he took concerning 18th century agrarian business. Furious at being passed over again, Michael secures another job with a rival company and plans on leaving his family behind for good. Realizing that they need Michael,
20088-710: The company. She is caught in the Bluth family yacht 's explosion, as used in one of Gob's magic acts, but survives with a cooler full of damning evidence labeled "H Maddas" . After previous failed attempts, and a brief religious stint in Judaism, George Sr. finally escapes from prison by faking a heart attack. It is also revealed that George Sr. committed "light treason " by using the company to build mini-palaces for Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Because of his father's latest prison break deception (a faked heart attack), Michael decides to leave his family and move to Phoenix, Arizona with George Michael but discovers that he cannot leave
20274-563: The course of the series. As of season 4, Tobias is also a registered sex offender in Orange County, California after inadvertently appearing on "To Entrap a Local Predator", a pedophile sting operation hosted by John Beard, similar to Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator." Eager to see his daughter and remove his rock monster costume, Tobias enters the house and proclaims, "Is there a little girl here all by herself?" and equally incriminating, "Daddy needs to get his rocks off." Tobias drives
20460-533: The creation of the series began in the summer of 2002. Ron Howard had the original idea to create a comedy series in the style of handheld cameras and reality television, but with an elaborate, highly comical script resulting from repeated rewritings and rehearsals. Howard met with David Nevins , the president of Imagine Television , Katie O'Connell, a senior vice president, and two writers, including Mitchell Hurwitz . In light of recent corporate accounting scandals , such as Enron and Adelphia , Hurwitz suggested
20646-436: The cut-offs. Although he is heterosexual , he has said many things that make people question his sexuality. The hints come in the form of subtle innuendos and sexual double-entendres , to which he seems completely oblivious. In season 2, Michael advises him to record what he says for a day, after which Tobias acknowledges that he is a "blowhard" (in " Ready, Aim, Marry Me! "). Lindsay, who married Tobias to spite her parents,
20832-412: The degree of sexual involvement desired and the degree of emotional involvement desired. Presented with the potentiality of non-monogamous intimacy, a given individual might be motivated more either by the desire for multiple sexual partners or a wider erotic experience than offered by monogamy, or by the desire for multiple others with whom to form an emotional or familial bond. Polyamory is motivated by
21018-407: The distinction more along Gould's "utopic swingers" and "recreational swingers".) A polyamorous style of open marriage emphasizes the expansion of loving relationships by developing emotional attachments to extramarital partners. A swinging style of open marriage emphasizes physical gratification by engaging in recreational sex with extramarital partners. The preference for a polyamorous versus
21204-471: The episode and a band called "Motherboy". Open marriage Open marriage is a form of non-monogamy in which the partners of a dyadic marriage agree that each may engage in extramarital sexual or romantic relationships , without this being regarded by them as infidelity , and consider or establish an open relationship despite the implied monogamy of marriage. There are variant forms of open marriage such as swinging and polyamory , each with
21390-651: The family asks him to come back and run the company, which Michael scoffs at until he sees how much the family means to his teenaged son George Michael. To keep the family together, Michael asks his self-centered twin sister Lindsay, her husband Tobias and their daughter Maeby to live together in the Bluth model home with him and George Michael. Throughout the first season, different characters struggle to change their identities. Buster works to escape from his mother's control by bonding with brothers Michael and Gob as well as with love interest Lucille Austero, Lucille Bluth's neighbor and chief social rival. George Michael nurses
21576-477: The film Mrs. Doubtfire , Tobias masquerades as a British housekeeper/nanny named "Mrs. Featherbottom" in an attempt to spend time with his wife and daughter after Lindsay kicks him out of the model house. While the disguise fools no one, the family humors him since this gets the housework done. In season 4, he receives an audition for The Big Bang Theory , but never hears the answering machine message saying so. Tobias suffers from "never-nude" syndrome (which, as
21762-523: The film studio), and his first decision with his new business is to fire her. Meanwhile, P-Hound threatens with taking legal action regarding the ownership of FakeBlock. George Michael, ultimately, under the alias " George Maharis " (also the public name of the man behind FakeBlock) begins a relationship with Rebel Alley, Ron Howard's daughter, only to find out that she is also dating his father. The father and son nearly reconcile when they realize this, but when Michael inadvertently reveals that he had known about
