List of Arrested Development characters
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Arrested Development is an American television sitcom that originally aired on the Fox network from November 2, 2003 - February 10, 2006. A fourth season of 15 episodes was released on Netflix on May 26, 2013. Created by Mitchell Hurwitz, the show centers the Bluth family. The Bluths are formerly wealthy and a habitually dysfunctional family. It 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 the Bluth (/bluːθ/ BLOOTH) and Fünke (/ˈfjuːŋkeɪ/ FYOON-kay) families.
Bluth family tree
George Oscar Bluth Sr. | Lucille Bluth | Oscar George Bluth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gob's wife | George Oscar "Gob" Bluth II | Eve Holt | Michael Bluth | Tracey Bluth† | Lindsay Bluth Fünke | Tobias Onyango Fünke | Byron "Buster" Bluth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Steve Holt | George Michael Bluth | Mae "Maeby" Fünke | Murphy Brown Fünke | Hel-Loh "Annyong" Bluth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† denotes a deceased character
Dashed lines denote adoption
Cast table
Character | Portrayed by | Season | ||||||
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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Main characters | ||||||||
Michael Bluth | Jason Bateman | Main | ||||||
Lindsay Bluth-Fünke | Portia de Rossi | Main | ||||||
Gob Bluth | Will Arnett | Main | ||||||
George Michael Bluth | Michael Cera | Main | ||||||
Maeby Fünke | Alia Shawkat | Main | ||||||
Buster Bluth | Tony Hale | Main | ||||||
Tobias Fünke | David Cross | Main | ||||||
George Bluth Sr. | Jeffrey Tambor | Main | ||||||
Lucille Bluth | Jessica Walter | Main | ||||||
Narrator | Ron Howard | Main[a] | ||||||
Supporting characters | ||||||||
Oscar Bluth | Jeffrey Tambor | Recurring | ||||||
Lucille Austero | Liza Minnelli | Recurring | Recurring | |||||
Barry Zuckerkorn | Henry Winkler | Recurring | Guest | Recurring | ||||
Kitty Sanchez | Judy Greer | Recurring | Guest | Recurring | ||||
Steve Holt | Justin Grant Wade | Recurring | ||||||
Lupe | BW Gonzalez | Recurring | Guest | |||||
Annyong Bluth | Justin Lee | Recurring | Guest | |||||
Carl Weathers | Himself | Recurring | Guest | Guest | ||||
Maggie Lizer | Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Recurring | ||||||
Stefan Gentles | James Lipton | Recurring | Guest | |||||
G.O.B.'s Wife | Amy Poehler | Recurring | Guest | |||||
Marta Estrella | Patricia Velasquez[b]
|
Recurring | ||||||
Cindi Lightballoon | Jane Lynch | Recurring | ||||||
John Beard | Himself | Recurring | ||||||
Ann Veal | Mae Whitman[c] | Guest | Recurring | |||||
Wayne Jarvis | John Michael Higgins | Guest | Recurring | |||||
Dr. Fishman | Ian Roberts | Guest | Recurring | Guest | ||||
Stan Sitwell | Ed Begley Jr. | Recurring | Guest | Recurring | ||||
Sally Sitwell | Christine Taylor | Recurring | Recurring | |||||
Mort Meyers | Jeff Garlin | Recurring | ||||||
Starla | Mo Collins | Recurring | ||||||
Tony Wonder | Ben Stiller | Guest | Recurring | |||||
Gene Parmesan | Martin Mull | Guest | Recurring | |||||
Terry Veal | Alan Tudyk | Guest | Recurring | |||||
Andy, Donnie, Emmett and Rocky Richter | Andy Richter | Guest | Recurring | |||||
Rita Leeds | Charlize Theron | Recurring | ||||||
Larry Middleman | Bob Einstein | Recurring | ||||||
Bob Loblaw | Scott Baio | Recurring | Guest | |||||
Ron Howard | Himself | Guest | Recurring | Guest | ||||
DeBrie Bardeaux | Maria Bamford | Recurring | ||||||
Rebel Alley | Isla Fisher | Recurring | ||||||
Herbert Love | Terry Crews | Recurring | ||||||
Marky Bark | Chris Diamantopoulos | Recurring | ||||||
Argyle Austero | Tommy Tune | Recurring | Guest | |||||
Paul "P-Hound" Huan | Richard Jin Namjung | Recurring | ||||||
Mark Cherry | Daniel Amerman | Recurring | ||||||
Murphy Brown Fünke | Kyle Mooney | Recurring | ||||||
Lottie Dottie Da | Frances Conroy | Recurring | ||||||
Dusty Radler | Dermot Mulroney | Recurring |
- ^ Howard is uncredited for all narration. He is, however, credited for the episodes in series 4 and 5 in which he appears as a fictionalized version of himself. For these appearances he is credited as a guest star.
- ^ Marta is portrayed by Leonor Varela in her first two appearances.
- ^ In the season 1 finale, Ann is portrayed by Alessandra Torresani.
Primary characters
Michael Bluth
Michael Bluth (played by
Lindsay Bluth-Fünke
Lindsay Bluth-Fünke (
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, 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 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 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
Creator
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 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.[2] De Rossi was also attracted to Arrested Development for what she thought was a "fresh new perspective on comedy."[3] She played Lindsay as someone who "doesn't have much of a clue but... has a pretty good heart."[1] She explained her approach by saying that, "with Ally McBeal, we were very rehearsed and staged. But this is a lot looser."[4] Hurwitz felt that de Rossi made the character somewhat similar to Lucille.[1]
Gob Bluth
George Oscar "Gob" Bluth II (known by his initials "G.O.B.", /dʒoʊb/ JOHB; played by Will Arnett) is the oldest child of George Sr. and Lucille Bluth.
