Motherboy XXX (13 Mar. 2005)

Lucille recruits George Michael to take Buster's place at the annual mother son dinner dance. While Michael and GOB are busy tracking down the seal that ate Buster's hand, Tobias signs away... See full summary »

Director:

Joe Russo

Writers:

Mitchell Hurwitz (creator), James Vallely,

Stars:

Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Bateman	...	Michael Bluth
Portia de Rossi	...	Lindsay Bluth Fünke
Will Arnett	...	Gob Bluth
Michael Cera	...	George-Michael Bluth
Alia Shawkat	...	Maeby Fünke
Tony Hale	...	Buster Bluth
David Cross	...	Tobias Fünke
Jeffrey Tambor	...	George Bluth Sr.
Jessica Walter	...	Lucille Bluth
Henry Winkler	...	Barry Zuckerkorn
Dave Attell	...	Himself
Amy Poehler	...	Bride of Gob
Michael Paul Chan	...	Judge Lionel Ping
Carl Weathers	...	Carl Weathers
Timothy Brennen	...	Announcer at Dance

Storyline

Lucille recruits George Michael to take Buster's place at the annual mother son dinner dance. While Michael and GOB are busy tracking down the seal that ate Buster's hand, Tobias signs away the family's life rights in order to get a part with his former acting coach Carl Weathers.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Release Date:

13 March 2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Stage 5, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this episode there are frequent references to Burger King, including Carl Weathers saying he can get promotional consideration if he sets a scene at the restaurant. This was soon after an episode of "The Apprentice" featured the teams competing to market a new burger for Burger King, which some critics panned as essentially an hour long commercial for the restaurant. The original title of this episode was "The Tendercrisp Chicken Comedy Half-Hour", in reference to a Burger King menu item. The producers of Arrested Development really did receive product placement money for the Burger King mentions in this episode, though in true irreverent Arrested Development fashion, they undermined the advertising potential of the unsubtle mentions with some rather more subtle digs at the chain and the whole idea of product placement. Two examples of this undermining are: 1) when Barry "jumps the shark," it is simultaneous to his mention of Burger King - not a flattering juxtaposition, since "jumping the shark" stands for the moment when a TV show reaches its creative nadir; and 2) whenever a poster advertising the "Angus Burger" sandwich is visible in any scene, the letter "g" in the word "Angus" is partially or completely obscured, leaving a decidedly less appetizing name for the sandwich.

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Goofs

At 4:11 into this episode, a crew member is visible on the left side of the frame. He is holding a camera and filming perpendicularly to the angle at which we are viewing.

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Quotes

Carl Weathers: [at Burger King] I'm going to go get a refill. You know you can get a refill on any drink you want?
Tobias Fünke: It's a great restaurant!
Narrator: It sure is!

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Connections

References House (2004)

User Reviews

Man-eating seals, badly named mother-son dances and other oddities

When Buster loses his hand to a seal bite in the episodes Out on a Limb and Hand to God, it was unclear whether this would be a permanent development or temporary; indeed, in this episode, the Bluths think they can track the seal and restore Buster's hand with a transplant. In the mean time, what one thinks of the hand storyline might be mixed- I've heard of fans who liked it and didn't like it, but got used to it. I fall into the second category. Motherboy XXX is a good enough episode that, when I realized the hand would not be reattached, I nevertheless accepted the hand loss story (which isn't to say Out on a Limb and Hand to God are bad, just that the storyline is odd at first). Part of how Motherboy XXX does justice to the storyline is by tying it in with a previous episode: The Bluths remember being psychologically tormented by a one-armed man growing up (see the episode Pier Pressure), and are thus a little afraid of Buster. But they eventually accept him.

From a comedic perspective, this episode is good, complete with some Ann jokes, George going crazy in the attic, and a mother-son dance badly titled Motherboy XXX (as in 30). It's an episode that utilizes the odd characters Buster, Lucille and Michael well. Nominated for an Emmy for editing.