21948-438: The final episode when it is revealed his aunt Lindsay was herself adopted, thus eliminating any blood ties between the two erstwhile cousins. He ultimately decides to escape to Newport by stealing his uncle Gob's boat, feeling he doesn't belong there anymore. Upon learning of Lindsay's origins, he reconciles with his father and finally reveals his feelings for Maeby. Both realizing that further contact with their dysfunctional family
22134-491: The final scene. The season's penultimate episode reveals through a Ron Howard documentary about the Bluth family shown to the court, that Lindsay is in fact Lucille's half sister, being the daughter of Lucille's mother who put her up for adoption. Having previously appeared in Ally McBeal , de Rossi said that she was looking for a new series like it. De Rossi was also attracted to Arrested Development for what she thought
22320-512: The finale, George Sr. reveals that she is the mastermind behind the Bluth Company's illegal actions. At the end of season 3, Lucille makes a run from the SEC on board the Queen Mary , after Annyong turns in evidence against her. The ship consequently capsizes and she is arrested in season 4. Due to negligence or sudden excuses, none of the rest of Lucille's family ends up attending her trial. She
22506-425: The first three seasons of the show. While in prison, George Sr. continues to try to exert control over the company, often using his son Gob to undermine his more competent son Michael's authority. At the end of season 1, George Sr. escapes to Mexico with a briefcase filled with evidence of his dealings with Saddam Hussein in Iraq . In season 2, George Sr. fakes his death in Mexico and returns to America to hide in
22692-427: The first time that he has been killing people as a UAV pilot, he fakes failing his physical therapy, eventually failing the "Q Test" (cute test) in which he proves he is able to control his prosthetic when he delicately holds a kitten. After being discharged from the Army, he meets Herbert Love's wife, Ophelia, who takes pity on him and convinces her husband to let him stay with the family, suggesting he could be useful to
22878-412: The fourth (revival) season of the show, Gob prepares to marry his nephew George Michael's ex-girlfriend, Ann, though he escapes the wedding during a botched magic trick. He then attempts to thwart his long-time magician rival, Tony Wonder, though the two find themselves experiencing surprising romantic feelings for each other and even have a sexual liaison. Gob's character has been well received and Arnett
23064-427: The fourth season received three Emmy nominations, for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series (Jason Bateman), Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) and Outstanding Single-camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series. Other awards include: In November 2003, the producers of the show were sued by the hip hop group Arrested Development over the alleged use of their name. Rapper Speech from
23250-423: The game." The narrator has implied that he knows Maeby from her time as a studio executive. In season 4, Maeby receives a lifetime achievement award at a ceremony called "The Opie Awards", on which the narrator comments that "it's nice to have an award named after you". Ann Paul Veal (primarily played by Mae Whitman ) was the on-again/off-again girlfriend of George-Michael Bluth , even though their relationship
23436-416: The group said "The use of our name by Fox is not only confusing to the public, but also has the potential to significantly dilute what the 'Arrested Development' name means to our fans". The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum. This incident was alluded to in the episode " Motherboy XXX ". The narrator claims the show is "legally required to make a distinction" between the "Motherboy" event happening in
23622-490: The initial 53-episode run for syndication. In a first for its kind, the syndication involved a three-year deal with Microsoft 's nascent internet video streaming service MSN Video (now Bing Video) before the series would go on to cable channel G4 . On October 2, 2011, the cast of Arrested Development reunited for a panel at The New Yorker Festival in New York. At the panel, Hurwitz declared his intention of producing
23808-401: The kids' relationship, most notably by breaking up Ann and George Michael's pre-engagement. Meanwhile, Maeby cons her way into an after school job as a film studio executive. When Maeby's studio remakes "Les Cousins Dangereux", George Michael abandons Ann to pursue his crush on Maeby. Maeby herself realises she has feelings for George Michael in light of his relationship, and the two kiss while
23994-473: The lack of social acceptance, the need to maintain the health of their relationship and avoid neglect, and the need to manage jealous rivalry. Many open couples establish rules that forbid emotional attachment, extramarital children, extramarital sex in the marital bed, extramarital sex with those known to both partners, or extramarital sex without the use of barrier contraception . Some open marriages are one-sided. Some situations giving rise to this are where