By trade a part-time
George Sr. paid little attention to Gob as 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 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 is the father of the teenage jock
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.
He is also the original creator and inspiration for the
Gob's character has been well received and Arnett 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
George Michael Bluth (also known as George-Michael Bluth during season four) (born Michael Cera and in flashback sequences by Christian Lavery) 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.[citation needed]
March 3, 1990 ; played byHe is reunited with his cousin
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 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 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.[episode needed]
In season 4, George Michael is now in his early twenties and in college at 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 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 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 the relationship for a while, George Michael angrily punches his father in the face.
Maeby Fünke
Mae "Maeby" Fünke (born
September 22, 1990 ; played byMany 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 a "fake" wedding ceremony to entertain Alzheimer's patients goes wrong. On her marriage certificate, her birthday is stated to be
September 22, 1990 . 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 the Bluths at all, the two share a passionate kiss (and, it is mentioned, reachMaeby'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 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
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.[5] For her role as Maeby, Shawkat won a Young Artist Award in 2005.[6] Creator Mitchell Hurwitz named the character after his daughters Maisy and Phoebe.[7] Hurwitz acknowledged 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."[8] 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 a deliberate foil to her activist mother Lindsay, but eventually re-imagined to be a troublemaker in other ways.[7] 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.[1]
Buster Bluth
Byron "Buster" Bluth (born 1973 (age 50–51); played by
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
In the second-season premiere, Lucille spontaneously enlists Buster in the
In season 4, Buster reenlists in the Army for a sense of purpose after his mother Lucille 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
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 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, 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".[9]
Tobias Fünke
Tobias Onyango Fünke (
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 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 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 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
Although he is
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 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
George Bluth Sr.
George Oscar Bluth Sr. (born
August 5, 1947 , portrayed byWhile in prison, George Sr. continues to try to exert control over the company, often using his son
Before the events of the show, George Sr. was also the inventor of the Cornballer, 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
Lucille Bluth (née Jenkins) (played by
Lucille is accustomed to an opulent and decadent lifestyle, which she funds with misappropriated
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 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).
Narrator
The Narrator (voiced by executive producer
Secondary characters
Ann Veal
Ann Paul Veal
She comes from an extremely religious family, and her father (played by
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.[15][16] 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.[18] Maeby takes pleasure in referring to Ann as "Bland". George-Michael tells Maeby that Ann is "not bland" when forced to defend his love interest.[19]
Ann is attracted to George-Michael's
Ann's strict conservatism serves as 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.[21]
Ann moves on from George-Michael after coming in third place in an "Inner Beauty"
In season 4, Ann and Gob get engaged after he takes her virginity, but she decides to break up with him after he botches a magic trick that ruins their wedding. Shortly after, Tony Wonder sleeps with and impregnates Ann when she is vulnerable. Several years later, after she has her baby, Ann tricks Wonder into sleeping with Gob to get revenge on both of them.
Appears In:
Annyong Bluth
Hel-loh "Annyong" Bluth (
Lucille adopts Annyong midway through the first season in order to teach Buster a lesson. Apparently knowing no English, the youth greets his adoptive family by saying "
His actual name, "하루", means "a single day" in Korean, but is more accurately romanized as haru or halu as opposed to "hel-loh."
- Appears in: "Development Arrested", "Red Hairing"
Barry Zuckerkorn
Barry Zuckerkorn is the sluggish and bumbling attorney for the Bluth family. He is played by Henry Winkler, with Max Winkler playing the younger Zuckerkorn in flashbacks.
Zuckerkorn represents
He is invariably ill-prepared, which he usually blames on long meetings the night before. In fact, most of his nights are spent hanging out at
His sexual leanings are ambiguous although it appears that he may prefer the company of male transvestite prostitutes; it is possible that he is outwardly
Despite his parents' dependence on Barry, Michael Bluth fired him on the first episode of the third season, which ended his law career (as the Bluth family was his only client). Since then, he has been acting as a transvestite prostitute, and Lindsay seeing her husband Tobias retaining Barry's "services" has prompted her to seek a divorce. Zuckerkorn was replaced as the Bluths' attorney by Bob Loblaw, but returned to represent them following the events of "
- Appears in: "The Cabin Show"
Kitty Sanchez
Kitty Sanchez (
Kitty maintained a long-term affair with George Sr. and a fevered yet brief liaison with
Despite her intense loyalty to George Sr., she did not demonstrate the same toward Michael. Michael finally got fed up and fired her, but Kitty and Michael's father both insisted he didn't have that power, the latter of whom insisting, upon Michael's observation on her sanity, that, "You don't fire crazy." Michael attempted to rehire Kitty, but her obstinacy forced him to immediately fire her again. Kitty subsequently vanished with potentially damaging information concerning her sexual history with her boss. In actuality, she did not disappear, but was working with the police in an effort to gain control of the Bluth company. After arranging a meeting with Michael, she inadvertently admitted that she had proof that George Sr. had built homes overseas without paying taxes. Michael downplayed the importance of the revelation and Kitty dropped out of sight.
