My wife and I watched season 4 of the show over about 10 days once it went online and we’ve re-watched it quite a bit since. Over that time, I’ve come to accept it as part of the show and realized its brilliance. It really is quite smart and they did the right thing not to simply regurgitate the same jokes and to take risks. Anyway, I like the following jokes the most.
I adore the moment where the door closes with Lucille 2 and Buster and he yells out, “Wait…Is this another night where nothing is as it seems and there’s no cream pie for dessert?”
Took me a couple viewings to catch. :shudders:
I love Tobias being served for his copyright infringement, especially by the agents disguised as homeless folks.
The scene where Tobias is filmed for a Cris Hansen style documentary is the finest perhaps in all 4 seasons. “Is she your daughter?”
“Yes. Maybe.”
I love that we can track the whole story of what Barry Zuckerkorn did by watching the show and putting his events in order. Apparently, he bought a ladder, climbed over the fence at a girls’ school and got caught. Then, he used Bob Loblaw to get him out of it because he couldn’t reach over the fence. I love Barry.
I think the second half of the season in particular is incredible. Lucille’s “Queen B” episode is hilarious. “I got Olive Garden to offer us unlimited bread!”
I loved Season 4! I found the entire concept to be brilliant - essentially the same story told from the point of view of each character. Initially the story doesn’t look that interesting but as more of the layers are exposed it got funnier and funnier. I’m drawing a blank on my favorite specific moments right now but I particularly liked Ron Howard - I found it particularly meta when he was narrating the portion of the story in which he was also starring. Lucille’s prison was fantastic and I liked her prisoner number - 07734 - flip it over and look at it in a mirror it says Hello (Anyang). I’ve always liked Maebe’s character and thought she was underutilized in this season, but the episodes that revolved around her were my favorite ones.
I liked one joke I didn’t even get until well after the series was over.
George Michael hated his name because it was associated with the lewd act in a restroom. He briefly considered Boy George, but there’s the same problem.
Cut to halfway through the season and he settles on the made up name, George Maharis…who also was an actor/singer and also was arrested in the '70s for engaging in a homosexual act in a restroom.
Oh, so many. I especially liked putting together the Zuckerkorn bit, as mentioned in the OP, as well as the various other timeline/sight gags (such as realizing which couple was hiding in the photo booth when someone else passed by it, or knowing what the commotion was in the background in varioius scenes). Putting stuff together like that simultaneously triggers humor and the joy of solving a puzzle.
One bit, not my favorite, but one that I haven’t seen mentioned before: When Maeby is giving her acceptance/fuck you speech at the Opies: Her whole speech is lifted from that infamous sorority girl e-mail that was making the rounds shortly before the show was released.
Yea, I liked the new season, but it did feel more like an IQ test then a comedy sometimes.
Its kinda neat that they used the fact that they were made to air on netflix though. I don’t think they could’ve done the same show if the episodes were aired a week apart, since so many of the jokes were so dependent on referencing minor details from past or future episodes. On a TV network, by the time they got to the punchline, most of the audience would’ve forgotten the setup.
But since most people watch series on Netflix a lot faster then an episode a week, they could pull off a lot of that sort of humor without worrying about having to flashback to the setup or use a clunky “last time, on Arrested Development…” type thing.
Yeah, the season really starts to shine on a second viewing. The editing is brilliant. Overall, I won’t argue if you say the original run was better, but the 4th season has a lot of amazing stuff in it.
Any news on a 5th? I know Hurwitz & Netflix want one, but is it going forward?