24180-565: The last episode of season 3, it is revealed that Lindsay is not actually Michael's twin sister, or even a Bluth at all; she was adopted by the Bluth family to "stick it" to the Bluth family's rivals, the Sitwell family. Had Lindsay been adopted as the daughter of Stan Sitwell , she would have been named Nellie. She also discovers that she is 40 years old, three years older than she had previously believed herself to be. Feeling that her youthful allure has now escaped her, she becomes desperate to marry
24366-420: The last four episodes in a two-hour timeslot—directly opposite the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics . The series finale episode received 3.43 million viewers. Throughout its original run, Arrested Development received critical acclaim. It is widely regarded as one of the defining shows of the 2000s and has been praised by many critics as one of the greatest comedies of all time. In 2007,
24552-522: The least desirable forms of marriage, with 94 percent saying they would never participate in a marriage where the man has a right to sex outside the marriage, and 91 percent saying they would never participate in a marriage where the woman has a right to sex outside the marriage. Studies in the 1970s found that engaging in sex with a greater number of partners increases risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases . These concerns do not apply to open marriage alone, which would affect only 1 to 6 percent of
24738-462: The least you can do is buy it on DVD. You'll love it, and it's such a dense show (in the best sense of the word) that it rewards repeated viewing. Like Scrubs and the British version of The Office , it is the sort of show that truly deserves to be seen uninterrupted, several episodes at a time, for maximum enjoyment. The laughs-per-minute quotient here is insanely high, making it great value as
24924-525: The letter "c". Despite Gob's "womanizing" abilities, he has no real friends; his closest friends are the Hot Cops, a group of gay strippers that Gob once worked with. He uses the Hot Cops in many situations, including a fake drug bust and for fake friends at a bachelor party. He desperately desires to be liked but his habits of treating people poorly and lack of any real self-awareness prevent him from ever forming bonds. He wants to be looked to for decisions but
25110-409: The libidos of partners differ greatly, or illness renders one partner incapable of, or no longer desiring, sex. The couple may remain together while one partner seeks out sexual gratification as he or she sees fit. The difference between these situations and a cheating situation is that both partners in the marriage are aware of, and agree to the arrangement. Extramarital relationships vary in terms of
25296-491: The living room of the model home collapses. 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 previous kiss by avoiding each other. In an attempt to remain in disguise, George Sr. joins
25482-442: The main recurring themes of the show. In the second season, he starts dating a girl named Ann , a devout Christian whom his father and Maeby dislike. Season 2 ends with George Michael and Maeby kissing, to his delight. After the incident, the two try to avoid each other for much of the third season. Later in the season, he and Maeby accidentally get married during what they believed was a fake wedding to cheer up Alzheimer's patients in
25668-463: The married population. A 1985 study found that 33 percent of male swingers and 10 percent of female swingers claimed to actively fear this risk. In a 1992 study, sexually transmitted diseases topped the list of disadvantages of swinging, and 58 percent of swingers expressed some fear of HIV/AIDS. In the 1990s some couples decided to drop out of open marriage lifestyles and become sexually monogamous in response to HIV/AIDS. A 1998 study found that
25854-456: The members of the Bluth family, a formerly wealthy family who continue to lead extravagant lifestyles despite their changed circumstances. At the center of the show is Michael Bluth ( Jason Bateman ), the show's straight man , who strives to do the right thing and keep his family together, despite their materialism, selfishness, and manipulative natures. Michael is a widowed single father. His teenage son, George Michael ( Michael Cera ), has
26040-416: The mistaken impression of increasing open marriages to a barrage of books, articles, and television shows dealing with the topic. He also notes that speculative comments about increases in open marriage would sometimes be repeated often enough that people cited them as evidence. Nearly twenty years later (1993), in a national study of sexual behavior, Janus and Janus likewise denied that open marriages were on
26226-431: The narrator states, is "exactly what it sounds like") and wears denim cut-off shorts under his underwear (and underneath that, a tube sock) at all times in order to avoid anyone (including himself and his wife) seeing his genitalia. The condition is similar to severe gymnophobia , although it is portrayed humorously. In the episode " In God We Trust ", he attempts to reach out to his nephew George Michael during his tenure in