Kitty re-emerged in "
Kitty returned later, claiming she had reformed, gotten into AA, and even has a famous sponsor. She won't say who it is, but she drops some pretty obvious hints of it being an ex-Night Court star; ("It's not Bull. It's not Harry Anderson. And he's white."), a reference to actor John Larroquette as show creator Mitchell Hurwitz was once a writer for The John Larroquette Show, and Larroquette himself is a recovering alcoholic. At the end of Season 2 she and Tobias, the state of his marriage still up in the air, had jetted off to Reno, Nevada so he could pursue a plum spot in the Blue Man Group. As we learn in season 3, the part has already been taken by George Sr., who then proceeds to steal Kitty from his son-in-law as well. A final reference to Kitty is made when Tobias masquerades as her in an effort to win back Lindsay's affection.
Kitty has the habit of attempting to bribe people with sexual appeal by baring her breasts, usually with the comment, "Take a good look, 'cuz it's the last time you're gonna see these" or "say goodbye to these, Michael." Michael's reaction tends to be one of vague horror, and based on his claim to have seen "seven nipples" in one day after witnessing Gob and Kitty exposing their chests, Kitty may have had botched plastic surgery.
In season 4, Kitty works for Imagine Entertainment, where she continues to undermine Michael. She had previously sabotaged Maeby's career in the film business.
- Appears in: "The Cabin Show"
Lucille Austero
Lucille Austero (Liza Minnelli), often referred by members of the Bluth family as "Lucille Two", is the friend, neighbor, and chief social rival of Lucille Bluth.
Lucille Austero lives in the apartment next to Lucille and Buster Bluth in the Balboa Towers. In season 1, she and Buster end up dating after an incident at a country club auction when Buster bids on the wrong Lucille. Their relationship is looked down upon by the other Bluths. Her chronic case of
In season 2, she becomes the majority shareholder of the Bluth company after the family members sell their shares. To ensure the company's safety, Gob romances Lucille, who in turn names Gob the president of the Bluth Company in place of Michael. Although continuously stating that he is disgusted by her, it is seen in various clips that he is in fact infatuated with Lucille Two. Buster at the time is dating Starla, the Bluth Company receptionist. After learning his older brother is dating his ex-girlfriend, Buster leaves Starla to pursue Lucille. Eventually, Lucille leaves both of them for Stan Sitwell.
By Season 4, Lucille Two has come into control of the Bluth Company (now the Austero Bluth Company) after the entire family sells their stocks, and the season ends with Lucille Two mysteriously going missing, leaving only a bloody scene during the Cinco de Cuatro festivities. Buster is arrested for her (suspected) murder. Throughout the season, she is shown to aggravate the majority of the Bluth family with her political and business plans, making the circumstances of her disappearance ambiguous.
In the last episode of Season 5, 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.
- Appears in: "Blockheads"
Lupe
Lupe (BW Gonzalez) is
Lupe returns as the family housekeeper without explanation in season 3, and appears very briefly as one of the women posing as Lucille and Lindsay in rehab.
Lupe is the sister of Luz (played by Lillian Hurst), Lucille's original maid who was fired for supposedly taking a day off to take her daughter to the hospital.
In the season 3 episode "
- Appears in: "Exit Strategy"
Oscar Bluth
Oscar George Bluth (
Oscar can usually be distinguished from the balding George by his flowing "lion's mane" hair, apparently due to lack of stress in his life. He is a frequent user of
According to
In the second-season finale, to clear up his legal difficulties and punish his brother for cuckolding him, George Sr. shaves Oscar's head and turns him in. The stress of being imprisoned and mistaken for George Sr. causes Oscar's hair to not grow back. This, paired with the fact that his fingerprints have been burned off by the family Cornballer, prevents him from establishing his identity. To convince the world of his true identity, Oscar sets up www.imoscar.com, a blog of sorts that details his life in prison while continually asserting that he is Oscar. A real-life version of the site was maintained by Fox Broadcasting until mid-2006.
In the third season, Oscar manages to get out of prison when George Sr. is placed under house arrest and leaves town. He returns occasionally, but these visits are usually ended when George Sr. knocks him out and switches places so he can escape again. In the series finale, George invites Oscar to the Bluth Company function to unwittingly take his place, a fact Oscar learns as soon as Lucille refers to him as George ("Oh God Oscar! When are you going to learn there's no such thing as free shrimp!") Oscar again plays a larger role in the fourth (revival) season, where he and his brother continually switch identities to defraud wealthy CEOs looking for spiritual enlightenment in the desert between California and Mexico.
- Appears in: "Development Arrested"
Steve Holt
Steve Holt (Justin Grant Wade) is a senior (taking the year for the third time) and football star at the high school George Michael and Maeby attend, who often shouts his name, "Steve Holt!", while pumping his fists in the air.
Described as a "moron jock" by
In the season 2 episode "
In season 4, Steve Holt is slightly overweight and balding, and works in pest control. He wishes to reconnect with his father and run a father-son business, but he is again left alone.
- Appears in: "Making a Stand"
Tony Wonder
Tony Wonder (Ben Stiller) is a professional magician who commonly works at the Gothic Castle and is known for baking himself into a loaf of bread and emerging. Many of his tricks are direct mocking references to David Blaine. He has a tendency to make dramatic entrances when the word "wonder" is spoken, and the narrator mentions this makes it difficult for him to hide during a conversation when "wonder" is spoken.
