Public Relations (25 Jan. 2004)

The family's new public relations director gives them each a task while Michael tries to get his son in the prestigious Milford Academy. Buster, a graduate, is to be neither seen nor heard.... See full summary »

Director:

Lee Shallat Chemel

Writers:

Mitchell Hurwitz (creator), Courtney Lilly

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
Jill Ritchie	...	Jessie
John Rothman	...	Charles Milford
Don Perry	...	Earl Milford
John F. Beard	...	Himself (as John Beard)
B.W. Gonzalez	...	Lupe
Harry Murphy	...	Brian Snee

Storyline

The family's new public relations director gives them each a task while Michael tries to get his son in the prestigious Milford Academy. Buster, a graduate, is to be neither seen nor heard. Tobias heads to Boston to get his medical license back, only to meet Carl Weathers on the way there, and GOB makes the academy's founder disappear.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Release Date:

25 January 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hurwitz Company, The, Imagine Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Did You Know?

Trivia

Publicist Jessie negatively refers to George Michael as "Opie", a reference to a character on The Andy Griffith Show prompting the narrator to say "Jessie had gone too far, and had best watch her mouth." The uncredited narrator is executive producer 'Ron Howard', who, as a young boy, played Opie on "The Andy Griffith Show."

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Quotes

George Michael Bluth: You know, I have a job.
Tobias Fünke: [coughing] Kiss ass... well we were all thinking it.
Buster: Uh, I'm unclear about what it is exactly you do...
Jessie Bowers: Excellent question, what a publicist does is...
Buster: No, no, no I was talking to George Michael. When did you get a job?
George Michael Bluth: At the banana stand.
Buster: Oh! Duh! I thought you meant like a plumber or something and I was like 'when did that happen?'

User Reviews

A worthy follow-up to Pier Pressure

Arrested Development's tenth episode Pier Pressure would be a tough act to follow, but the eleventh episode Public Relations somehow manages just fine. I once even saw a fan name it as his or her second favourite episode of the whole series (after Pier Pressure), and although I never ranked it that high, I can totally see where he or she was coming from.

In it, Michael gets a publicist named Jessie who also becomes a love interest, but Michael is afraid a relationship would be tough on his son George Michael. The episode deals a great deal with the Bluths finally moving on after the death of George Michael's mother Tracy Bluth two years prior. When Michael breaks up with Jessie, there is a hilariously awkward scene where he says her name but has no follow-up. Meanwhile, Tobias begins getting acting lessons with real-life actor Carl Weathers, who's depicted as being absurdly cheap. Supposedly, this portrayal of Weathers was his own idea, which show runner Mitch Hurwitz instantly loved.

There's much else to love in this episode. When all nine main characters get together with Jessie they're at fine form. Tobias and Buster shine, Lucille jokes about anti-Semitism and George gives a profound lesson about genitals. At the Milford Academy Michael is amusingly disrespectful of George Michael. Lindsay is also great, claiming she knows Michael's lectures "by heart" but simultaneously revealing she does not. Interestingly, Lindsay's got some fight in her in this episode, which contrasts the later episode Righteous Brothers where Kitty knocks her down with a single punch.

On a side note, this episode is also at the centre of one of the most spectacular misinterpretations of Arrested Development I've ever seen. I heard one fan who was quite convinced a prisoner looking at George Michael strangely wanted to have sex with the boy. I think it was obvious the strange look was in response to George Michael lusting after his own cousin. It's the show's old incest theme again- and Arrested Development without incest would be like hot ham water without ham.