26412-480: The network and were immediately chosen. The character of Gob was the most challenging to cast. When Will Arnett auditioned, he played the character "like a guy who thought of himself as the chosen son, even though it was obvious to everyone else that he was the least favorite"; he was chosen immediately for his portrayal. The characters of Tobias and George Sr. were originally going to have minor roles, but David Cross and Jeffrey Tambor 's portrayals mixed well with
26598-475: The open marriage lifestyle and return to sexual monogamy. These couples may continue to believe open marriage is a valid way of life, just not for them. The extent to which open marriage actually contributes to divorce remains uncertain. Blumstein and Schwartz note a slightly higher risk of divorce among couples who engage in extramarital sex, even if the couples agree to allow extramarital sex. However, Rubin and Adams did not observe any significant difference in
26784-478: The original run of the show, Michael is consistently the de facto president of the Bluth Company after his father's arrest. He is the only main character who appears in every episode of season 4, making him the only character to appear in every episode of the series. Lindsay Bluth-Fünke ( Portia de Rossi ) is the adopted daughter of George Sr. and Lucille Bluth , as well as half-sister of Lucille, who raised her and Michael to believe that they were twins. She
26970-410: The part of "frightened inmate number two" in a prison film, only to get fired for not being able to do the shower scene due to his never-nude condition (see below); portraying George Sr. in the poorly narrated series, Scandalmakers ; and attempting to join the Blue Man Group as a standby understudy and, as a consequence, spending part of the second season covered in blue make-up. In a move inspired by
27156-477: The part. She agreed when Ron Howard asked her himself, because they were old friends; she had been his babysitter when she was a teenager. Arrested Development uses several elements that were rare at the time for American live-action sitcoms. It was shot on location and in HD video (at 24 frames per second) with multiple cameras, parodying tactics often employed in documentary film and reality television, straying from
27342-489: The particular researchers have set their selection criteria. Individuals might claim to have open marriages when their spouses would not agree. Studies and articles that interview individuals without taking their married status into account may not receive accurate information about the actual "open" status of the marriage. Blumstein and Schwartz asked more than 6,000 couples whether or not they had an understanding allowing sex outside their relationship. Interviewed individually,
27528-439: The partners having varying levels of input into their spouse's activities. A general definition of an open marriage is that there is an agreement between the two partners to have some degree of sexual interaction outside the couple. There are variant forms of open marriage, each with the partners having varying levels of input on their spouse's activities. The term open marriage originated in sociology and anthropology. Through
27714-778: The partners in some couples gave very different responses to this question; the respective replies from one married couple were Couples may have an open marriage in principle, but not engage in extramarital sex. Studies that define open marriage by agreement alone will tend to report a higher incidence than studies that define open marriage by agreement and behavior. Spaniel and Cole found that 7 percent of couples would consider participating in an open marriage, but only 1.7 percent of couples reported having open marriages that actually included extramarital sex. Blumstein and Schwartz found that 15 percent of married couples share an agreement that allows extramarital sex, but only about 24 percent of men and 22 percent of women (or 6 percent and 5 percent of
27900-463: The peculiar result of this blending, saying "It just seemed like crazy extra fun to think of weird names. I don't want us to become too self-conscious about it but, yes, we do have some strange names." Incidentally, she is often described as George Michael's "Cousin Maeby", a play on words making reference to the fact that they may not be related. Maeby was initially imagined as a pseudo-conservative, to be
28086-543: The polyamory and swinging communities. Some critics object to open marriages on the ground that open marriages violate religious principles. For example, open marriages contradict traditional Christian doctrine . Open marriages also violate the prohibition against adultery in the Ten Commandments . The definition of sexual immorality in Christianity includes the practices of open marriage and therefore it
28272-543: The primary relationship, interfering with the rival relationship, demanding commitment, and self-assessment. The emotion-focused strategies include: derogation of partner or rival, developing alternatives, denial/avoidance, support/catharsis, and appraisal challenge. These strategies are related to emotion regulation, conflict management, and cognitive change. Couples in open marriages may prefer different kinds of extramarital relationships. Couples who prefer extramarital relationships emphasizing love and emotional involvement have