Gob idolizes Wonder, but he believes that he came up with the idea for being baked into food first (he had the idea of being boiled into a chowder ten months earlier). As a result, Gob (a pitiful magician in comparison) believes Tony Wonder to be his greatest rival. Tony Wonder has a "W" for a goatee, and seems to specialize in illusions featuring food. He is also producing a DVD, which he dubbed "Use Your Allusion 2" after discovering his preferred title, Use Your Illusion, was unavailable due to copyright issues. Gob claims in season 3 that Tony Wonder lost a testicle to a live dove in his pants.
Tony Wonder returns in the season 4 series revival, in which he pretends to be a no-longer-closeted gay man, in order to seduce Gob for information-gathering purposes. Gob in turn attempts to seduce Tony for similarly deceptive reasons. Instead, the two begin to actually feel a mutually romantic connection and even have sex, though they both wear ridiculous masks.
- Appears in: "S.O.B.s", Colony Collapse, A New Attitude, Blockheads (voice), Emotional Baggage, Premature Independence, The Fallout.
Other recurring characters
Throughout the series
Bob Loblaw
Bob Loblaw (played by
Bob Loblaw first appears in the third episode of Season 3, claiming this is not the first time he's been brought in to replace Barry, and that he can do anything Barry can do, plus skew younger, alluding to Baio's experience with Henry Winkler (Zuckerkorn) on the 1970s sitcom Happy Days. Contrasting Zuckerkorn's incompetence, Loblaw is a no-nonsense attorney who is always in the company of his stenographer, and frequently overbills.
He advertises his services with slogans such as "Why should you go to jail for a crime someone else noticed?" and "You don't need double talk; you need Bob Loblaw." As is evidenced by this, his name is meant to sound like "blah-blah-blah". Underneath his commercial advertisement is the phrase "Bob Loblaw No Habla Español".
Adding to the tongue twister-like aspect of the character's name, the third-season episode "
He has a daughter named Hope.
- Appears in: "Making a Stand"
Carl Weathers
Actor
Tobias meets Carl Weathers on an air porter destined for Los Angeles International Airport. Tobias once traveled to San Francisco to attend Carl Weathers' stage-fighting workshop. The actor failed to show because, as he informed Tobias, he was bumped from the flight. However, he discovered that they pay $300 to people who are inconvenienced in this manner. Carl Weathers called this "a crazy loophole in the system that the wrong guy discovered." Ever since then, Carl Weathers has been getting himself deliberately bumped from flights and subsequently cashing in.
Carl Weathers does not enjoy paying very much for anything. He is obsessed with thrift, exemplified by his claims that he acquires all of his cars from police auctions and his seeming obsession with "getting a stew going" using leftover pieces of food. He takes Tobias on as a client and is thereby introduced to the Bluth experience. Lucille Bluth uses Carl Weathers to get back at her youngest son, Buster, who has become involved romantically with her chief rival, Lucille Austero. She simply introduces Carl Weathers to Lucille Two and suggests that they should have dinner together with Buster. Buster, however, reminds his mother that he has class that day. Lucille suggests that Carl Weathers and Lucille Two would just have to dine alone, in that case. When Buster finally decides to move in with Lucille II, he discovers her and Carl Weathers "getting a stew going" and is greatly disturbed.
In the episode "Motherboy XXX", Weathers meets with Tobias at Burger King, and explains he is directing an episode of Scandalmakers and needs Tobias to sign over the rights for the story of his family. The whole scene satirizes product placement, as Burger King is a major sponsor of both the real Arrested Development and the fictitious Scandalmakers. Weathers joyfully remarks that all soft drink refills at Burger King are totally free. Tobias praises Burger King as "a wonderful restaurant", of which narrator Ron Howard agrees.
At one point, Weathers appears dressed to play the role of ICE in the Scandalmakers documentary.
Years later, Michael enlists Weathers to appear as himself in a movie to be based on Michael's life.
- Appears in: "The B. Team"
Doctor Fishman
Doctor Fishman (also called Doctor "Wordsmith" and the Literal Doctor; played by Ian Roberts) is a doctor who has a tendency to be too literal in his pronouncements. He has, for example, said that Buster would be "all right", when he lost his left hand. Also, that "it looks like he's dead", when he in fact means that Tobias (covered at the time in blue paint) literally looks as if he is dead, but is in fact alive, and that it "looked like they'd lost" George Sr. when he'd actually escaped through the window. His frequent misleading statements anger the Bluth family after several visits, and Lucille claims in season 4 that this tendency has caused him to constantly move hospitals.
- Appears in: "Sword of Destiny"
Officers Taylor and Carter
Officers Taylor (
- Appears in: "Hand to God"
J. Walter Weatherman
J. Walter Weatherman (Steve Ryan) is a one-armed man used by George Bluth to frighten his children into good behavior.
Weatherman is a former employee of George Sr. who lost one arm in a Bluth Company construction accident. George Sr. recruited Weatherman repeatedly to fake accidents in which he loses his "arm" (a fake arm and blood) due to misbehavior from the young Bluth children. The lesson ends with J. Walter turning to the children and saying "and that's why you ...", finishing the sentence with whatever action George Sr. is trying to promote. Examples include: leaving notes and not yelling. When Michael asks his father put him in touch with Weatherman to teach George Michael a lesson, George Sr. tells him that he "killed him when he left the door open with the air conditioner on." (a reference to an unseen 'lesson') This is shown to be untrue when George Sr. hires Weatherman back to teach Michael a lesson about teaching lessons to his son. Buster later uses the same trick on both Michael and George Sr. as well as Gob, using his fake hand, to teach them a lesson about not using amputees to teach lessons.
