# Arrested Development season 4 is now live. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 26, 2013, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382 "2013-05-26T07:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/161 "2013-06-01T02:40:34Z")
> [@Mithras](#): > > I won’t have finished watching all the episodes until tomorrow so I’m not reading this thread until then. But my wife noticed something that I thought was impressive and hadn’t seen mentioned anywhere: > > There’re a number of modern family references that are made. In episode 11, for example, Gob and Michael accuse each other of dating the actress who plays Claire. Later in that episode is an incredibly subtle one. Gob visits Tony Wonder at his house. This is the same house/set that Claire and Cam flipped in this season of Modern family. A few weeks ago I watched a panel discussion with all the members of AD plus one of the writers. Someone asked them where they got their ideas from and the writer started talking and one of the actors (I don’t remember who) jokingly said something like “I know you get a lot of your inspiration from Modern Family”. Obviously that’s not the case, AD was over before MF started, and MF seems to get some of it’s inspiration from AD, but there’s probably some crossover of writers (or some other crew) in there somewhere, but I’m not sure where. Either that or the panel discussion thing that I watched was a complete coincidence and what you mentioned was meant to be a two parts of the same joke for someone paying close attention to pick up on. With the Julie Bowen part being the setup and the flipped house being the callback/inside joke. ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/162 "2013-06-01T03:18:06Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > I found Sudden Valley, which wasn’t really hard to do at all. They referenced Irvine so much that I had to “Something Earth” it when they showed a map (I grew up in Irvine). The are they are calling Sudden Valley is actually Rancho Santa Margarita, which I’m guessing was a community that popped up ala the Bluth’s. If you “Something Earth” “Rancho Santa Margarita Lake” and zoom out a bit, you can see this is exactly where they are placing Sudden Valley. The roads and geography are quite clearly outlined on the show maps. I live in Laguna Beach, and I’m pretty familiar with the geography of the show’s fictional world. While the original show was shot entirely in LA (mostly Marina Del Rey, Pasadena and Santa Clarita), I was always kind of impressed with how they managed to “suggest” south OC. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/163 "2013-06-01T03:38:14Z")
> [@jrepka](#): > > I live in Laguna Beach, and I’m pretty familiar with the geography of the show’s fictional world. While the original show was shot entirely in LA (mostly Marina Del Rey, Pasadena and Santa Clarita), I was always kind of impressed with how they managed to “suggest” south OC. There’s no suggestion about it this time. There are actual maps, with roads and cities clearly outlined. Unlike the Simpsons, you _can actually pinpoint_ “Sudden Valley”. I haven’t lived in CA for a while, but there has to be a reason they chose the place that they did. Or not, but it’s still a real place. I was hoping for it to be one of the Scientology compounds. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/164 "2013-06-01T03:42:10Z")
Compare the Bluth property maps with [this](https://www.google.com/maps/preview?hl=en#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d64907!2d-117.6232072!3d33.6448714) ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/165 "2013-06-01T03:44:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > He’s more pathetic and clueless, less likable, and his being so computer illiterate was something more suitable to GOB or Buster. But that’s Michael. He was never quite as cartoonish as his family, but he was always pretty clueless and narcissistic (he admits as much when saying goodbye to Rita in season 3). He always told his son that family was the most important thing, but he tried to walk out on them many times, usually coming back only to make sure they were aware how much they needed him (except in the pilot). When some money becomes available he tells his siblings not to sell their stock, then sells his own to buy a Corvette. He never really listened to his son, usually trying to motivate him with guilt or shame. He undermined his son’s relationship. In the first episode here he’s totally unaware that his son doesn’t want him living in his dorm. All of these traits made for a hilarious comedy, but Michael always looked like the “normal” one when he was adjacent to the rest of the family. But here he’s by himself so the cluelessness and narcissism that are part of his Bluth heritage stand out more… ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/166 "2013-06-01T04:12:46Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > There’s no suggestion about it this time. There are actual maps, with roads and cities clearly outlined. Unlike the Simpsons, you _can actually pinpoint_ “Sudden Valley”. > > I haven’t lived in CA for a while, but there has to be a reason they chose the place that they did. Or not, but it’s still a real place. I was hoping for it to be one of the Scientology compounds. I’ll have to go back to episode 1 to look at the Bluth map (I’m assuming it’s episode 1?), but that seems about right. The majority of the coastal zone along here is pretty built out, so when the show began in 2003 the majority of the development had been happening in the foothills corridor from Coto de Caza to RSM to Foothill Ranch. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/167 "2013-06-01T04:32:36Z")
> [@jrepka](#): > > The majority of the coastal zone along here is pretty built out, so when the show began in 2003 the majority of the development had been happening in the foothills corridor from Coto de Caza to RSM to Foothill Ranch. Well, the foothills and Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/168 "2013-06-02T00:01:28Z")
In the Buster episode, did Lucille 2’s body (or apparently-Lucille-2’s-body) disappear between on flash of light and the next? My wife and I were confused. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/169 "2013-06-02T00:02:56Z")