28458-418: The relationship for a while, George Michael angrily punches his father in the face. Mae "Maeby" Fünke (born September 22, 1990; played by Alia Shawkat ) is the overlooked yet independent, sarcastic, and crafty daughter of Lindsay and Tobias . Maeby attends a progressive school before she and her parents move in with her uncle Michael . Maeby immediately becomes unmotivated and disengaged when she enters
28644-423: 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 represent the family, on the condition that they participate in
28830-497: The rest of his siblings, does not sell the company stocks at Michael's request and fakes a coma so that he wouldn't have to testify against his family. In the second-season premiere, Lucille spontaneously enlists Buster in the United States Army at the urging of a Michael Moore impersonator. Although Buster's training is poor, his possible deployment to Iraq is a recurring fear of his and his mother's. This possibility
29016-414: The rest of the characters, and they were given more significant parts. Howard provided the narration for the initial pilot, and his narrating meshed so well with the tone of the program that the decision was made to keep his voice. Howard aided in the casting of "Lucille 2"; the producers told him that their dream actress for the role was Liza Minnelli but that they assumed no one of her stature would take
29202-423: The rise, and suggested the number of open marriages may have declined: Despite popularization in a book of that title in the early 1970s, open marriage has never become as prevalent as nonconsensual extramarital activities, and its popularity seems to be waning even further today." (Janus & Janus, 1993, p. 197–198). A large amount of media interest can mislead people into thinking the incidence of open marriage
29388-493: The risk of divorce for couples in open marriages and couples in sexually monogamous marriages. A 1981 study concluded that around 80 percent of people in open marriages experienced jealousy over their extramarital relationships. Couples in open marriages experienced as much or more jealousy than people in sexually monogamous marriages. People who experience normal jealousy have at least nine strategies for coping with jealousy. The problem-solving strategies include: improving
29574-423: The risk of sexually transmitted diseases can be greatly reduced by practicing safer sex . However, the percentage of people in open marriages who practice safer sex remained disputed. Anecdotal observations ranged from claiming no one at a swing event practiced safer sex to claiming everyone at an event practiced safer sex. A survey of swingers found that "Over 62% said that they had changed their behaviors because of
29760-539: The same family values and she leaves them both. To spite Buster, Lucille adopts a Korean son whom she calls "Annyong" after she mistakes the Korean word for "hello" as his name. Through an escalating series of dares, Gob marries a woman he just met, played by Will Arnett's then real-life wife Amy Poehler , but cannot get an annulment because he refuses to admit that he did not consummate the marriage. Kitty , George Sr.'s former assistant and mistress, tries to blackmail
29946-471: The same qualities of decency but feels a constant pressure to live up to his father's expectations and is often reluctant to follow his father's plans. He battles with a crush he has on cousin Mae "Maeby" Fünke ( Alia Shawkat ), which developed from a kiss she gave him as part of a prank. Michael's father, George Bluth Sr. ( Jeffrey Tambor ), is the patriarch of the family and a corrupt real estate developer who
30132-507: The scope of this article. Generally, non-monogamous people tend not to be very religious. A 1998 review observed that, across the various studies, most swingers (approximately two-thirds) claimed to have no religious affiliation . Surveys show consistently high disapproval of extramarital sex. Hunt mentions three general-population surveys conducted in the 1960s in which large majorities disapproved of extramarital sex under any conditions. More recent surveys show that 75–85 percent of adults in
30318-472: The season 1 episode " Public Relations ", the publicist Jessie insultingly calls George Michael "Opie" (Howard's character on The Andy Griffith Show ) to which the Narrator responds "Jessie had gone too far, and had best watch her mouth." In the season 3 episode " S.O.B.s ", he begs the audience to "please tell your friends about this show" after George says that begging is "sometimes… the only way to stay in
30504-428: The season 4 revival of the series, Maeby has stayed in high school for five extra years, vowing to continue this routine until her parents finally notice. She begins a relationship with Lucille Austero's adopted son, Perfecto Telles, who she thinks is an undercover cop at the high school but is actually merely a student and whose age is young enough that her sexual relationship with him can be considered statutory rape. She