- Appears in: "Making a Stand"
John Beard
- Appears in: "S.O.B.s"
Mort Meyers
Mort Meyers (
- Appears in: "Development Arrested"
Stan Sitwell
Stan Sitwell (
He has a disease that prevents him from growing hair on his body,
- Appears in: "Development Arrested"
Starla
Starla (
- Appears in: "Sword of Destiny"
Stefan Gentles
Stefan Gentles (James Lipton) takes over as the prison warden where George is being detained after the previous warden, James Buck, leaves. He is less strict (though one of his favorite punishments involve beating people with a pillowcase full of batteries), and is a lover of the arts.
Gentles allows Tobias to research his role as Frightened Inmate Number 2 and enthusiastically encourages it. Gentles suggested that shadowing feared prisoner White Power Bill would help Tobias find the inspiration for the role. The warden's enthusiasm for acting is a metafictional joke, since the actor James Lipton is famous as the host of the real-world television series Inside the Actors Studio.
Gentles writes a screenplay called The New Warden, which is rejected by everyone including Maeby while she works as a film executive. With some editing by Lucille Bluth, he is able to get an elementary school to perform the adult-themed story as a school play.
- Appears in: "Prison Break-In", "The B. Team"
Tom Saunders
Tom Saunders (Tom Saunders) is an employee of the
- Appears in: "Family Ties"
Trisha Thoon
Trisha Thoon (Stacey Grenrock-Woods) is the field reporter for Fox 6 news throughout season one. She often covers stories pertaining to the Bluth family.
- Appears in: "Extended Pilot"
Wayne Jarvis
Wayne Jarvis (
- Appears in: "Exit Strategy"
Wife of Gob
Wife of Gob (
- Appears in: "Whistler's Mother", "Motherboy XXX"
Sally Sitwell
Sally Sitwell (Christine Taylor) is Stan Sitwell's daughter and Michael's childhood sweetheart. In adulthood, she is briefly Michael's girlfriend. Sally and Lindsay were always competitive rivals, as they ran against each other for student body president in high school, and in adulthood Sally was campaign manager for Lucille Austero's run for Congress, while Lindsay worked for her opponent Herbert Love. (Season 4 ends with Lindsay and Sally taking over as the candidates after their employers' incapacitation and disappearance, respectively, mirroring their high school rivalry.) Also in season 4, Sally is in a relationship with Tony Wonder (Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller are married in real life). It is also revealed that she suffers from alopecia, like her father.
- Appears in: "Out on a Limb", "Flight of the Phoenix", "A New Attitude"
Gene Parmesan
Gene Parmesan (Martin Mull) is a mediocre private detective occasionally hired by Lucille Bluth. Despite his professional incompetence, he is shown to be a master of quick-change. She hires him to find George Sr. in the second-season episode, "¡Amigos!". Parmesan always reports to Lucille by approaching her in a disguise and then dramatically revealing himself; Lucille screams in delight every time, and never recognizes him. He is highly regarded as one of the best detectives by Lucille but is said in the narration, however, to be "far from the best".
The episode "Out on a Limb" has Michael talking briefly to Gene on his cellphone, having hired him to investigate Maggie.
Appears In: "
In a story arc
Rebel Alley
Rebel Alley (
- Appears in: "It Gets Better"
Adelaide
Adelaide (Bronwen Masters) falls in love with
- Appears in: "Exit Strategy"
Larry Middleman
Larry Middleman (Bob Einstein) is a professional surrogate, hired by George Sr. to act as his eyes and ears so that he can continue influencing the family's dealings while under house arrest. "The Surrogate", as Larry is called, is always on the job, wearing a suit and tie at all times, with a baseball cap displaying the word "Surrogate". The cap carries a small camera and microphone, which transmit audio and video feeds in real-time to George Sr's computer and/or television. George Sr. has a voice feed back to the surrogate, so that he can tell Larry what to do, what to say on his behalf, where to go, etc. At one point, he also misinterprets George Sr.'s sarcasm as a compliment ("Another brilliant idea, Einstein").
Larry is a consummate professional, never allowing his own persona to come through except on rare occasions, such as when he sometimes inserts self-promoting comments ("He's worth every penny") among George Sr.'s actual words, and another occasion where he hit GOB for insulting him. Larry does occasionally misinterpret George Sr.'s instructions, usually with amusing consequences, and is challenged when Buster takes control of the microphone in an attempt to reconnect with Gob.
Larry appeared at the beginning of season three in the episode, "
- Appears in: "S.O.B.s"
Maggie Lizer
Maggie Lizer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), an attorney who pretends to be blind, is considered to be the most feared prosecuting attorney in all of Orange County, not because she is a particularly skilled prosecutor, but because her faked disability often won the sympathy of both the judge and defendant.
Maggie makes her first appearance in "
Michael Bluth meets Maggie in a bar. When she introduces herself, she says her name is Maggie Lizer, as in "Maggie lies her ass off". After she mistakes Michael for an attorney, he awkwardly claims that his name is Chareth Cutestory and that he practices maritime law, a reference to a role as a lawyer that Michael held in a school musical, The Trial of Captain Hook. Maggie and Michael return to her home after drinking at the bar. He spends the night and wakes up perplexed as how to proceed. When he realizes she is blind, Michael decides to continue seeing her out of guilt.
