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What’s On at Flavorwire: Links You Need to See

By Lillian Ruiz on

Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz doesn’t want you to watch Season 4 in one sitting: “The whole show is like the selective-attention test. No one sees the gorilla!” Joseph Gordon-Levitt undergoes a convincing meathead transformation in his new film Don Jon. We got the real story on what really happened at the… Read More

Television

Why Tobias Is the Best ‘Arrested Development’ Character

By Emily Temple on

Arrested Development fans are busy counting down the hours until Season 4 premieres this Sunday at midnight on Netflix, and here at Flavorwire, we’re no different. So, we’re passing the time by declaring this Arrested Development Week, all leading up to a Recap-a-thon on Sunday, when our own Jason Bailey will review the whole season, episode by episode. This piece is part of a series of contributors’ essays in support of their favorite Bluth. Click here to follow our coverage.

It’s difficult to pick out a “best” character on a show like Arrested Development, which is served so well by its ensemble. A favorite, sure. But what makes a best? I’d argue that it’s the character who is most unique to the show, who moves it most swiftly towards its specific purpose — and in Arrested Development, that character is surely Tobias. There are other strong contenders for weirdest Bluth family member (namely, Buster and G.O.B), but no one is quite as singular and quite as resonant as Dr. Tobias Fünke. Not on the show, and maybe not in the whole of television. … Read More

Television

20 Peripheral ‘Arrested Development’ Characters We’d Like to See in Season 4

By Jason Bailey on

Arrested Development fans are busy counting down the hours until Season 4 premieres this Sunday at midnight on Netflix, and here at Flavorwire, we’re no different. So, we’re passing the time by declaring this Arrested Development Week, all leading up to a Recap-a-thon on Sunday, when our own Jason Bailey will review the whole season, episode by episode. Click here to follow our coverage.

The richness of Arrested Development’s characters plays no small role in its continued cult popularity — we’re spending this week arguing over which Bluth is our favorite, after all. But as brilliant as its central ensemble is, the show’s artistic and comedic success is just as much the result of its deep bench. This is a show practically overflowing with uproarious peripheral characters, whether one-offs or long-running utility players, and a fourth season of AD wouldn’t be complete without at least some of them. We’ve seen the flash-happy Kitty (Judy Greer) in the trailer, and had at least some confirmation that we’ll see Henry Winkler’s Barry Zuckerkorn, Ben Stiller’s Tony Wonder, and Mae Whitman’s Ann (her?) again — so here’s a few more Bluth family hangers-on that will hopefully be back. … Read More

Television

Why Michael Is the Best ‘Arrested Development’ Character

By Jason Bailey on

Arrested Development fans are busy counting down the hours until Season 4 premieres this Sunday at midnight on Netflix, and here at Flavorwire, we’re no different. So, we’re passing the time by declaring this Arrested Development Week, all leading up to a Recap-a-thon on Sunday, when our own Jason Bailey will review the whole season, episode by episode. This piece is the part of a series of contributors’ essays in support of their favorite Bluth. Click here to follow our coverage.

It’s not easy to be the lone voice of sanity amongst a gaggle of crazy people. In many ways, the role of Michael Bluth, the steady and reliable anchor of the madcap Bluth family, is the most thankless of Arrested Development; it’s the straight man, and nobody likes to play the straight man. But thanks to the show’s smart writing and Jason Bateman’s sly playing, the character of Michael is quite the opposite: he is, in fact, the best and most important character on the show. … Read More

Television

Flavorwire Exclusive: The Ultimate Ann Veal “Her?” Supercut

By Jason Bailey on

Arrested Development fans are busy counting down the hours until Season 4 premieres this Sunday at midnight on Netflix, and here at Flavorwire, we’re no different. So, we’re passing the time by declaring this Arrested Development Week, all leading up to a Recap-a-thon on Sunday, when our own Jason Bailey will review the whole season, episode by episode. Click here to follow our coverage.

