The bestArrested Developmentepisodes offer some of the best comedy episodes ever aired on television. The first three seasons of the show were comic gold despite the low ratings and the network canceling it for those reasons. However, the series had legs, and as more people discovered it, Netflix brought it back to life for more seasons, allowing it to finish its run with five seasons, although the best of the best were the original three.
The series followed theBluth family following the father’s arrest and imprisonment for corporate crimes. While son Michael (Jason Bateman) tries to keep the family’s dwindling finances under control, the rest of the family keeps trying to live an extravagant lifestyle. This causes several great comedic moments, and the fantastic cast is always at the top of their game when delivering gags, personal moments, andplenty of awkward family dysfunction,bringing it six Primetime Emmy wins.
10“S.O.B.s”
Season 3, Episode 9
TheArrested Developmentepisode “S.O.B.s” arrived late in the third season, and theshowrunners knew that things were probably going to endfor them. This means they began to set up the finale and were on their way there with this outing. This means that they had nothing to lose. If the network planned to cancel them,they likely figured it was time to make something completely off the wall, so they decided to release a meta-themed episode.
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This episode was titled “S.O.B.s,” which stood for “Save the Bluths.” The family organizes a fundraiser to help make money to sustain their extravagant lifestyles after the Home Owners Association turns them down. The episode took the idea that the show was ending, and created an episode to rally their fans behind them, while also making fun of other canceled TV shows. This showed that even at the end of its initial run,Arrested Developmentwas still at the top of its game.
9"Afternoon Delight"
Season 2, Episode 6
“Afternoon Delight” is theArrested DevelopmentChristmas special.The story takes place around the Bluth’s annual Christmas party. At this time, Gob was named the new company president, and he was happy to have his employees toast him, but that never happened. This episode shows Gob’s arrogance and oblivious nature, and he talks himself up so much that most of the staff laughs at him, which causes a mass firing at Christmas.
This was anArrested Developmentepisode that hit on almost every joke.
Honestly, there is a lot to love in this episode, as every family member gets a fun holiday moment, with Lucille at the top of the list. When Oscar gives her cannabis brownies, she ends up driving over the Banana Stand. Add in George Michael and Maeby singing the song the episode was named after, but not aware of what the lyrics really mean, and this was anArrested Developmentepisode that hit on almost every joke.
8"Justice Is Blind"
Season 1, Episode 18
Julia Louise Dreyfuss plays Maggie, the lawyer who is prosecuting his father. However, Maggie has a secret she is hiding. Maggie is “blind,” but when Tobias breaks into her house at his dad’s request to steal evidence, he learns a shocking secret.Maggie isn’t blind at all and she is only faking it. However, her seeing-eye dog is blind.This is the type of off-kilter humor that the show is known for, and the physical humor on display in this episode adds even more value.
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When Maggie was kicked off the case after a mishap in court, she finally admitted that she would reveal she could see again (she ended up saying a Bible hit her in the face). The entire complicated relationship between Michael and Maggie was hilarious and Louise-Dreyfus remains one of the show’s best guest stars, with this episode being her shining moment.
7"The One Where Michael Leaves"
Season 2, Episode 1
The season 2 premiere ofArrested Developmentis “The One Where Michael Leaves,” an episode whose title humorously spoofsFriendsepisode titles. In this premiere episode,Michael wants to leave his family and move to Phoenixwith his son. His entire goal is to escape his toxic family, but humorously, he has to remind them he is leaving since they are so self-absorbed with themselves. It also doesn’t help that George Michael doesn’t want to leave.
There are a lot of great jokes in this episode, including some highlight moments by Tobias (“I just blue myself” in reference to him painting himself like the Blue Man Group). This is also the episode where Gob becomes president of the family company, Lucille signs up Buster to join the Army, and that itself starts a storyline involving Saddam Hussein, of all people. This was a greatArrested Developmentepisode for people who wanted to ensure the second season wouldn’t miss a beat.
6“!Amigos¡”
Season 2, Episode 3
The second season episode,“!Amigos¡” is a road trip episode, which allows the Bluth family to become a fish out of water, which for the more self-absorbed family members, is a shocking development. They head out on a road trip to find their father, George Sr., who has escaped from prison and is on the run. Gob, Michael, George Michael, Maeby, Ann, and Lindsay travel to Mexico, assuming that is where he went.
What really makes this episode great is that none of them care if they find George Sr.
