#george bluth sr.

[anonymous-tals]

So, you know, back in the 80s, George Sr. would get Gob and Michael to fight each other and record it, plus a Baby Buster short, to get in on the home video market.

Which made me think: if the timeline was shifted and the Bluth siblings were born in the 2000s, George Sr. would’ve run a particularly problematic family Youtube channel.

[discountreactionimagewarehouse]

George Bluth Sr. from Arrested Development. I don't wan these.

[mannytoodope]

Tobias: I’m coming, I’m coming,I’m coming steady, steady....

[tootiredforaname]

Sometimes a family is an embezzler who built houses for Saddam Hussein, an alcoholic who can't read medicine labels, a former golden child who never gets around to leaving the family, a phony activist who is actually four years older than everyone thinks and also her own aunt, a worm man with chronic anxiety and an oedipous complex, a gay magician who's straight but gay but no he isn't yes he is, a boy who's main personality trait is being horny for his cousin, a fifteen year old Hollywood producer, a failed lemon salesman, the gay magician's bastard exterminator son, a woman no one ever bothers to recognise, a boy adopted from Korea who swore revenge for how badly he was treated, another gay magician, a congresswoman who has hid her alopecia her entire life and will well into the next, and the other gay magician's bastard son

And also tobias is there sometimes

[koko-heads]

bluth headcanons incoming

[finitevariety]

anyone want to read like the first 8k of an evasive little greg pov thing?

[3y3-see-you]

[barely-medi0cre]

George Michael Bluth

A Quick Look at one of my favorite characters

Arrested development is basically like a series of unfortunate events if it were made into an adult comedy.

So the sadder parts are all left as jokes or punchlines.

When really, if it were a drama, the characters would appear completely different.

George Michael is a key example of this, he’s held to almost perfection standards by his dad, who he also would spend all his time with until he gets a girlfriend. Like his dad makes him go on atkins for literally no reason and he clearly hates it but is too scared to say anything.

Or when he gets an A- on a test (still an A though) and when he comes home and shows his dad and says “I got an A!” And his dad keeps cutting him off and saying “minus” before telling him to get back to his room and study. Later his dad walks in on him studying and literally beating himself up over not getting a problem, calling himself stupid over and over again.

Of course, this is the episode where Michael (his dad) and Lindsey (Michael’s twin) are arguing over parenting. She says he’s too strict and is going to give George Michael a nervous breakdown. Naturally, after walking in on George Michael beating himself up, he tells him to stop and go do something fun. George Michael is very reluctant because he never really does that. He ends up going right to work, because he doesn’t have anything else to do.

Naturally, during this short period of parental freedom, George Michaels uncle Buster (the one who still lives with his mother and is basically a toddler) comes to see him at work to ask him for drugs. Michael has always taught George Michael that “family first” is the most important rule, so of course he keeps it a secret at busters request and tries to get drugs for him. This leads to him going to his uncle Gob, leaving a note asking for drugs, leading to a whole mix up where Michael thinks that he gave George Michael too much freedom and has now caused his son to develop a drug habit.

Rising action, rising action, climax where everything comes to a head with fake cops and real cops and fake drugs and real drugs and weird misunderstandings until everything is laid out, all is forgiven, and things go back to normal

However, since this show is a comedy show, we don’t focus on the fact that George Michael never actually was able to utilize the freedom his dad had given him, instead opting to use his newly free time to take on a really big favor from his family member instead of doing something for himself

His gimmick is that he’s awkward, and comparatively uptight to Maeby’s street smarts and irresponsibility. It creates a fun dynamic for comedy stories, but when you watch it as many times as I have you start to see some of the more serious character traits that are glossed over

This back and forth can only continue if there is no real character development in each of the ensemble members, hence the end of an episode essentially hitting reset on shenanigans for everyone. George Michael is a great character for that because even during the one chance he had to be free or do something for himself, he yet again took on a task that someone in his family asked him to do and assumed he could do it. So when those opportunities of development present themselves, realistically he wouldn’t take them. And if he did, his character development would have to be so minute that it’s barely noticeable.

If this show were a drama, I think there would be considerable emphasis placed on the parallels of George Sr’s relationship with Michael and Michael’s relationship with George Michael. Animosity about the relationship between Michael and George Michael is only brought to Michael’s attention in season four when he is told that is the father-son relationship Ron Howard wanted to make a movie about.

[westcovinas]

I think one of the most appealing character building aspects of arrested development is how fully fleshed out the women are. It came out in 2003 and it does better than shows coming out now, 20 years later. All of the women are equally if not more so scheming, conniving, and manipulative as their male counterparts. Lindsay is portrayed at being good at manipulating men’s emotions and sexualities despite marrying a gay man, which makes sense when the show establishes her better relationship with her father. Her mother gave her an eating disorder, so her father got to teach his little girl how to get people to give you what you want. She’s also (inadvertently) adept at running a business, which was no doubt the influence of both parents and her “twin” brother.

