Although the last couple of seasons on Netflix let it down, Arrested Development remains one of the smartest TV comedies to ever hit the air. It has a Simpsons-level gag rate, with a whip-smart command of pop culture references and an unwavering commitment to maintaining and continually evolving running jokes.
This show has some of the best writing in the history of television. Each episode is filled with interweaving storylines, moves along at a brisk pace, and has jokes layered on top of jokes layered on top of jokes. So, here are the 10 smartest jokes from Arrested Development, ranked.
“HERE COMES JOHN WAYNE.”
When Michael refuses to cry over the supposed death of George, Sr., Tobias notices that he’s exhibiting the masculine trait of bottling up his emotions, so he says, “Here he comes. Here comes John Wayne.” Then, he breaks into an impression of the Duke: “I’m not gonna cry about my pa. I’m gonna build me an airport, put my name on it.” Then, he loops it back around to psychoanalysis: “Why, Michael? So you can fly away from your feelings?”
There are really three jokes here: Tobias uses John Wayne as a symbol of masculine traits; then, he reveals that all he knows about John Wayne is that he has an airport named after him in Orange County; and then, he commits to the airport imagery to therapize Michael.
“YOU’RE A REGULAR BRAD GARRETT.”
When Michael thinks his dad is lying to him about sending a British guy to intimidate him, he tells George, Sr., “You’re a regular Brad Garrett.”
This is a reference to the fact that Brad Garrett (Robert Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond) had just won an Emmy over Jeffrey Tambor (George, Sr.).
LARRY THOMAS PLAYING A SADDAM IMPERSONATOR
When Michael confronts George, Sr. over a photograph of him shaking hands with ruthless dictator Saddam Hussein, George, Sr.’s excuse is that he didn’t realize it was Hussein, and he thought it was the actor who played the Soup Nazi in the classic Seinfeld episode of the same name.
In the penultimate episode of the third season — which, back then, was expected to be the show’s last — one of the Saddam Hussein impersonators that the Bluth brothers meet in Iraq is played by Larry Thomas, the actual actor who played the Soup Nazi.
“MOTHERBOY WAS ALSO A HEAVY METAL BAND…”
When Michael and Buster arrive at Motherboy, and they’re told it’s the mother-son event and not the band, the narrator says, “Motherboy was also a heavy metal band. We are legally obligated to make the distinction.” This is a meta nod to the fact that the band Arrested Development sued the producers of the show for trademark infringement.
The show took plenty of jabs at this controversy, like featuring a newspaper headline that reads, “Musician sues restaurant over use of name,” in the corner of a completely separate newspaper gag. This show was seriously ahead of its time: that kind of attention to detail is ideal in the streaming age of binge-watching seasons of TV shows you’ve already seen — it’s always a treat to pick up on jokes you missed the first time in repeat viewings.
“THIS ROOM, OR SOMEONE IN IT, MIGHT BE WIRED WITH A LISTENING DEVICE.”
Meeting with the Bluth family in their conference room, Bob Loblaw says, “I think you might have a spy. This room, or someone in it, might be wired with a listening device.” And then, in a very brief wide shot, a boom mic can be seen peeking into the frame.
“WELL, IF SHE’S NOT GOING TO SAY ANYTHING, I CERTAINLY CAN’T HELP HER.”
The writers of Arrested Development used Tobias’ background in psychiatry to tell jokes about psychoanalysis. Tobias often exhibits psychoanalytical concepts right after explaining them. In one episode, he tells Lucille, “You know, mother Lucille, there’s a psychological concept known as denial that I believe you’re evincing. It’s when a thought is so hateful that the mind literally rejects it.”
Then, Lucille incisively tells him, “You are a worse psychiatrist than you are a son-in-law, and you will never get work as an actor because you have no talent.” Tobias replies, “Well, if she’s not going to say anything, I certainly can’t help her,” before storming out of the room.
BARRY JUMPS THE SHARK
The term “jumping the shark” refers to a TV show going on so long that its storylines become ridiculous. It comes from a Happy Days episode in which Fonzie, played by Henry Winkler, jumped over a shark on water skis.
In an episode of Arrested Development, the family lawyer, Barry, also played by Winkler, comes down to the pier to check out a shark that might’ve eaten Buster’s hand. When he leaves, he jumps over the shark.
“IT’S A WONDERFUL RESTAURANT!”
Audiences are smart. They can see product placement from a mile away, be it Audis in the MCU or Bud Light in the Transformers franchise. Today’s viewers have figured out all the tricks, so Arrested Development did a painfully self-aware satire of this kind of product placement. Carl Weathers meets with Tobias at Burger King because he’s working on a TV project and he wants to “get some money in exchange for setting a scene here at Burger King.”
Tobias pricelessly replies, “Well, as long as you don’t draw attention to it.” Carl slips Burger King’s free refills policy into the conversation in a really on-the-nose way, and Tobias caps off the scene with the perfect punchline: “It’s a wonderful restaurant!”
“THOSE HOLLYWOOD SHOWS ARE SO INCREDIBLY DETAILED.”
In one episode, Tobias comes into the kitchen and tells Michael about set-dressing. He says, “Those Hollywood shows are so incredibly detailed,” and a second later, he opens one of the cabinets and it’s empty aside from one crew member’s coffee cup.
ALL THE FORESHADOWING OF BUSTER LOSING A HAND
Arrested Development foreshadowed Buster having his hand bitten off by a “loose seal” to an absurd extent. When he finds his missing hand-shaped chair, he says, “Wow, I never thought I’d miss a hand so much.”
When he sits on a bus bench, he covers half of the words on the bench ad to make it read, “ARM OFF.” When George, Sr. worries he might lose Buster, he says, “What if I never get a chance to reach out and touch that hand of his again?”
