During high school, I’d often come home to see my dad sitting in front of the TV after a hard day’s work. He was always in charge of dinner, so food would be ready on the stove while he was half passed out from the effort. There were either two things playing: “South Park” or “Seinfeld.” Usually “South Park.” To humor my dad, I would sit beside him and watch with him, regardless of how much I really hated “South Park.”
Once while watching that terrible cartoon, I turned to my dad and asked if this was his favorite show. I had seen Erik Cartman’s stupid face so often on screen that I had just assumed my father had an inherently terrible taste in media. But instead of naming either of his usual two programs, he surprised me by laughing and shaking his head. He looked at me and named a show I’d never heard of: “Arrested Development.” Out of sheer desperation to stop watching “South Park,” I grabbed the remote and changed the channel. I put my head on his shoulder while the intro theme rang out in front of us.
Within the first 20 minutes of the pilot, I was captivated. The show has a shockingly simple premise that takes the plot a long way. The Bluths are a family with immense wealth at risk of losing their status and riches when the family patriarch, George (Jeffery Tambor, “Star vs. the Forces of Evil”), is thrown in jail for embezzlement. It’s up to Michael (Jason Bateman, “Zootopia+”), the only sane person in the family, to keep the Bluths afloat while juggling his money-hungry siblings.
The audience is treated to an entourage of lunatics (family members) that continuously ruin Michael’s life. His three selfish siblings, Gob (Will Arnett, “Super Team Canada”); Buster (Tony Hale, “The Decameron”); and Lindsay (Portia de Rossi, “Scandal”), along with her husband Tobias (David Cross, “The Umbrella Academy”), fight for Michael’s attention and wallet throughout the seasons. Meanwhile, as Michael tries to get his father out of jail, his controlling and pseudo-alcoholic mother Lucille (Jessica Walter, “American Housewife”) finds ways to disrupt his efforts further.
Although they are all unlikeable and often headbashingly stupid, the family is somehow the beating heart of the show that keeps me coming back for more.
The show’s humor is quick and sharp in a way that outpaced other sitcoms at the time, with running jokes across seasons instead of episodes. Each scene feels packed to the brim with snarky replies and witty quips, often coupled with double-entendres that take a moment to settle. Its aural humor is elevated with music cues or soundbites to enhance punchlines.
“Arrested Development” also takes interesting risks by doubling down on absurd subplots, like Buster’s hand getting eaten by a seal or Tobias’ obsession with the Blue Man Group. Many times, I assumed these would be one-off gags that would disappear by the end of the episode — but no, Buster’s hand is forever replaced by a hook and Tobias continues to paint himself blue head-to-toe until he gets a cease and desist letter from the Blue Men.
My dad spent the next month introducing me to the show episode-by-episode until we finished the original run of the series. I’d often rotate between favorite characters, going from Tobias to Gob to Michael at the drop of a hat. The more we watched, the more we argued over which were the best episodes (his being Season 1, Episode 3: “Bringing Up Buster” and mine being Season 2, Episode 4: “Good Grief!”) and our favorite bits (We both agreed on Luchas de Muchachos).
When the show abruptly ended with a shortened third season, I was a bit devastated. Although the show handled its cancellation well and wrapped up what it could, I felt a banana-stand-shaped hole in my heart by the time the credits rolled in.
That’s when my dad took the remote and started the show over. This was after dinner, as always, sitting on the old leather couch, our stomachs full with food and laughter. I snorted at his insistence to rewatch so soon, but he assured me a second viewing was essential. I shrugged and watched the very first intro theme once more like I had a month ago; who was I to deny my old man?
So we watched “Arrested Development” again. After the fourth or fifth episode, the reason a rewatch was crucial became abundantly clear to me. Somehow, the show became even funnier. All of a sudden, I was hit with gags and running jokes that I completely missed the first time around.
On my second viewing, I couldn’t believe just how much foreshadowing there was toward Buster losing his hand. Small lines that felt inconsequential at the time suddenly had huge implications, like when Buster says “I never thought I’d miss a hand this much!” in regards to a hand-shaped chair he used to own. I reached the end of my limit when Gob releases a previously captive seal into the ocean — the very same seal that bites Buster’s hand off — and proclaims, “You’re not going to be hand-fed anymore!” I was stunned into laughter.
There were so many blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments that flew under my radar the first watch that I felt a pang of shock when I finally noticed them. Small characters keep popping up in unexpected places, seemingly throw-away lines keep getting repeated, nearly unnoticeable gags keep appearing in the background. There were countless times where I was astounded by a new joke, thinking, “How did I miss this?”
The worst instance was an innocuous scene with Buster sitting on a park bench. My dad stared at me intently, and when the scene ended, he asked me if I noticed “it.” Noticed what? My dad groaned, grabbed the remote, rewound and paused. I still didn’t see it. My dad had to get up from his chair and point it out to me. Buster was sitting on a bench with an advertisement for the “Army Offices” behind him. The manner in which he was sitting obscured everything except for “ARM OFF.” I groaned in my hands.
These small moments proved to me that rewatching “Arrested Development” is like watching a new show. Its uniquely intricate comedy lends itself perfectly to a second binge. It’s one of those rare shows that just gets better and better on every rewatch and rewards keen-eyed viewers.
Throughout all our rewatches (yes, plural), the show has changed the way my dad and I talk to each other. Now, as we walk the dogs, make dinner or just exist around the house together, we often quote the stupid running gags. If we ever get into a small argument, there’s a chance I might crane my head down, curl my fists and start mumbling the sad “Peanuts” song, Charlie Brown style. Sometimes we’ll even sneak up on each other and make our best Gob impressions.
As a junior in college, I can say I’ve seen “Arrested Development” maybe ten times over at this point. I put it on in airplanes, at night when I can’t sleep and, of course, when I come home from school with my dad. But I can honestly say there will always be something new for me on each rewatch — and I already know what jokes my dad and I will quote together.
Daily Arts Writer Ana Torresarpi can be reached at atorressa@umich.edu.
