Arrested Development: Season 1, Episode 1: "Pilot"

Arrested Development: Season 1, Episode 1: "Pilot" 

November 2, 2003


Arrested Development is a sitcom that shouldn’t work, but somehow it all does. Creator Mitchell Hurwitz took the basic plot line of a dysfunctional family, added elements from Wes Anderson movies, nonstop references taken from shows like The Simpsons, a great cast, nonstop insanity, and it was all put in the blender and Hurwitz smoothly blended these elements until they came out in the form of this show, Arrested Development. Based on this episode, I really liked what I saw. It’s not overly funny, but it has a lot of heart and the interactions between the cast members are golden. Without further ado, let’s meet the Bluth family:



George Bluth Sr.(Jeffrey Tambor): The patriarch of the Bluth family who took a frozen banana stand and turned it into a business empire.



Lucille Bluth: (Jessica Walter): The wife of George Bluth known for her constant squealing on inconsequential things and seemingly has no love for her children.



GOB Bluth (Will Arnett): The eldest son who aspires to be a magician…..but he lacks the skills to be a magician and despises everyone who says his magic is horrible



Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman): The only “good” son. He tries to keep his family out of trouble and does everything asked of him in hope of running the company. He also lives in the attic of his family’s model house (one of the show’s better running gags.)



George-Michael Bluth (Michael Cera): Michael’s son who wants to do right by his father. Problem is, they seem to have many miscommunication issues.



Lindsay Bluth (Portia De Rossi): Lindsay is Michael’s sister, but she acts like her mother in every way considering she is often self-centered and materialistic. She thinks she is doing good for the world by taking part of charitable causes (when in fact, they are not.)



Buster Bluth: (Tony Hale): The youngest son of George Sr, and the only one Lucille has a keen interest of. In fact, Lucille has so much of an interest in him that he lacks the smarts and the social skills of other men his age.



Finally, two other important characters are Tobias Funke (David Cross) who is the dim-witted and rather flamboyant husband of Lindsay, and Maeby Funke (Alia Shawkat) who is Lindsay and Tobias’s daughter.



The characters I listed above are the people that comprise of the dysfunctional Bluth family. In this extended pilot directed by Anthony and Joe Russo (later known for their work with Marvel), George Sr. is on the cusp of retirement and it is known he will name his successor at the retirement party on the family’s yacht. Much to Michael’s surprise, he names Lucille as his successor. After she was named, the SEC boards the boat and arrests George Sr. Michael investigates and realizes that his family problems goes beyond than what he originally thought, especially considering George Sr. actually likes it in jail.



This episode was highly entertaining and addictive. Hurwitz’s show shouldn’t really work, but somehow he made it work. It is sad the ratings were never really that high, because this show is high quality work. The cast really makes it work, and every performance deserves praise. The writers deserve a lot of credit being able to cram what they need to put in each episode in that tight half-hour time slot. I really love these manic lines because everything seems so quotable. Also, Ron Howard makes a very fine narrator! After viewing this pilot, I am ready to further see what adventures the Bluth family have in store for us.



My Grade: A-

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