30690-399: The season in 2018. Netflix confirmed on May 17, 2017, that a fifth season was expected to be released on its service in 2018, with filming taking place from August 2017 to November 2017. Arrested Development was set to be removed from Netflix on March 15, 2023. However, after a last-minute deal, Netflix retained the streaming rights. The plot of Arrested Development revolves around
30876-438: The season occur over approximately the same stretch of time, but each focuses on a different character. Information on events depicted in a given episode is often partial and filled in during a later episode. Creator Mitch Hurwitz created a recut of season four called Arrested Development Season 4 Remix: Fateful Consequences , in which the season's story is presented in chronological order. The recut consists of 22 episodes and
31062-460: The second season at eighteen episodes—four episodes short of the planned season. For the third season, Fox positioned the show on Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Ratings dropped further than previous seasons. On November 9, 2005, Fox announced that the show would not be airing in November sweeps, and that they had cut the episode order for the third season from 22 to 13. Fox ended up showing
31248-473: The series in 2006. In 2011, Netflix licensed new episodes and distributed them on its streaming service. These episodes were released in May 2013. Netflix commissioned a fifth season of Arrested Development , the first half of which premiered in May 2018, and the second half in March 2019. The show was due to be removed from Netflix in March 2023 but will remain on the service until 2026. Discussion that led to
31434-591: The series is that Gob never learns his wife's name. Any time his self-esteem is shattered or challenged, Gob will burst into tears and cry with self-loathing, or take extreme and often self-destructive measures to cease the self-disgust he feels. He recurringly ingests "forget-me-now" pills (i.e. roofies ) in order to forget these emotionally damaging activities. When upset or excited, Gob often fails to use articles or prepositions in his sentences, saying things like "Look at Banner!" and "Still mad me, Michael?" He also sometimes has difficulty pronouncing words that begin with
31620-488: The show was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All- Time ". Tim Stack of Entertainment Weekly praised the series, saying "Is it beating a dead horse to once again state that this underappreciated gem is the best sitcom on TV? Too bad. Arrested Development is the best sitcom on TV!" David Bianculli from the New York Daily News stated "If you're not watching this series on Fox,
31806-481: The show was met with critical disappointment. In 2004, the first season received seven Emmy Award nominations with five wins. It won for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, for the pilot episode written by Mitchell Hurwitz and directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo . Jeffrey Tambor
31992-411: The state due to the Bluth Company being under investigation and him having to go to jail as a replacement for his father. Lucille appoints Gob the new Bluth Company president, but since Gob proves utterly incompetent, the position's real duties revert to Michael. During the rest of the season Gob serves as figurehead president; Michael is still under scrutiny for George Sr.'s illegal activity. George Sr.
32178-785: The sugar in juice and irritable after eating cheese; he also takes frequent naps. He has an unhealthy attachment to his domineering mother Lucille; one of the running gags throughout the series is his quasi-incestuous, Oedipal complex . For her part, Lucille won't let him go in the sun, swim in the ocean, or stand on their balcony in windy weather. George Sr. makes reference to the "claw marks" left on Lucille's womb after she gave birth to Buster. He sometimes tries to assert his independence by defying his mother's orders, as when he dates her rival, Lucille Austero . He has an alienating habit of greeting people with shoulder massages , and commonly addresses his relatives by their relation to him (for example, Gob and Michael are greeted with "Hey, brother" and Oscar
32364-409: 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. Filming for a fourth season to be released on Netflix began on August 7, 2012, more than six years after the series had been canceled by Fox. The season consists of 15 new episodes, all debuting at the same time on Netflix on May 26, 2013, in the United States, Canada,
32550-693: The total, respectively) who had such an agreement actually engaged in extramarital sex during the prior year. Researchers have applied open marriage in overly narrow terms, as when Hunt used it specifically to mean swinging couples who meet with other swinging couples to swap mates. Open marriage is usually defined in terms of legally married, opposite-sex partners, and thus data collected may not generalize to other kinds of open relationships. For example, cohabiting couples tend to show higher levels of involvement in extra-relational intimacy compared to married couples. Gay male couples show very high levels of open relationships compared to straight couples. There