They also bring a private investigator, Ice, with them along with Ann for what might be one of the most uncomfortable road trips in television history. What really makes this episode great is that none of them care if they find George Sr., and they have very different reasons for going. Gob is lonely and wants to hang out with anyone, Michael wants to spend time with George Michael, who is more interested in Ann, and Maeby is tired of their mom and just wants to get away – no matter where that leads them.
5"Righteous Brothers"
Season 2, Episode 18
As the title suggests, theArrested Developmentepisode, “Righteous Brothers,” is about the sibling rivalry between Gob and Michael. This is the season 2 finale, and the brothers get into some serious legal trouble, but things get even more bizarre whenMichael lies about listening to a CD that Gob made for him with his puppet character Frankin(who is very racially insensitive and very offensive). That CD offers so much comedic value from the reactions to it all.
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There is also a secondary plot that follows the forbidden romance between George Michael and Maeby thanks to their family connection. The model home also sunk into the ground, leaving the family with nowhere to live. This episode was highly regarded, and it even won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, one of six Emmy wins that the series received over its five-season run.
4"Good Grief!"
Season 2, Episode 4
This episode offers up some great humor based on a misunderstanding as theentire family believes that George Sr. has died. With them thinking he has passed, they all start to prepare for a wake in his memory. However, the comedy here is that he hasn’t died, and he is alive and well, but hiding out. It is George Michael who finds him and helps hide him out in the family’s home’s attic.
There are so many great moments in this episode, led by Gob going all out on his magic tricks at the wake, where he brings in a “magic coffin” but also tries to hide the fact that their dad has died from his assistant Buster. There are also some great written lines, and nothing tops the confusion for Michael when his son tells him he has “Pop-Pop in the attic,” which he takes to mean something very different from the actual literal meaning.
3“Development Arrested”
Season 3, Episode 13
This is the season 3 finale ofArrested Development, and for a long time, it was the end of the series before the Netflix renewal. The showrunners knew the cancelation was possible, so they created an episode that could play as the series finale if that happened, and that made this an episode fans couldn’t miss.The series paid homage to the pilot, which saw George Sr. arrested at a boat party.
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Here, the Bluth family was back at a boar party again to honor Michael’s promotion to company president after the cast against George Sr. was dropped. What really makes the episode funny is that it drops several major revelations about important characters, but does it in a way where they seem like no big deal. That nonchalant attitude to the drama is what makesArrested Developmentso beloved, and this episode masterfully plays with the form to perfection. Also, this is the episode where narrator Ron Howard is finally shown.
2"Meet The Veals"
Season 2, Episode 16
Alan Tudyk (Resident Alien)and Ione Skye (Say Anything…) guest star in theArrested Developmentepisode “Meat the Veals.” They are Ann’s Conservative Christian parents, and Michael sets up a chance for them to meet the Bluths. However, his entire plan was backhanded sincehe wants to sabotage George Michael’s relationship with Ann,and he wants his chaotic family to offend the Veals to help ruin the entire relationship.
Nothing ever works out right for Michael, and his family is on their best behavior for a change and Mrs. Veal even develops feelings for Michael. What really tops things off and makes this a can’t-miss episode are two fights that happen at the church, one between Mr. Veal and Michael over Mrs. Veal and the other between twins Oscar and George Sr. Seeing the high-energy Bluth’s contrast with the even-keeled Veals was perfection.
1"Pier Pressure"
Season 1, Episode 10
Season 1’s “Pier Pressure” is the perfectArrested Developmentepisode when it comes to showing how messed up the Bluth family is thanks to George St.’s arrest. In this installment, Michael learns that George Michael tried to buy drugs from someone, so he decides he needs to teach him a lesson. However, if this episode proves anything, it is that Michael is as bad of a dad as his own father was because he has no idea what he is doing.
Michael and Gob hire a group of male strippers called the Hot Cops to dress up like drug dealers and cops to scare George Michael straight. The episode doesn’t stop there, as George St. hires the one-armed man, J. Walter Weatherman (Steve Ryan), to teach Michael a lesson for what he did to his son. There is so much trauma these characters encounter in this episode, and that makes it a perfectArrested Developmentstory.
Arrested Development
Cast
Arrested Development, a television series premiered in 2003, follows the dysfunctional Bluth family who are coping with the loss of their fortune. Central to the narrative is Michael Bluth, the diligent son attempting to stabilize the family amidst their eccentricities and financial turmoil.