In Arrested Development‘s Season 1 finale, “Let ‘Em Eat Cake,” a flat-voiced young woman approaches George Michael Bluth at the banana stand. This was the first appearance of Ann Veal, played in that episode by Alessandra Torresani and through the rest of the run by Mae Whitman (series creator Mitch Hurwitz said he’d toyed with the idea of having a different actress play Ann in each episode, to emphasize how unmemorable she was). She would become George Michael’s greatest love, and Michael’s greatest enemy — when he could remember her. And with that, we present a brief but thorough look at the history of Ann and the Bluths — all the “Who?”s, all the “Her?”s, all the “Egg”s, and all the insults. … Read More

Television

If You Like ‘Arrested Development,’ You Need to Watch ‘Soap’

By Tyler Coates on

After I watched the last four episodes of Arrested Development when they were unceremoniously broadcast on a single night in February 2006, I was devastated that my favorite show had been pulled from the network. The irony, of course, is that I was part of the show’s demise: like many other people I knew, I did not watch the show when it aired, but in single viewings on DVD. Arrested Development was one of the first series I watched almost in its entirety at home on my own time, a practice that did little to help the show stay on the air by the time its low ratings forced Fox to cancel it. When the third season was released on DVD, I tore through it in a single night, once again feeling dismay that no show would bring such joy as Arrested Development had. That is, until I discovered Soap, a sitcom that predated Arrested Development by 27 years and laid the groundwork for the brilliance of Mitchell Hurwitz’s revolutionary comedy. … Read More

Books

Required Reading List: The Bluth Family

By Emily Temple on

Arrested Development fans are busy counting down the hours until Season 4 premieres this Sunday at midnight on Netflix, and here at Flavorwire, we’re no different. So, we’re passing the time by declaring this Arrested Development Week, all leading up to a Recap-a-thon on Sunday, when our own Jason Bailey will review the whole season, episode by episode. Click here to follow our coverage.

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten,” Ralph Waldo Emerson famously quipped, “even so, they have made me.” In this bi-weekly series, Flavorwire plays professor to some of our favorite pop culture characters, assigning reading lists tailored to their temperaments or — in some cases — designed to make them into slightly better people. After all, even fictional characters can have their lives changed by books. Or so we imagine. This week, in honor of Arrested Development , we recommend a reading list for everyone’s favorite family, the Bluths. … Read More

Television

Why George Michael Is the Best ‘Arrested Development’ Character

By Judy Berman on

Arrested Development fans are busy counting down the hours until Season 4 premieres this Sunday at midnight on Netflix, and here at Flavorwire, we’re no different. So, we’re passing the time by declaring this Arrested Development Week, all leading up to a Recap-a-thon on Sunday, when our own Jason Bailey will review the whole season, episode by episode. This piece is the first in a series of contributors’ essays in support of their favorite Bluth. Click here to follow our coverage.

It may be reductive to argue that there are just two kinds of people in life, but there are certainly just two kinds of characters on Arrested Development: the prickly Bluths and the sweet Bluths. While the selfish, apathetic family members — Lucille, George, G.O.B., Lindsay, Maeby — have the pithiest lines and cause the most dramatic friction, it’s their generous, caring relatives who actually make us care about this big, rich, fucked-up family. Despite strong competition from his dad, George Michael is the sweetest Bluth of all, and the heart and conscience of Arrested Development. … Read More

Television

Exclusive Video: A Morning at ‘Arrested Development’s’ Bluth Banana Stand

By Jason Bailey on

We’ve got less than two weeks till the debut of Arrested Development’s long awaited, eagerly anticipated fourth season on Netflix, and the network is kicking its promotional machine into high gear. Their cleverest promo tool: the Bluth’s Original Banana Stands that are popping up across the country (and across the pond), giving away frozen bananas in anticipation of the May 26 debut. Here in New York, the first banana stand opened up Monday morning, so your intrepid film editor grabbed a video camera and headed down to talk with some AD fans about who they’re looking forward to seeing again, what they love about the show, and how they’ll be consuming the fourth season when it all shows up early that fateful Sunday morning. … Read More

Television

Exclusive: ‘Arrested Development’ Mother’s Day Cards

By Jennifer Lewis on

Does your mother, the mother of your children, or your grandmother love Arrested Development? If so, we just might save you a trip to the Hallmark aisle (and probably get you in a little trouble). Back in February, we made some Arrested Development Valentine’s Day cards, and now we’re revisiting those highly versatile illustrations for a new batch of offbeat Arrested Development Mother’s Day cards. Who has more to say about mothers than the Bluth family? … Read More