Her daughter, Maeby, took her mother’s skill for lying and her father’s aptitude at earnest acting. She’s just as manipulative as the women before her, if not more. By pure lies alone, she gets multiple jobs, free housing, and cheats the school system. Instead of using roofies to sexually assault Steve Holt, she uses them specifically to avoid sex. Maeby constantly defies expectation, subverts standards, and makes her own path as the daughter with two negligent, well meaning parents.

Which brings us to Lucille. Lucille and her husband set the standard for all of their children and grandkids. Although we can assume there was a long line of weirdly fucked up Bluths and Jenkins (Lucille’s maiden name) before them, they are the epitome of the Bluth name: selfish boomers/silent gens that will stop at nothing to get their way. Lucille is a queen at mind games and casually cruel offhand remarks. She is revealed to be in charge, in a spin that surprises few watchers. Everyone know’s Lucille pulls the strings, even if George sr is equally exploitive.

Even the minor ladies in ad pass the bechdel test with flying colors. Maggie is, quite frankly, kind of a bitch - she doesn’t care who she’s screwing over, as long as she looks good (par course for the Bluth family). Kitty is a true home wrecker: she knows her partner’s wife and she knows that she “hates” the cheating. We don’t know how much it actually bothers Lucille, but Kitty doesn’t care. All of Michael’s love interests leave him, and he’s the main character. His son, George Michael, doesn’t fare much better romantically either, except with Ann, who also eventually rejects him. Even Ann, the devout evangelical Christian, is still given notable characteristics and personality traits: faithful, passionate, stubborn. From Lupe to Lucille II, the women are allowed to be just as full as the men, which is refreshing, especially from 20 years ago.

[anonymous-tals]

Do you: hate George Senior? Have a hyperfixation on Arrested Development? Have gay Arrested Development headcanons? Have neurodivergent Arrested Development headcanons? Then George Sr Haters is the place for you 👍

[transmulcahy]

no one told me george bluth sr. was in mash.

[mannytoodope]

Michael: I burned it. Right down to the ground.

George Sr.: Are you kidding? There was money in that banana stand.

Michael: Well, it's all gone now, dad. So the next time you want have a little power struggle, just know that you're playing with fire.

George Sr.: There was $250,000 lining the walls of the banana stand.

Michael: What?

George Sr.: Cash, Michael.

Michael: Why didn't you tell me?

George Sr.: How much clearer can I say

George Sr.: There's always money in the banana stand!

Prison guard: No Touching!

George Sr.:No touching!

Prison guard: No touching.

[koko-heads]

arrdev tier lists which r long overdue

[emptyjunior]

rip George Bluth sr. you would have loved pitching the boy fights series to some fringe streaming service as a nostalgia collection accompanied with a new and profoundly unethical reality competition

[gobbluthbutagirl]

lucille bluth. i support wemon

First impression: literally THEE reason i watched arrested development. a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away(march 2018 at my dad’s house) someone i followed on here on a now-deleted blog was reblogging a whole bunch of pictures of alia shawkat and i was like god she’s so hot what is she in…so i went on her wikipedia page, obviously saw arrested development listed, clicked on it, thought it seemed like my type of show, continued clicking, clicked on jessica walter, recognized her from all the memes, and was like oh i Have to watch this now. and the rest is history

Impression now: “no one except jessica walter has ever been funny, and no one will be funny ever again.” <- quote from buzzfeed writer on twitter but it’s true. icon. legend. Queen. All other c-word tv matriarchs wish. They fucking wish they were her

Favorite moment: oh god so many. “get rid of the seaward.” “i’ll leave when i’m good and ready.” “i don’t care for gob.” “lucille austero, that BITCH!” “hurt people, hurt people…i always say make people cry, make people cry, but yours includes the ones that refuse to give you the satisfaction!” (i think i butchered that one but anyway). also like the entirety of my mother the car. and of course, “now there’s someone who could’ve used a good mother. WHORE!”

Idea for a story: more lucille austero frenemies backstory just because i think it’s soooooo fun

Unpopular opinion: so what if she’s a terrible mother. so what if she gave her husband estrogen and told him it was boner pills. His own damn fault for not reading the bottle. God forbid women do anything

Favorite relationship: lucille & lucille best frenemies forever

Favorite headcanon: well you know how donald trump didn’t want don jr named after him because “what if he turns out to be a loser.” i like to think there was a similar situation with george sr and gob and that she named him that anyway just to spite him