Maggie is prosecuting the government's case against the Bluths; Maggie knew who Michael was but chose not to reveal this. Instead she gave him what she described as "a summary of everything the government has against the Bluths so far", which was actually a wish list, in an attempt to manipulate him. Michael continues seeing her despite the conflict of interest. When her guide dog, Justice, is revealed to be actually blind, Michael realizes that she is not blind, but had been faking the condition to pass her law school exams and gain sympathy during trials. As a result of the deception, Maggie is taken off the case.
Maggie returns for two episodes in season 2, eight-and-a-half months pregnant—eight-and-a-half months after her relationship with Michael. She later admits the child is not Michael's, having volunteered to be a surrogate for two homosexual police officers—though this also turns out to be a deception, as she "outsourced" the pregnancy to a client who was suing a restaurant for making her fat. Realizing that the two of them cannot be in a relationship as they crave complications in their lives, they decide to part ways after a final fling. Ironically, a throwaway gag at the end of the episode reveals Maggie became pregnant as a result.
- Appears in: "Hand to God"
Marta Estrella
Marta Estrella is the
- Appears in:
- Key Decisions"
- Beef Consommé"
- Uncredited Actress, "Forget Me Now"
Rita Leeds
Rita Leeds (Charlize Theron) is an English woman to whom Michael Bluth was attracted and briefly engaged.
Rita first appeared in the second episode of Season 3, "
Rita is later revealed to be a wealthy heiress and owner of all Wee-Britain (and the Wee-Britain in Cleveland)—a fictional town that runs on
There are a number of somewhat subtle indications that she may have a mental or learning disability throughout episodes 2, 3 and 4 of season 3; however, Michael either misinterprets this as charming eccentricity (attributing certain behavior to her being British) or does not seem to have noticed. Some of these indications include the fact she spends her days at "Slow Brook", a private school, in "
Rita is heavily involved in the "Mr. F" plot arc, wherein the family hears through their new lawyer,
In "
It is later revealed that Rita finds a job at a competing movie studio from Maeby's, producing a project called "The Ocean Walker", although the film's development status is arrested. The project name is a result of Rita's belief that people can walk (presumably from America) to England. In one episode, Rita walks across a pool, not knowing that Gob rigged the pool with clear platforms for one of his illusions.
She was last seen in the series finale on the cover of a newspaper.
- Appears in: "The Ocean Walker"
Uncle Trevor
Trevor Leeds (Dave Thomas) is an English man and the uncle of Rita Leeds. He helped raise Rita, whose parents were cousins, which he implied might be a cause for her intellectual disability.
Uncle Trevor first appeared in the second episode of Season 3, "
He is last seen in "
He also appears to be a fan of cricket, having apparently collected cricket magazines and even being in possession of a cricket bat, which was also seen in the cover of his secret magazine, Bumpaddle.
- Appears in: "The Ocean Walker"
White Power Bill
White Power Bill (David Reynolds) is a massive, bald,
White Power Bill is incensed when confronted with George's jailhouse conversion to Judaism. He is particularly upset at George's gesture of giving Little Justice, an inmate of the prison, a kippah for protection and giving him the new name, David Ben-Avram. He responds by hitting Little Justice with a pipe, knocking off his kippa. George diplomatically states that ."..both of our religions have a lot to offer. There's the Jewish notion of heaven, and that it can be obtained here on earth, and there is your belief in the cleansing power of the pipe."
When
Upon meeting
- Appears in: "Missing Kitty"
Argyle Austero
Argyle Austero (Tommy Tune) is the flamboyant brother of "Lucille Two" Austero and runs her rehab clinic, Austerity, where he is introduced to Tobias. Tobias, after initially refusing her offer, had decided it would be best to go on a work release program than stay in prison for a sex offense. Tobias convinces Argyle to make a Musical of the Fantastic 4 (written and directed by Tobias) in order to be with his girlfriend DeBrie who had recently joined the rehab group. Argyle was unable to resist the idea of producing a musical and in order to pay for it is he helps his sister by threatening Michael to pay his debt of $700,000. Ultimately, Argyle is forced to step in for DeBrie as the Invisible Girl and performed the musical with Tobias on Cinco de Quatro. In Season 5, Argyle appears as the leader of the "Gay Mafia", and threatens Gob for pretending to be gay, and hints that they killed Tony Wonder for doing the same.
- Appears in: "Smashed"
Marky Bark
Marky Bark (
DeBrie Bardeaux
DeBrie Bardeaux (
Herbert Love
Herbert Love (
Ron Howard
In addition to voicing The Narrator, Ron Howard has appeared on the show as himself several times. Howard is among the individuals in Maeby's contact list to whom George Michael sends an invitation to her birthday. In his first on-screen appearance at the end of the final episode of season 3, Howard informs Maeby, with a hint of irony, that her life story would be better off being made into a movie as opposed to a TV series. Howard has a more substantial role in season four, in which he hires Michael to help produce a fictional movie based on the Bluths' story.
Dr. Norman, China Garden and Heartfire
Dr. Norman, China Garden and Heartfire, introduced in season 4, are friends of Oscar Bluth's who live with him on a commune at the U.S./Mexico border. George Sr. meets them while running his "sweat and squeeze" scam with Oscar.
Dr. Norman (
China Garden (Karen Maruyama) is Dr. Norman's girlfriend, whom he met via a prison pen-pal program. She is loud and has a heavy accent. Her mother, Olive Garden, is in prison with Lucille.
