# Arrested Developent, what's the most obscure joke you caught? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079 "2007-04-29T19:45:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/41 "2007-05-02T13:44:21Z")
There was also “Motherboy XXX” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/42 "2007-05-02T14:01:15Z")
That Tom Cruise seems pretty smart. They say he’s some sort of scientist. ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/43 "2007-05-02T22:20:05Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] On the poster for _Les Cousins Dangereux_: “A relative masterpiece of complex eroticism.” - Tim Goodman, SF Chronicle. [/QUOTE] Goodman is the TV critic for the _Chronicle_ and started singing the praises of _Arrested Development_ before the pilot came out. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/44 "2007-05-03T03:10:57Z")
[QUOTE=Airblairxxx] Goodman is the TV critic for the _Chronicle_ and started singing the praises of _Arrested Development_ before the pilot came out. [/QUOTE] I’m aware. I live in SF. That’s the other half of why it’s funny. ---
**Author:** ![Arayasem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Arayasem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arayasem)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/45 "2013-03-14T04:48:58Z")
One of the first lines in the show: Lucille: (referencing the gay protest) “Everything they do is so dramatic and flamboyant it just makes me want to set myself on fire” It took me years of rewatching to get this joke (setting herself on fire is both dramatic and “flamboyant”) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/46 "2013-03-14T09:32:29Z")
Heck, I didn’t grasp the full meaning of the show’s title right away. In addition to the emotional immaturity of most of the characters (well, pretty much all of them), the father, who owns a land development company, gets arrested… After that, I figured everything had a double (or triple) meaning by default. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/47 "2013-03-14T13:05:17Z")
This is a zombie, but at least there are new episodes on the horizon, so it’s timely. I can’t wait to get a mouthful of their huge jokes (meh, best I could do). ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/48 "2013-03-14T13:32:29Z")
I liked Buster’s comment to Lucille, after she walked in on her and Buster’s “uncle” making out while sitting in his hand chair: “Oh, Mother - go make love in your own hand!” ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/49 "2013-03-14T16:33:40Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > This is a zombie, but at least there are new episodes on the horizon, so it’s timely. I can’t wait to get a mouthful of their huge jokes (meh, best I could do). Or an earful. Or an eyeful. Or all 3. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/50 "2013-03-14T17:28:14Z")
Whatever the reason, I’m glad this thread is back. In the episode with the Saddam impersonators, someone mixes two of them up. Apparently one of them has a scar and the other doesn’t. "He has scar. I’m no scar. Dot com. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/51 "2013-03-14T17:36:12Z")
[Timely link](http://www.lolbrary.com/post/41511/the-new-pope-looks-a-bit-familiar/). ---
**Author:** ![Osiris\_the\_1st](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de0a6/32.png) [@Osiris\_the\_1st](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osiris_the_1st)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/52 "2013-03-14T19:22:24Z")
So is GOB George Oscar Bluth a poke at JEB John Ellis Bush? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/53 "2013-03-14T20:44:36Z")
> [@Osiris\_the\_1st](#): > > So is GOB George Oscar Bluth a poke at JEB John Ellis Bush? I doubt it; I think it’s just the name they went with instead of George, jr. And then with Michael’s son, they went with his middle name and got George Michael. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/54 "2013-03-14T23:14:05Z")
I think it’s also a play on “gob” as in “shut your bloody gob”. Starla, the model that GOB was trying to bed, actually introduced him with that pronunciation at some event … the ribbon cutting? ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/55 "2013-03-14T23:52:29Z")
Not a joke I caught, but one I subsequently read about. The writers were laying the groundwork to reveal Tobias as an albino black man. > [@](#): > > “[The writers have] gone on little tangents where you think they’re going to start a storyline and they’ll pull it back. I remember they were going to do one about Tobias actually being a rare black person, where he would have this rare disease and was actually black. It’s these hysterical, crazy ideas that they could have continued on.” [Here](http://splitsider.com/2012/08/53-arrested-development-jokes-you-probably-missed/)they give you some of the little clues. Also a bunch of other jokes that fit the theme of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/56 "2013-03-15T02:57:17Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Not obscure, but fast: At one point, George is saying that if they find out that he’s met with Saddam Hussein, he’ll be ruined for life. Then the narrator (or maybe it’s a caption) says, “Not always” and there’s a quick picture of Donald Rumsfeld meeting with Hussein. I believe George Sr. defended himself by saying, “I thought that was the guy who played the Soup Nazi. I told him how much I liked his work!” When, in the penultimate episode, Michael, GOB and Buster come upon the house full of Saddam lookalikes, one of them is played by Larry Thomas, nominated for an Emmy for his role as – say it with me now – the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/57 "2013-03-15T03:28:42Z")
Portia DeRossi makes a joke about her (the actress) being a lesbian in the very first episode. My favorite “hidden” joke is when Buster winds up at his housekeepers house and sees a chair shaped like a hand. He says “I never thought I’d miss a hand so much”. This is several episodes, if not a season before the joke comes full circle. There’s always money in the banana stand. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/58 "2013-03-15T04:02:51Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > This is a zombie, but at least there are new episodes on the horizon, so it’s timely. I can’t wait to get a mouthful of their huge jokes (meh, best I could do). Looks like someone got his mouth on some meaty leading man parts and choked. In the yearbook, under Steve Holt’s [picture](http://www.obsessedwithsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/steve-holt-arrested-development.jpg): > [@](#): > > Name: Steve Holt > Nickname: Steve Holt! For some reason that cracks me up. [This](http://splitsider.com/2012/08/53-arrested-development-jokes-you-probably-missed/)article picks up a few good ones. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/59 "2013-03-15T04:27:14Z")
There was “Annyong” the Korean boy adopted by Lucille Bluth. Nobody in the Bluth family spoke Korean so when he greeted them by saying Annyong, everyone thought it was his name. Two seasons later, this got straightened out and the Bluths found out his real name was “One Day” - which in Korean is “Hel Loh”. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079/60 "2013-03-15T14:31:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There was “Annyong” the Korean boy adopted by Lucille Bluth. Nobody in the Bluth family spoke Korean so when he greeted them by saying Annyong, everyone thought it was his name. > > Two seasons later, this got straightened out and the Bluths found out his real name was “One Day” - which in Korean is “Hel Loh”. Should note that Annyong is Korean for “Hello” Absolutely brilliant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-developent-whats-the-most-obscure-joke-you-caught/402079.md?page=4)