32736-488: The two anguish over their doomed relationship. In the end, Maeby pitches her life story as an idea for a television show to producer Ron Howard (who is also the narrator of the series). Howard tells her that her story may be better as a movie. Maeby's knack for unwittingly stumbling into potentially incestuous situations is a running joke throughout the series. In the second season, she sings an unintentionally provocative duet with her uncle Michael and kisses George Michael in
32922-518: The wealthy Bluth family, is the founder and former CEO of the successful Bluth Company which markets and builds mini-mansions among many other activities. His son Michael serves as manager of the company, and, after being passed over for a promotion, decides to leave both the company and his family. Just as he makes this decision, however, George Sr. is arrested by the Securities and Exchange Commission for defrauding investors and gross spending of
33108-463: Was a "fresh new perspective on comedy." She played Lindsay as someone who "doesn't have much of a clue but... has a pretty good heart." She explained her approach by saying that, "with Ally McBeal , we were very rehearsed and staged. But this is a lot looser." Hurwitz felt that de Rossi made the character somewhat similar to Lucille. George Oscar "Gob" Bluth II (known by his initials " G.O.B. ", / dʒ oʊ b / JOHB ; played by Will Arnett )
33294-561: Was filmed primarily in Culver City and Marina del Rey . Arrested Development received critical acclaim. It won six Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award , and attracted a cult following . It has been widely regarded as one of the greatest TV shows of all time. It influenced later single-camera comedy series such as 30 Rock and Community . Despite the positive critical response, Arrested Development received low ratings and viewership on Fox, which canceled
33480-432: Was later re-edited to be more in line with the format of the other seasons. During the series' third season in 2006, despite months-long rumors of Arrested Development having been picked up by the cable television network Showtime , creator Hurwitz declined to move the show to another network. Hurwitz said, "I had taken it as far as I felt I could as a series. I told the story I wanted to tell, and we were getting to
33666-533: Was little more than his means of distracting himself from Maeby. Her first appearance was in the episode " Let 'Em Eat Cake ", where she was played by Alessandra Torresani . In every subsequent appearance, she was portrayed by Mae Whitman. She comes from an extremely religious family, and her father (played by Alan Tudyk ) is a pastor. In " Meat the Veals ", Ann's mother (played by Ione Skye ) kisses Michael, which she believes to be making love to him. The kiss leads to
33852-591: Was nominated for a number of awards for his performance as Gob including the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2006 as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (shared with the entire cast). George Michael Bluth (also known as George-Michael Bluth during the fourth season) (born March 3, 1990; played by Michael Cera and in flashback sequences by Christian Lavery)
34038-478: Was nominated that year for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. In 2005, the second season received eleven Emmy nominations in seven categories with one win. Notable nominations included Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Jason Bateman), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Jeffrey Tambor), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Jessica Walter) as well as three nominations for Outstanding Writing for
34224-554: Was on the New York Times Best Seller list for 40 weeks. It has been translated into 14 languages and has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide according to the publisher. The book changed the meaning of the term. The O'Neills describe open marriage as a relationship in which each partner has room for personal growth and can individually develop outside friendships, rather than focus obsessively on their couplehood and their family unit (being "closed"). Most of
34410-455: Was released May 3, 2018, on Netflix. The fifth season revolves around the mystery of who killed Lucille Austero with the lead suspect being Buster. Netflix confirmed on May 17, 2017, that a fifth season featuring the full cast had been ordered. The fifth season includes 16 episodes; the first eight were released on May 29, 2018, and the remaining eight episodes premiered on March 15, 2019. The show, while critically acclaimed, did not gain
34596-428: Was unavailable for filming; however, Tobias can still be seen in the film as one of the alien Collector 's specimens, played instead by an uncredited extra covered in blue paint. George Oscar Bluth Sr. (born August 5, 1947; portrayed by Jeffrey Tambor and in flashback sequences during season four by Seth Rogen , and in flashback sequences during season five by Taran Killam ), called "Pop-Pop" by his grandchildren,
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