Heartfire (Mary Lynn Rajskub) is a mute spiritualist who communicates telepathically through her thoughts, though no one ever interprets her thoughts correctly or hears her. Her thoughts are seen as floating subtitles.
Fictional characters within Arrested Development
Franklin Delano Bluth
Franklin Delano Bluth is Gob's black puppet.
The character is first introduced in the season 2 episode "
Gob discarded Franklin up in the attic, most likely due to the severe beating Gob received in a night club in Torrance after performing a show with Franklin. During "
Then Gob records a music CD with Franklin called "Franklin Comes Alive", a spoof of
Franklin returns in some season 3 episodes, most prominently in "
Franklin is a portrayal of the 1950s–1980s stereotype of blacks. As part of the political satire, Franklin also wears a "George Bush doesn't care about black puppets" T-shirt in "Fakin' It", a reference to Kanye West's "George Bush doesn't care about black people" remark. No matter who is controlling him, Franklin often curses and uses racial slurs to describe others in the Bluth Family.
The name Franklin Delano Bluth borrows from the 32nd President of the United States
The running gag with Franklin is that despite being a mere puppet, he is actually treated as a real person. This can be seen in "
- Appears in: "Family Ties"
Mr. Bananagrabber
Mr. Bananagrabber is a Hamburglar-inspired character invented by Gob.
Mr. Bananagrabber was conceived by Gob after his brother, Michael Bluth, told him that he could not have a free Bluth Banana. Dejected, Gob decides to get a candy apple at one of the other shops on the boardwalk. When Gob bites into the candy apple, it breaks his tooth and Gob develops a whistle anytime he says a word with an "s" in it (a key characteristic of Bananagrabber). Gob and Michael then meet again, and Michael says Gob can have a free Bluth Banana and in exchange, Gob gives Michael the animation rights to Mr. Bananagrabber (Michael makes Mr. Banana Grabber look a lot like Gob from his hair, to his missing-tooth whistle, to his Segway. When Gob sees the commercial, he says "I never should have given up animation rights.").
Mr. Bananagrabber appeared on the episode[
Michael Bluth discussing the Mr. Bananagrabber character: "I guess it would just be a guy who, you know, grabs bananas and runs. Or a banana that grabs things. I don't know. Why would a banana grab another banana? I mean those are the kind of questions I don't want to answer."
Mr. Bananagrabber's first appearance was in "
Like
- Appears in: "Spring Breakout"
Mrs. Featherbottom
Phylidia Featherbottom is an alter-ego of
Tobias, having moved out of the model home due to his marital problems with Lindsay, returns disguised (poorly) as a British nanny to spend time with his daughter and prove to his wife that he has what it takes to become an actor. The disguise fools no one, and the performance is comically unrealistic, but the Bluths play along with the charade because Mrs. Featherbottom is an excellent cleaner, working for free.
Narration explains that the idea behind Mrs. Featherbottom is lifted directly from the film
Mrs. Featherbottom is introduced in "
The name 'Featherbottom' is also used by Maeby and Lindsay in season 4.
- Appears in: "Meat the Veals"
Surely Fünke/Woolfbeak
Surely Fünke is
In Maeby's many schemes she often uses the alter-ego, Surely (the word being an
In "
Brief characters
These are more or less minor characters, appearing usually for only one episode or so.
Cindi Lightballoon
Cindi Lightballoon (Jane Lynch) is an undercover agent working for the federal government to uncover George's secret dealings. Posing as a fan of his Torah videos (which she actually is), she eventually falls in love with George, who only enjoys tweaking her nipples.
- Appears in: "Justice Is Blind"
Ice
Ice (Malik Yoba) is a bounty hunter and professional caterer.
Ice is initially employed by Gob to follow Michael, although a recurring joke is that Gob views Ice as his friend. (Michael later pays Ice to spend the weekend with Gob).
Ice commits a series of blunders and is easily persuaded by money. He first follows Michael to Mexico while under the employment of Gob, and then is hired by Michael to find George Sr. Ice is given a blueprint with a picture of George Sr. on it, but is confused and tackles Tobias because he is wearing blue paint, and thus resembles the blue tint of the picture. ICE then returns to tracking Michael until Michael finally pays him to spend time with Gob and resume the search for George Sr. In the following episode, Ice ascertains that George Sr. was killed by a prison guard in Mexico.
Throughout these events, Ice consistently ignores or is oblivious to Lindsay's attempts to attract him. At one point, Lindsay pretends to be talking to George Sr. on the phone so that Ice will follow her to get to George Sr., but this plan proves futile.
When Ice notifies the family of George Sr.'s plight, he displays his party-planning talents by catering the event and leaves a business card with them to help jumpstart his alternate career of party-planning, referred to as his "first love."
Carl Weathers mentions to Tobias in season 2 that, in a show called Scandal Makers that he was directing to portray the Bluths, he had decided to play Ice.
- Appears in: "Good Grief"
"Uncle" Jack
"Uncle" Jack Dorso (Martin Short) is not related to the Bluth family, he was actually a friend of George Sr.'s dad. He gave George Sr. the money to buy the first tract of land for the Bluth development company in exchange for what is implied to be sexual favors from Lucille.
Jack Dorso achieved stardom as the sidekick in the radio show "Red McGibbon and Bullet: Nazi Hunters." After his partner was imprisoned for being a communist sympathizer, Jack was unable to get work as an actor. He opened a chain of fitness centers, and came to be known for his annual "Birthday Feats of Strength." He lost the use of his legs on his 70th birthday when he attempted to squat 350 lb (5 lb for each year of his life).