> [@jrepka](#): > > But that’s Michael. He was never quite as cartoonish as his family, but he was always pretty clueless and narcissistic (he admits as much when saying goodbye to Rita in season 3). > > He always told his son that family was the most important thing, but he tried to walk out on them many times, usually coming back only to make sure they were aware how much they needed him (except in the pilot). When some money becomes available he tells his siblings not to sell their stock, then sells his own to buy a Corvette. He never really listened to his son, usually trying to motivate him with guilt or shame. He undermined his son’s relationship. In the first episode here he’s totally unaware that his son doesn’t want him living in his dorm. > > All of these traits made for a hilarious comedy, but Michael always looked like the “normal” one when he was adjacent to the rest of the family. But here he’s by himself so the cluelessness and narcissism that are part of his Bluth heritage stand out more… Very well put. It was during the storyline involving him and GOB’s Mexican soap star girlfriend that I realized Michael’s much more concerned with _appearing_ to be the thoughtful and pragmatic one than actually _being_ the thoughtful and pragmatic one. S4 didn’t reveal anything new about Michael–just made it much more bleedin’ obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/170 "2013-06-02T00:03:59Z")
I found it surprisingly and maybe unaccountably sad when we got a glimpse of George Michael’s mom in the clip from the commercial for Babytok. Was this the first time we’d seen her? I don’t remember any other time we saw her but maybe I forgot. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/171 "2013-06-02T03:08:08Z")
I just finished the series. I enjoyed it but I thought it suffered by being so broken up. They’re all horrible, horrible people and, to me at least, one only one is the focus it’s made even more obvious how pathetic each one is (except maybe George MacHarris). I really feel bad for Steve Holt. He just can’t win. Get away Getaway. Stay away Getaway… ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/172 "2013-06-02T04:16:47Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I found it surprisingly and maybe unaccountably sad when we got a glimpse of George Michael’s mom in the clip from the commercial for Babytok. Was this the first time we’d seen her? I don’t remember any other time we saw her but maybe I forgot. Yeah, that was interesting. I don’t know if it was just to show that she did look a bit like Rebel, but I’m sure she was never shown in the first three seasons (Though, according to season 2, George senior could fit into most of her clothes). – The scene showing Rebel preforming in a “Terrence Malik film” (presumably “The Tree of Life”) was cool, because I remember joking with my brother that Jessica Chastain was getting all the roles Bryce Howard turned down – this was before they were both cast in “The Help.” Apparently there was a minor rumor going around for a while that Jessica Chastain was Ron Howard’s illegitimate daughter. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/173 "2013-06-02T04:28:28Z")
> [@jrepka](#): > > I’ll have to go back to episode 1 to look at the Bluth map (I’m assuming it’s episode 1?), but that seems about right. The majority of the coastal zone along here is pretty built out, so when the show began in 2003 the majority of the development had been happening in the foothills corridor from Coto de Caza to RSM to Foothill Ranch. The maps I’m referencing are from S4. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/174 "2013-06-02T21:06:58Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > In the Buster episode, did Lucille 2’s body (or apparently-Lucille-2’s-body) disappear between on flash of light and the next? My wife and I were confused. Yeah, I thought so. Which makes me think she’s not really dead. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/175 "2013-06-02T21:15:36Z")
She’s just pining. ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/176 "2013-06-03T01:58:25Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > The maps I’m referencing are from S4. Yeah, I got that. I was wondering which episode, I’d only really looked for them in S4E1; BTW, When Michael is walking through the airport in Phoenix in the final scene, did anyone notice that the wall mural behind him is all scenes from the first three seasons? I saw the stair car, the Mexican church (with Egg standing in the doorway), the rickshaw from Exit Strategy, and Michael and GM on the C-word sailing into the sunset from the S3 finale. ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/177 "2013-06-03T01:59:31Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > She’s just pining. For the fjords? ---
**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:** [June 3, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/178 "2013-06-03T04:38:05Z")
Well, this is Liza Minnelli, so maybe for the snorts. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/179 "2013-06-03T05:45:55Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I found it surprisingly and maybe unaccountably sad when we got a glimpse of George Michael’s mom in the clip from the commercial for Babytok. Was this the first time we’d seen her? I don’t remember any other time we saw her but maybe I forgot. I’m glad it’s not just me. My fiancé guessed that maybe it was originally scripted to be Michael and George Michael but that trying to schedule Jason Bateman at the same time as the baby actor didn’t work so they went with Tracey Bluth instead. Just WAG on his part. ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382/180 "2013-06-03T17:41:50Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > I’m glad it’s not just me. My fiancé guessed that maybe it was originally scripted to be Michael and George Michael but that trying to schedule Jason Bateman at the same time as the baby actor didn’t work so they went with Tracey Bluth instead. Just WAG on his part. I’m pretty sure that Michael was one of the few characters who appeared in every episode (I’m sure I will be corrected on this), so I don’t expect it was a scheduling problem. Perhaps in the original series it would have seemed a bit too maudlin to personify a character who had died tragically in the previous year, especially since they were making jokes about her death at the time. That’s probably what made this choice a bit more jarring for viewers. But I guess they felt that enough time had passed that they could at least show her for a moment… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrested-development-season-4-is-now-live/659382.md?page=10)