Now a 90-year-old paraplegic fitness buff, he refuses the use of a wheel chair. Instead he gets around by being carried like a child by a large man named Dragon who is hard of hearing. Dragon's hearing impairment causes him difficulty in following Jack's directions.
Uncle Jack agrees to give the Bluth family more money in exchange for a date with Lindsay, a woman more than half a century his junior. Lindsay was convinced to go on the date by Michael telling her the date was with Dragon, but that Dragon has to work, thus explaining Jack's presence.
- Appears in: "Ready, Aim, Marry Me"
James Buck
James Buck (Rocky McMurray) is warden of George's prison until he is replaced by Stefan Gentles. Buck is aggressive and unappreciative of the Bluths, though he allows Gob to try to perform an escape act from the prison, which largely fails, leading Gob to write a "strongly worded letter" to Buck, for which he is detained against the trailer George Sr. and Lucille are having sex in.
- Appears in: "Visiting Ours"
Phillip Litt
Phillip Litt (Zach Braff) is the director of the film series Girls With Low Self-Esteem (a parody of Girls Gone Wild); while the series is often referenced in the show, Litt only appears after Gob's failed magic act is included in the newest release. He, along with Tobias, is a never-nude. Braff was likely cast due to his resemblance to Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis.
- Appears in: "S.O.B.s" (briefly)
Frank Wrench (Moses Taylor)
Frank Wrench is the protagonist of Wrench, a fictional television series about a rule-abiding police detective. He is played by actor Moses Taylor, who is also a vocal gun activist, frequently brandishing a realistic prop gun that shoots out a flag imprinted with the Second Amendment. Lindsay briefly begins an affair with Taylor which is interrupted when she is tranquilized. From the perspective of a group of onlookers, Taylor, who is holding his prop gun, looks like he has murdered her; he quickly carries her to a bench where he leaves her and flees the scene. His voice is later heard outside the door to the bathroom on the set of Wrench, which Tobias has entered, believing it to have a real, functioning toilet. On Arrested Development, Moses Taylor and his character-within-a-character Frank Wrench are played by Rob Corddry.
- Appears in: "Sword of Destiny"
Tracey Bluth
Tracey Bluth is Michael's deceased wife, and George Michael's deceased mother. She died of ovarian cancer before the series. She is briefly seen in a flashback/fake ad in season 4, played by Maria Thayer.
- Appears in: "It Gets Better"
Nellie
Nellie, played by Justine Bateman, is a prostitute who Michael mistakes for his sister. He also mistakenly believes that she is a business consultant (her job title, if read carefully, is "conslutant") and hires her to work at the Bluth Company.
Although Michael and Nellie turn out not to be related, Jason and Justine Bateman are siblings in real life.
- Appears in: "Family Ties"
References
- ^ a b c d Breaking Ground: Behind the Scenes of Arrested Development. In Arrested Development: Season 1- Disc One, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Inc., 2004.
- ^ Frazier Moore, "Portia gets expressive: Uses her comedic face in Arrested Development", The Province, Vancouver, B.C.: January 4, 2004, pg. D.13.
- ^ Dana Gee, "Here's a sitcom that puts the fun back in funny", The Province, Vancouver, B.C.: November 2, 2003, pg. C.12.
- ^ Alison Cunningham, "Mane event: Portia de Rossi trusts her instincts – and great hair", National Post, August 6, 2005, pg. TO.41.
- ^ Benjamin Leszcz, "The essence of adolescence", National Post, January 4, 2006, pg. AL.1.Fr.
- ^ "Awards for Alia Shawkat". IMDb. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
- ^ a b Audio commentary. "Extended Pilot". In Arrested Development: Season 1- Disc One, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Inc., 2004.
- ^ Alex Strachan, "Arrested Development has a thing for weird names", Edmonton Journal, July 20, 2004, p. C.2.
- ^ "TV: Breaking Down the List", Entertainment Weekly, #999/1000 June 27 & July 4, 2008, 56.
- ^ "Tobias Fünke". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
- ^ "'Arrested' No More: Hurwitz On Why The Bluths Are Back (Transcript)". NPR. National Public Radio. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
It's more about being oblivious than about being gay. And in fact, we find out in the new season that he's not gay.
- ^ Parker, Ryan (April 30, 2018). "The Russo Brothers Tried to Get David Cross for That 'Avengers: Infinity War' Easter Egg". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^
"Arrested Development. Season 2. Episode 5. December 12, 2004.
- Arrested Development. Season 1. Episode 22. June 6, 2004.
- ^ a b c d Arrested Development Season 2 (DVD). 2005.
- ^ a b Arrested Development Season 3 (DVD). 2006.
- ^ Arrested Development. Season 2. Episode 16. April 3, 2005.
- Arrested Development. Season 2. Episode 3. November 21, 2004.
- Arrested Development. Season 2. Episode 1. November 7, 2004.
- Arrested Development. Season 2. Episode 14. March 20, 2005.
- Arrested Development. Season 2. Episode 18. April 17, 2005.
- Arrested Development. Season 3. Episode 4. November 7, 2005.
- Arrested Development. Season 3. Episode 13. February 10, 2006.
- ^ Arrested Development Season 1 (DVD). 2004.
- ^ "Altar Egos". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
- ^ "Arrested Development: s03e02". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 18, 2011.